With its Hachi-Roku revival, the GT 86, Toyota has made it clear that it plans to shrug off its vanilla image and go back to the good old days when it used to make great drivers’ cars. Now, the Japanese giant has thrown in more hints of its exciting future plans with a handful of displays at the ongoing Tokyo Auto Salon.
The cars on display include a supercharged IQ, a turbocharged Yaris and a modified GT 86. These cars have been worked on by guys at GRMN (Gazoo Racing tuned by MN) and Toyota’s own TRD (Toyota Racing Development) wing.
The GRMN IQ Supercharger prototype houses a Toyota 1.33-litre engine but turns up the power from 97bhp to 128bhp, and the torque from 124Nm to 180Nm. It also gets a motorsports-inspired body that completely changes the cute little city car’s character. And the best news is that the model is set for a 100-example production run later this year.
The Yaris has also got the GRMN touch with a turbocharger helping take the 1.5-litre petrol engine’s power output to 178bhp. However, there are no plans yet to green-light it for production.
Finally, the GT 86 has received a few upgrades from TRD, which includes reworked suspension with new front and rear anti-roll bars, a carbon front strut, rear diffuser, additional cross-bracing and a ‘high-response’ exhaust system. It also comes complete with extra dials in the cabin to provide more info on race tracks.
