Toyota NZ will say more about coupe soon, but affirms hardest-edged version of next year’s Corolla not for us.

THE 86 sports coupe will stay in Toyota New Zealand’s performance car portfolio, with more information coming in a few weeks.

 Confirmation of the now 2.4-litre car’s retention came today from the brand’s head office, with it also notifying it already has an example of the new generation car – now called GR 86 – on local turf for evaluation.

In addition to saying that it is close to making extensive comment about GR 86, TNZ has also spoken again about a new member of the Gazoo Racing family set to come next year, the GR Corolla.

 It says it has now placed production orders with Toyota Japan for the 226kW hot hatch and says customers can now register interest with Toyota Stores, to be put on a waiting list.

 While the New Zealand specification has yet to be shared, the Palmerston North-based operation says it will not extend to a hardcore two-seat version, the Morizo edition, a spokeswoman relating: “We are not planning to have the Morizo edition available to the New Zealand market at this time.”

 Named after the racing pseudonym of Toyota's long-serving president, Akio Toyoda, the Morizo is - as is patent from today’s video - even more focused on track use than the regular GR Corolla.

 It's 30kg lighter, mostly thanks to it losing the back seats, and has a big structural brace and 3.3 metres of additional structural adhesive to further enhance body rigidity, plus achieves new dampers and special Michelin tyres.

The 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine (closely related to that used in the GR Yaris) has been given an extra 30Nm of torque, for a total of 370Nm, and the gearing of the six-speed manual gearbox revised. There’s just one colour - Metallic Matte Grey – a special interior trim and it has 'Morizo's' signature etched onto the windscreen.

 The GR 86 was announced in Japan a year ago and will replace the original 86 which, though a modest sales performer, has been a high-profile car for Toyota locally, as the basis of a racing series that will continue to use the outgoing TR86 model for at least another year.

 Toyota’s new version follows in the tyre tracks of the second-generation BRZ, which isn’t a starter here, but with slightly stronger outputs from the direct injection engine, international press material at time of release last October quoting maximum power of 173kW presented at 7000rpm and top torque of 250Nm, coming on at 7400rpm. That’s 3kW and 1Nm more than Subaru quotes.

 Either way, it’s still a healthy increase over the maximum outputs from the 2.0-litre car – Subaru quotes 11 percent more power and 15 percent more torque – and it shows in the 0-100kmh time of 6.3 seconds, claimed of course for the manual. The previous model delivered in 7.4s.

 The unit continues to run through six-speed transmissions, the auto now having a Sport function, and sending out the oomph through the rear wheels, with the vehicle stability control system offering five settings now to alter the degree of skid-tastic fun.

 Macpherson strut front suspension and double-wishbone rear suspension also carries over and even though the chassis is thought to be an improved version of the current cars, the two generations are only identical in 1775mm width.

 With a length of 4265mm, height of 1310mm and wheelbase of 2572mm, the GR 86 is 25mm longer, 13mm lower and 6mm longer in wheelbase than the predecessor.

 Toyota has quoted a kerb weight of 1270kg (for the manual) and, like Subaru, reminds the car’s roof is now aluminium to bring down the centre of gravity. Aluminium front wings, updated front seats and mufflers contribute to reduced weight.

Body rigidity has been improved, with the goal of offering pleasurable handling in all speed ranges—from urban driving to the upper limits of performance, the maker says. Torsional rigidity has been enhanced by approximately 50 percent over the previous model for greater steering stability.

The cabin design is all about ensuring the driver can concentrate on driving. There’s a new seven inch display screen whose opening animation sequence is “inspired by the piston movements of the horizontally opposed engine, and fosters a sense of excitement even before the drive begins.”

 The automatic GR86 alone appears to pick up Subaru’s Eyesight driver assist technology, which include pre-collision safety technologies that help avoid or reduce collision impacts.

 The GR 86 has become subject of international interest as it will only stay in production for European markets for two years; beyond that it falls foul of impending crash safety regulations for that part of the world.

 The future of Gazoo Racing has also been thrown into the spotlight in respect to how it will conform into Toyota’s pledge to launch 30 new EVs by 2030.

 There is speculation that two famous past sports cars, the Toyota MR2 and Lexus LFA, could reprise in wholly electric formats, potentially powered by the solid-state batteries Toyota is working to put into production models. By virtue of their increased power density, these are both lighter and more efficient than the conventional lithium ion batteries in most EVs on sale today.

MR2 translates as ‘mid-engined two seater runabout’. So far the E-TNGA platform has been used only for front and rear-wheel-drive cars, but mid-engined EVs are technically possible.