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It Appears Toyota’s Last Affordable Purist Car Is Losing Its Famous Subaru-Sourced Engine

The GR86 is likely going to lose the “baru” part of the “Toyobaru.”

Yellow Toyota car rear with a raised spoiler and red tail light on a dark background.Toyota
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By Chris Chin

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Toyota’s current affordable sports coupe could lose one of its signature features: its Subaru-sourced boxer engine. Word comes from Japan’s BestCar magazine, which reported on the next-gen GR86’s plan.

In a bit of a shocking move, it will be replaced by something that’s both conventional and partially futuristic: a gas-electric hybrid powertrain. The latest development confirms Toyota’s ambitiously big plans for the GR86.

The GR86 will go the way of the Prius (sort of)

Yellow Toyota sports coupe with black wheels and red brake calipers on a dark reflective surface.
This may be your last chance to get a Subaru-powered GR86 in the near future.
Toyota

It wasn’t too long ago that rumors began surfacing regarding the next-gen GR86’s powertrain. Those same rumors hinted at the prospect of hybridization, making fans and sports car enthusiasts, including us at the GP Motoring desk, skeptical and worried.

That’s because electrification, even today with all of its advances, still comes with a few hard-to-ignore drawbacks. Weight is the most glaring one.

Even though gas-electric powertrains don’t weigh as much as full-fledged EVs from their smaller electric motors and battery packs, they’re still heavier than conventional gas-only cars. Thus, they do take a toll on a car’s performance.

All the more so on a lightweight car like the GR86, where every ounce counts towards performance and efficiency. So, it is a bit of relief that the next-gen GR86 isn’t going full-electric, but it’s not staying true to its original formula.

Close-up of a Toyota D-4S Boxer Subaru engine inside a yellow car.
Toyota’s reportedly ditching the boxer-four for a more conventional inline-four-based hybrid powertrain.
Toyota

But the more important bit is that the GR86 is ditching its Subaru-based flat-four. It’s part of Toyota’s plan to build the next-gen GR86 on its own, without collaboration with Subaru.

This marks the end of an era for the GR86, as the model has been a nearly identical cousin to the BRZ since day one.

Still no turbo power planned

Yellow Toyota GR86 sports coupe with black wheels and quad exhaust tips on a dark background.
The biggest challenge for Toyota and the GR86 is electrifying the model without compromising weight.
Toyota

Although the GR86 is supposedly about to undergo its biggest powertrain change yet, Toyota still isn’t giving what fans really want: turbo power. According to the latest rumors, the new GR86 and its new hybrid powertrain will utilize one of Toyota’s latest naturally aspirated 2.0-liter inline fours.

It’s one of the same engines coming from the automaker’s recently introduced new family of gas four-cylinders. But rather than being a fully conventional gas-electric hybrid, like a Corolla Hybrid or Prius, the GR86 will only get mild-hybrid capabilities.

Meaning, instead of a midsize electric motor and a small battery pack, like its stablemates, the GR86 will get an extra-small battery pack and an auxiliary starter-generator on the engine.

Black leather manual gear shift knob with yellow stitching and control buttons on a car center console.
There’s no word on what the powertrain change could mean for the model’s manual transmission offering.
Toyota

This is all in a bid to nudge the GR86 towards electrification while maintaining the model’s lightweight ethos. Toyota is doing its best to keep the GR86 under 2,900 pounds.

Seeing as Toyota is parting ways with Subaru on the next-gen GR86, the rumors of the brand teaming up with Mazda in the near future for an affordable, lightweight sports car continue to linger. But it reportedly won’t happen in the immediate future.

About the Author: Chris Chin is an associate editor at Gear Patrol, covering cars, trucks and anything else with four wheels. He has over a decade of experience writing news and reviews but considers himself an enthusiast first, with a passion for classics and European cars. His daily driver is a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL with nearly 250,000 miles (87,000 are his).

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