Toyota's GR86 Puts on Celica GT-Four Rally Costume, Spawning New Fantasy
Oh, and it has the turbocharged triple from the GR Corolla underhood...
Toyota has been beating the nostalgia drum hard lately, rolling out the retro-ish Land Cruiser 250 series here in America, followed by the newest 4Runner SUV with overt callbacks to that model's 1980s roots. Now for this year's SEMA show in Las Vegas, Toyota has taken one of its more modern, current products, the GR86 sports car co-developed with Subaru, and dressed it up in rally livery that almost anyone who grew up watching WRC in the 1990s will recognize.
0:00 / 0:00
The resulting GR86 Rally Legacy concept is so much more than a wink and a nod toward the Castrol livery, big hoop wing, mud flaps, and quad hood lamps worn by the '90s-era Celica GT-Four rally racer, though. Under its hood—and those wicked auxiliary lamps—the GR86's 2.4-liter flat-four engine has been replaced by the turbocharged three-cylinder engine from from the GR Corolla hatchback. If you also guessed that means this GR86 is now all-wheel drive, give yourself a cookie—the GR Corolla's all-wheel-drive system came with the engine, which is mounted transversely in the 86 sports car's nose. (A stock GR86's engine runs north-south, feeding torque to the rear axle via a driveshaft.) This required a lot of modification.
Toyota says the GR86 Rally Legacy concept received the entire rear end from the Corolla—subframe, differential, axles, everything—which, of course, did not cleanly fit beneath the GR86's rear-drive coupe body. The battle to make the powertrain fit up front was similarly arduous, given the G16E-GTS three-cylinder engine's height compared to the relatively sleek, turbo-less boxer engine it replaces. A custom front subframe solved that issue, along with "significant" modifications to work in the GR Corolla's front hubs, spindles, and axles; custom control arms connect those pieces to the GR86's subframe, and all four corners are supported by a new coilover setup.
Without specifying a new output figure, Toyota lists a host of modifications to the three-cylinder engine, which makes 300 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque in stock form (or 295 lb-ft with an extra pound of boost on certain GR Corolla variants), including a new intercooler, a race-tuned ECU, an added oil cooler, and a custom exhaust. The automaker coyly notes "there is the potential to increase [the stock G16 numbers] with further tuning." No duh.
Fans of the GR86 (and its past iterations, the 86 and Scion FR-S, not to mention its Subaru BRZ sibling) have long been dying to see a turbocharger make its way beneath the hood. This concept, unfortunately, is only the latest tease of such a variant from the factory (the aftermarket has made it happen, of course), and is likely to stay that way. That said, it could be a preview of what to expect from a next-generation GR86, should the little sports car survive for another generation. There have been rumors swirling that the Toyota-Subaru partnership on the GR86/BRZ twins could end, freeing up Toyota to go ham sandwich with a new powertrain—and the GR Corolla's 1.6-liter I-3 looks like a good bet. Now, to really fire up the fantasy wheel, try to imagine both that car hitting production and being homologated for a potential World Rally Championship (WRC) return...
A lifelong car enthusiast, I stumbled into this line of work essentially by accident after discovering a job posting for an intern position at Car and Driver while at college. My start may have been a compelling alternative to working in a University of Michigan dining hall, but a decade and a half later, here I am reviewing cars; judging our Car, Truck, and Performance Vehicle of the Year contests; and shaping MotorTrend’s daily coverage of the automotive industry.
Read More
