Toyota’s Gazoo Racing performance division will now oversee the development of the automaker’s entire new internal combustion engine lineup. In an interview Bart Eelen, GR’s head and motorsports chief, confirmed that Toyota’s upcoming range of gas-powered four-cylinder engines will receive engineering expertise from its racing team.
These new engines won’t be exclusive to Toyota’s sports cars; they’ll also power the brand’s regular models. The Japanese brand seems determined to shake off its “most boring carmaker” label, and leveraging motorsports-inspired internal combustion engines is a great way to add excitement to its lineup.
According to reports, these new four-cylinder engines, which Toyota confirmed are in development as of May 2024, could be used across its entire portfolio—from everyday models like the Corolla and RAV4 to its World Rally Championship cars and production GR sports cars.
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In 2024, Toyota unveiled a major joint venture with Subaru and Mazda to develop future internal combustion, electric, and gas-electric hybrid powertrains. Alongside the announcement, the company also showcased several prototypes, which its engineers displayed at a conference dedicated to the reveal.
At the time, Toyota hinted at a broad range of applications for its new four-cylinder engine family, confirming their use across its entire lineup. The goal is to streamline its internal combustion engine offerings into a single, versatile family, leveraging the capabilities of modern four-cylinder technology to meet customers’ power needs while also complying with federal emissions and fuel economy standards across all markets.
“New ICE engines are pretty rare these days, but we really wanted to do this,” Eelen told CAR, discussing this latest development. “The block is super compact, and the center of gravity is super low, and the engine combines both efficiency and performance.”
This new engine will be widely used across Toyota’s product lineup, including in Gazoo Racing applications, for both street-performance vehicles and race cars. There’s even speculation that Gazoo Racing is working on a version of one of these new four-cylinders with the goal of making it the world’s most powerful production four-cylinder engine.
As time went on, more details emerged about Toyota’s four-cylinder engine family, especially as spy photographers and global automotive media caught sight of test mules featuring experimental prototypes. Toyota also teased one of these engines in a mid-engine GR Yaris prototype at a recent motorsports event, which was reported to produce up to 400 horsepower.
“We’re in the process of developing a brand-new family of four-cylinder combustion engines with both 1.5 and 2.0-liter capacities,” Matt Harrison, Toyota Europe’s chief corporate officer, told CAR. “These engines will feature new technologies and new thinking. For instance, they will have a shorter piston stroke that allows them to be much more compact. That allows us more freedom for our designers and engineers when it comes to packaging.”
While the motorsports and performance versions of these engines will likely debut first, possibly as a way to make a bold statement for the brand, they will eventually make their way into the rest of Toyota’s lineup. Of course, they’ll be detuned and simplified for use in more everyday models.
Both full and mild hybrid versions are also on the table, and Toyota is reportedly even exploring hydrogen combustion variants of these four-cylinder engines.
“It goes back to Toyota’s idea of using motorsport as a test bed and as a way to develop new things,” Eelen concluded to CAR. “I think that’s something that Akio (Toyoda, Toyota’s former head) introduced into the company. Toyota hadn’t thought that way before.”
Source: CAR
