New Toyota MR2 may have just been announced ahead of Tokyo Auto Salon

Toyota has been teasing the return of the Toyota MR2 for a few years now, but mid-engined sports car fans have been put on high alert thanks to a brief video of a conversation posted by the Japanese firm’s sporty Gazoo Racing sub-brand.

The 29-second video is in Japanese and follows a chat between a Toyota employee and the firm’s chairman, Akio Toyoda. Asked about his new car, Toyoda replies that it's a mid-engined two-seater that he wants to have ready in time for the Tokyo Auto Salon, which begins on Friday 9 January. 

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Mr Toyoda is playing a key role in what looks like the MR2’s comeback. President of Toyota between 2009 and 2023, he oversaw the launch of the LFA for Lexus, then the relatively affordable Toyota GT86 and GR86 sports cars, plus he helped bring back the Supra name. Under his ‘Morizo’ racing driver pseudonym, he even flipped a GR Yaris rally car onto its roof during testing. We’ll have to wait until this month’s Tokyo Auto Salon to find out just what Toyoda is referring to in this cryptic post, however. 

Fueling excitement over a new MR2, Toyota trademarked the name ‘GR MR2’ in 2025 - pointing towards influence from its Gazoo Racing sub-brand. There’s also a trademark for ‘GR MR-S’ (the MR2 was known as ‘MR-S’ in the Japanese market).  

What engine will the new MR2 use?

At last year’s Tokyo Auto Salon, a Toyota press conference revealed the upcoming mid-engined car would be powered by a brand-new turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine. This marked a change from the initial plan to launch an all-electric sports car, which was previewed by the FT-Se concept in late 2023. The move also bucks a trend established by Porsche, Alpine and Lotus, all of whom have committed to introducing their own fresh electric sports cars over the next couple of years.

Instead, the new Toyota will feature a mid-mounted ‘G20E’ petrol engine – an all-new unit previewed in the wild mid-engined GR Yaris M Concept, also revealed at the 2025 Auto Salon.

When Auto Express spoke to Toyota GR engineering boss Naohiko Saito at the show, he told us: “This engine represents the beginning of a new development that will come from motorsport before we put it into production. We always learn lots with this way of working.”

To this end, prototypes of the GR Yaris M Concept were planned to race in the Japanese Super Taikyu series, giving the new engine a comprehensive round of development before hitting the road. This is something Toyota also did with its Lexus LFA supercar, running prototypes for two years in the ADAC Nürburgring 24 Hours race. Toyota faced problems with development before the GR Yaris M Concept’s debut at the fifth round of the series in July, however, and its entry was postponed. 

The new engine’s output has still to be confirmed, but Toyota says it’s aiming for the new G20E to be more powerful and more efficient than the current 2.4-litre turbo unit found in Toyota and Lexus models overseas. It will also be 10 per cent smaller than the 2.4-litre - which will no doubt help with packaging inside a tight mid-engined sports car. 

Despite the size, we expect a baseline power figure of around 300bhp, rising to up to 400bhp in its more highly tuned applications. Toyota has suggested that versions of this engine can support as much as 500bhp in motorsport trim, although emissions regulations could see numbers this high tricky to meet in a road car. However, with the use of Toyota’s hybrid modules, figures of this scale could be possible for future road-going applications.

In the new sports car, though, the combustion engine will be mounted in the chassis transversely, as it is in the GR Yaris M Concept. The motor will probably be paired with the eight-speed automatic transmission that was developed specifically by Gazoo Racing for the GR Yaris, and is also found in overseas models such as the GR Corolla and Lexus LBX Morizo RR.

We don’t know much more about the forthcoming car’s chassis or its specification, but a mixed-metal construction is likely, combining high-strength steel and aluminium to help keep the weight and costs down.

Toyota also suggested the new model will probably feature all-wheel drive, with Saito telling Auto Express, “this layout is new for us, but we have found in our initial testing that the combination of an all-wheel-drive mid-ship layout offers the best layout for high-performance driving”. 

How will the MR2’s design shape up?

Toyota has lots of experience with mid-engined models, selling the MR2 over the course of three decades between the mid-eighties and the late 2000s. But despite a close connection to these past icons, we expect the new sports car to feature a significantly more contemporary design, taking its lead from the aforementioned FT-Se concept.

As previewed in our exclusive image, much of the concept’s overall design and proportions will be carried over, based on the combination of a low windscreen, short bonnet and tightly packaged rear.

The body itself should retain similar exaggerated forms to the concept, highlighted with strong rear haunches, angular surfacing and bodywork that looks almost shrink-wrapped over the engine and chassis.

The switch to an internal-combustion powertrain will have an effect on how the car manages the airflow around the body, but we don’t expect big side intakes will be necessary; instead, the engine will draw in air from the front of the car and underneath. This notion is supported by the GR Yaris M Concept, because it does without any obvious side-mounted air intakes.

Around the rear, we also expect similar LED lighting to the concept’s to be carried across, as well as the aggressive rear diffuser and a small ducktail spoiler. As with most GR models, the base car will probably be able to be customised with more aggressive aero components such as a high-mounted rear wing and aero flicks mounted on the front bumper.

The compact cabin will be strictly for two, and offer good visibility because of the low scuttle height – just as in a Lotus or Porsche. The dashboard will also be pared back and very driver-focused, with compact digital interfaces and little in the way of flashy design elements

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