Toyota builds rally-inspired GR86, powered by Corolla GR for SEMA

Toyota is finally building a turbocharged GR86, but it’s not following Subaru’s path of mixing forced induction with a flat-four. Rather, it’s about transforming the coupe into a unique rally-inspired concept that will debut at the 2024 SEMA show alongside the Corolla GR turbo-three.

Although the Japanese brand has yet to release official details about this project, photographer Larry Chen got a behind-the-scenes look at the build and filmed a video of it for his YouTube channel. Most of the work is done by a California shop called Evasive Motorsports, which notably offers a thick catalog of spare parts for the first and second generation versions of the coupe, including turbo and supercharger kits. The end result will be significantly changed, but it looks like most of the parts came out of the Toyota trash.

On paper, the change is simple: Evasive Motorsports removes the transmission from a GR Corolla to mount it on a GR86. In practice, getting it all to work is a lot harder than it seems. The pieces of the puzzle just don’t fit together: The GR Corolla uses a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine designed to be transversely mounted, a six-speed manual transmission and a full-time all-wheel-drive system. The GR86 uses a longitudinally-mounted 2.4-liter naturally aspirated flat-four, a different six-speed manual transmission, and rear-wheel drive. The project requires a lot of manufacturing work, but we’re willing to bet the effort required will be worth it.