Tuners Are Going To Love Toyota's Latest Overengineered Turbo Engine

Toyota Is Making Combustion Cleaner

Toyota has long been claiming that there is no single path to carbon neutrality, arguing that cleaner combustion engines and hybrids need to bridge the gap to electric cars powered by renewable energy. With a back catalog of brilliant engines like the overengineered 2JZ, which is still revered 35 years after its 1JZ foundation was built, Toyota knows what it takes to beat the world’s best, and its upcoming 1.5- (black top) and 2.0-liter (red top) four-cylinder engines appear poised to handle the weight of expectation with ease. According to Toyota engineers who spoke with German publication Auto Motor und Sport, the G20E (that’s the 2.0-liter) is easily capable of exceeding the 400-450-horsepower figure of the mid-engine GR Yaris M concept: “With a larger turbocharger, more than 600 hp is easily possible.”

Numerous Potentially Imminent Sporty Applications

Toyota has recently indicated that its sports cars could go hybrid, and with an engine this small and powerful supporting any electrification, that could be quite an exciting proposition. The MR2 is rumored to return with hybrid power, and a mid-engine sports car with a 600-hp thermal motor being complemented by an electric motor of another couple hundred horsepower could be quite a tantalizing entree to the forthcoming Lexus supercar. Toyota has confirmed that a new Celica is on the way, too, so there are plenty of applications for both new engines. The G16E-GTS turbocharged three-cylinder found in the production GR Yaris and its GR Corolla big brother already delivers in excess of 300 hp, so a detuned G20E (or even its 1.5-liter sibling) could be an immensely reliable – and likely even more fuel-efficient – replacement for both cars. It’s also safe to assume that Toyota is considering putting this in the next GR86, since many buyers have clamored for the torque of a turbocharged engine, and if Toyota strengthens it further, it may even have a future in a pickup.

Overengineered, Tuner-Friendly Engine Can Be Enlarged

Related: Toyota and Yamaha to develop a hydrogen-powered V8 engine

Toyota has reportedly been testing the engine in Lexus sedans, so it could be refined enough for a luxury application like the imminently departing IS. What really piques our interest, however, is a comment made by one of the engineers to the German publication: “We left enough space between the cylinders so that the engine can be bored out considerably.” That’s more good news for all the aftermarket tuners who will doubtless begin seeking to extract more power from the G20E the moment they get their grubby paws on it, but it also means that Toyota itself may well enlarge this four-cylinder to provide a smoother experience in cars that may otherwise have been powered by six-cylinder engines.

Not that there’s any reason to worry in that regard – reports out of Japan claim that, if BMW’s B58 is dropped, Mazda will provide the straight-six for the next Supra. Although unconfirmed, this news seems credible since the G20E and its 1.5-liter sibling were not announced in isolation; Mazda and Subaru also presented rotary and boxer prototype powertrains when the G20E was revealed as part of the triarchy’s “Multipathway Approach,” announced almost exactly one year ago. The rush to create evermore efficient combustion engines may well be less frenetic with a collaborative approach to innovation.