The concept is fitted with a new turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that is currently under development

Toyota's Gazoo Racing wing has been on a roll for the last few years, bringing us the likes of the revived Supra (with the help of BMW), the upgraded GR 86 (with the help of Subaru), and the rally-ready GR Yaris and GR Corolla (all by themselves).

A Toyota with a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine behind the driver for better balance and a car that's designed for racing? It sounds a lot like a hidden prototype to help develop a successor to the highly-missed Toyota MR2, even if it comes in the form of the hot hatch that ultimately spawned the GR Corolla.

Toyota surprised visitors at the 2025 Tokyo Auto Salon on Friday with a GR Yaris prototype featuring a new 2.0-liter turbo-4 engine in a mid-engined layout. Toyota stated that the prototype is part of a collection of test vehicles engineers are using to develop what the automaker describes as “ ever-better motorsports-bred cars .”

Toyota has unveiled a special GR Yaris concept car with a mid-mounted engine. Read on for everything you need to know from CAR.

Toyota’s mid-engined GR Yaris M will go racing to test the new G20E high-performance petrol engine, and it could offer a first look at the next MR2

But this really takes the biscuit: on a stacked stand that also includes Nurburgring racers, a Land Cruiser and a Corolla Rally Concept coming over the weekend, there’s a mid-engined GR Yaris as well.

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,