A recent report in The Sydney Morning Herald quotes Toyota’s chief engineer overseeing the GT 86 program, Tetsuya Tada, as saying “there are several types of 86 prototypes at the Toyota proving ground now; one is a turbocharger, one is bigger displacement, and [the other is a] special hybrid system. All possibilities are being considered.” When reached for comment, Toyota told us that, “Our engineers are always working on and evaluating new powertrains, but we have no comment regarding any implications on our production vehicles.”
While a power bump is rarely frowned upon in the enthusiast world, the danger in modifying the GT 86/Scion FR-S lays in violating the low-cost proposition that the vehicle has been based on since its inception. To fit a turbocharger or a hybrid system would add a considerable premium—likely a few thousand dollars at minimum—to the car’s $25,255 base price. We understand that the FR-S could house the turbocharged version of Subaru’s 2.0-liter FA boxer engine currently serving in the Forester 2.0XT Turbo, but The Herald‘s report and our sources seem to be in agreement that simply increasing displacement makes the most sense in terms of packaging and pricing.
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In a statement possibly hinting at the next-generation GT 86, Tada told The Herald, “I hope to make an engine upgrade at least one time with this car,” lending credence to the theory that one of the three powertrains in question could appear in the GT 86’s mid-cycle refresh, which is slated for 2015. One other possibility is that the GT 86 mules being evaluated with these three powertrains could be testbeds for the still-ambiguous sports car that will be born from Toyota’s relationship with BMW.
Source: CarAndDriver
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