We can expect the new Celica to take some design hints from the FT-Se sports car that debuted at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show.
Photo courtesy of Toyota
Over the next several years, Toyota’s in-house racing arm and sportscar brand—Gazoo Racing or ‘GR’ for short—have multiple models planned for launch in global markets. But the two star models out of that bunch, which includes new versions of the GR Yaris, GR 86, GR Corolla, GR Supra and GR Celica are the last two.
Slated for a 2027 debut, the all-new GR Supra will employ a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, while the new GR Celica, due for a 2028 launch, will incorporate a mid-engined layout and AWD.
Both the Supra and Celica will employ the same 2.0-liter turbo
According to Japan’s biggest-selling car magazine Best Car, both models will be powered by a next generation turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine, with the Supra getting a hybrid unit boosting power and improving fuel efficiency, while the Celica is expected to employ a straight naturally-aspirated gasoline engine.
Even though the two 2-seater coupes will use the same basic engine, the Celica’s naturally-aspirated unit will pump out 400-hp in contrast to the Supra’s expected 500-hp thanks to the electric motor in the hybrid system. Both models will offer buyers a choice of 6-speed manual or 8-speed direct automatic transmission (DAT) developed in-house by Gazoo Racing.
This is a dressed-up race version of the Supra that appeared in Australia in 2024. The new model will employ a 500-hp hybrid powertrain. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
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The Celica, which went out of production in 2006, is making a major comeback as the first model to feature a mid-engined layout since the MR-S (or MR2 in foreign markets). As Best Car reports, Toyota realizes that the long production blank means that its engineers have become a little rusty when it comes to designing mid-engined machines, so the brand’s R&D section bought an Alpine A110 and meticulously dismantled it to see what made the car so much fun and so highly acclaimed.
We should see a racing prototype of the mid-engine unit compete before the production Celica debuts
A new version of the GR Yaris, a car that has brought Toyota multiple victories in the World Rally Championships, and was first seen at last January’s Toyota Auto Salon in mid-engined form, is expected to compete in next year’s Super Endurance Series in Japan. So what this news means is that there is a very strong chance we will see a racing version of the new mid-engined 2.0-liter turbo competing in Japan before we see it dropped into a new Celica.
Just like Toyota engineers did with the Lexus LFA supercar back in 2008-2010, when they entered the LFA prototype in endurance races at Germany’s famed Nurburgring to fine-tune the powertrain before releasing it in the production model LFA in 2010, we can expect to see Toyota’s R&D department race a prototype mid-engined Yaris in Japan before it debuts at the 2027 Tokyo Auto Salon with plans for sales to start in spring of 2028.
As far as pricing goes, expect the Supra to land in showrooms in 2027 starting at around $55,000, while the Celica should arrive in early 2028 starting at approximately $65,000.
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