Hybrid Three-Cylinder Power Rumoured For The Next Toyota GR86

It’s been barely three years since the brilliant Toyota GR86 went into production and then promptly went off sale again in Europe because it couldn’t meet upcoming safety standards. Already, though, there’s talk of a replacement, and if rumours are to be believed, it could be very different to the current car.

The GR86 and its predecessor, the GT86, were both co-developed with Subaru (and, of course, had Subaru siblings in the form of the BRZ) and utilise that company’s horizontally-opposed four-cylinder boxer engines. However, Japanese magazine Best Car reckons that a third generation of the Toyobaru twins is in the works, this time with Toyota taking the lead and using its own powertrain.

That powertrain is reckoned to be the 1.6-litre turbocharged G16E-GTS three-cylinder currently found in the GR Yaris and GR Corolla. It’s an engine Toyota has already installed in the current GR86 as a testbed for synthetic fuels, but these rumours suggest that it won’t quite be a straight swap because it’s reckoned that there’ll also be a hybrid element.

Before you get too worried about things like weight, it’s set to be a relatively mild, self-charging hybrid. Best Car likens it to the hybrid system found in the North American version of the new Land Cruiser, which augments the petrol engine with a relatively small 54bhp electric motor.

This, apparently, will make for an output of “over 300 horsepower” in the next GR86, which isn’t overly surprising, given that the G16 makes a nice, round 300bhp in regions where it’s not as throttled by emissions regulations. Despite being a hybrid, Best Car also reckons that the car will retain the option of a proper manual gearbox – much like the upcoming hybrid Honda Prelude is rumoured to have.

Perhaps the only massive surprise about these rumours is that they don’t centre around Toyota’s range of brand-new inline-four engines, which are tied to reports around revivals of both the MR2 and Celica. The former was also originally rumoured to be using the G16 triple before Toyota announced the development of the new four-pot.

It's likely a while before we'll see anything relating to a new 86, with the current car only a few years old. Nevertheless, if this means there’s a little more life left in the characterful G16, we’ll be more than happy – especially if hybridising it means there’s even the slightest chance the 86 could return to Europe.