Toyota announced in 2024 the plan to develop a new family of naturally aspirated and turbocharged four-cylinder combustion engines.
These gasoline engines, with displacements of 1.5 liters and 2.0 liters, will be smaller and lighter. Although efficiency is the main goal, performance will not be forgotten.
The larger of the two engines will receive the Gazoo Racing treatment, already anticipated in the concept GR Yaris M, which was revealed at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, where it appeared as “G20E” mounted above the rear axle and presenting a power output between 400 and 450 hp.
However, “Auto Motor und Sport” has now revealed that Toyota engineers say the engine has the potential for more power and that “with a larger turbo, it is possible to extract more than 600 hp”.
If this power output of the new engine is confirmed, it will be more than double the power presented by the 1.6 three-cylinder turbo G16E-GTS that equips the GR Yaris, GR Corolla, as well as the Lexus LBX Morizo RR.
Despite the development of a high-power engine, Toyota will have to pay attention to strict emission laws, particularly in Europe, which may force a limitation on the power of the “G20E”.
Toyota informed “Auto Motor und Sport” that it has been testing the new “G20E” engine in the GR Yaris M for some time, and that the engine is being developed with both longitudinal and transverse variants. Furthermore, the new engine promises to be the foundation of the future lineup of GR sports cars.
It is worth noting that Toyota’s new family of four-cylinder engines is part of a joint plan between Toyota, Mazda, and Subaru for the development of combustion engines that can be paired with hybrid systems in order to reduce emissions.
The goal of the project is to achieve carbon neutrality with internal combustion engines, allowing these engines to remain in production in the future with more stringent global emission standards.
