Potent Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ to appear next year with hybrid power? Details for sports car twins firms up: report

Toyota’s will take the lead when it comes to developing the next-gen GR86 sports car, with Subaru following along the Big T’s lead if reports from Japan are accurate.

The new Toyota GR86 is set to debut next year, with the current generation having only been around a relatively short four years so far, compared to the nine of its predecessor, though it might not make it to the road until 2026 if the timing in a report from Best Car is to be believed.

The outlet, which usually has an ear pretty close to the ground when it comes to Toyota info, said Toyota’s taking the lead on the development of the car from the chassis to the drivetrain, some of this was already a whisper.

It was expected a third-gen GR86 would borrow the 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine from the Toyota GR Corolla and GR Yaris hot hatches, the report from Best Car said Toyota will also now provide the bulk of the development work for the model as a whole.

It’s unclear if Subaru will still take on the manufacturing duties for the sports coupe as it has previously, but the flat-four engine built by the brand seems to be on the way out for the next generation.

As has been floated before, the next-gen GR86/BRZ may also have a hybrid variant, with the drivetrain still set to be available with a manual transmission and in rear-wheel drive according to Best Car.

Power outputs are estimated to top 220kW, which makes sense given that’s the region the non-hybrid version of the engine makes in the Yaris and Corolla GR hot hatches.

Four-door versions of the GR86 have been rumoured for the next-gen model too, but it seems that may no longer be the case as Toyota is still apparently keen to chase its ‘Three Brothers’ revival of the MR2, the Celica and the (now once again existing) Supra.

Four two-door sports cars once the GR86 is included seems like a lot of work for a relatively conservative manufacturer, but Toyota Gazoo Racing might look to work with other brands in terms of engineering as it has with the GR86 and GR Supra.

“Collaboration between brands will increase in the future. We don’t know with whom we’re going to collaborate,” GR Company President Tomoya Takahashi told a small group of journalists on a recent trip to Melbourne.

The idea that GR is a small section of the world’s biggest car brand and doesn’t have the power to continuously spend money on new developments isn’t lost on Takahashi, saying if it means the brand can still build new cars, he sees it necessary to work with what would otherwise be rivals.

“It’s not for one manufacturer to survive, but to protect car enthusiasts,” Takahashi said. “Our mission is to make car guys smile, so we need to collaborate sometimes.”