Toyota Built a Mid-Engine Hot Hatch

The Yaris might be an econobox at its core, but the GR Yaris is an entirely different animal. With 300 horsepower and all-wheel drive, it can keep play in the same league with the bigger GR Corolla equipped with the identical three-cylinder 1.6-liter engine. For the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon, Toyota made the hot hatch even hotter by putting a bigger powertrain behind the seats. Yes, this Yaris has a mid-engine layout.

Toyota installed a new engine rather than the small “G16E-GTS” unit in the GR Yaris, GR Corolla, and the Lexus LBX Morizo RR. The work-in-progress turbocharged “G20E” has four cylinders and a 2.0-liter displacement. The Japanese brand calls it an “underdeveloped” powertrain, which suggests it’s part of the new “game-changing” engine family that Toyota is engineering. Whether the GR Yaris M Concept is rear- or all-wheel drive is unclear.

Photo by: Toyota

Logic tells us it’s unlikely Toyota will sell a mid-engine GR Yaris. The layout would make more sense for a dedicated sports car. After all, the Japanese automaker has been dropping hints about bringing back the MR2. In addition, we could see the four-pot engine in other Gazoo Racing-branded fun cars, maybe the reborn Celica we keep hearing about. Moreover, Toyota has pledged to keep the Supra in the lineup after the current generation retires.

In the meantime, Toyota will test the GR Yaris M by entering the pocket rocket in the Super Taikyu Series. The bite-sized performance machine will be “repeatedly driven to failure and then repaired in the extreme conditions of racing.”