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

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 .”

The 'M Concept' unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Salon car show replaces the front-mounted 1.6-litre turbo three-cylinder engine with an example of Toyota's next-generation 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder, mounted behind the rear seats.

Toyota's foray into the world of mid-engine hot hatchbacks stems from motorsports, as the racing wing of the Japanese brand is set to enter the concept model in the Super Taikyu series. Born in 1991,

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

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