The rumour mill is once again swirling, with whispers that Toyota and Suzuki are planning on a co-developed two-seat sports coupe powered by a 1.0-litre turbocharged engine.
The report comes from Japanese outlet Best Car, who says that Suzuki may be leaning on Toyota and its Daihatsu subsidiary for a co-developed sports car package, in much the same way that the Toyota 86 and its twin-under-the-skin Subaru BRZ came about in 2013. However. Toyota currently owns around 5 per cent of Suzuki, whereas Toyota owns around 20 per cent of Subaru Corporation (Subaru’s parent company).
Best Car says that the baby sports coupe could feature a super lightweight construction of around 1000kg, while measuring in at around 4200mm long, 1720mm wide, 1220mm tall and have a wheelbase spanning 2550mm.
For reference, the Mazda MX-5 measures in at 3915mm and has a wheelbase that spans 2310mm, making the Toyota-Suzuki project slightly larger, if these specs turn out to be accurate that is.
The report states that Suzuki is leading the development of the powertrain that will likely come in the shape of a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder pushing out 90kW/200Nm, with a mild-hybrid setup thrown in.
Suzuki is, according to the report, leading the charge on the suspension design that could end up with the sports coupe gaining a heap of hardware from the current GR Yaris, with the ultimate goal of creating an affordable package priced anywhere between 2.2-2.8 million yen. With today’s exchange range, that puts it in the price range of about AU$24,000 to $30,000.
We’ll have to wait and see how this one plays out, however, our guess is that few people will be complaining about a new and affordable sports car package from Japan. Toyota unveiled a range of concepts in 2021, including a small roadster concept (pictured), which could spawn a return of the MR2.
