BimmerGuy
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Michael
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- MKV Supra m/t, Cadillac CT5-V BW m/t
Well... it is (my interpretation) the Best Car magazine, not the Best Car Magazine - which aside from the possible translation issues, to me means that it is a magazine about the Best Car(s) not the best "car magazine". Which would be a touch arrogant. Kind of like I'm the best forum poster.
LOL
All that aside, for those who don't want to burn up one of their free Forbes articles, here is the text:
New Toyota Celica In Pipeline For 2026—With 400-HP AWD Setup
Peter Lyon
Contributor
Peter Lyon is based in Tokyo and writes about the car industry.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterl...ive-in-2026-with-400-hp-awd-setup/#open-web-0
Jan 22, 2025,08:31am EST
Updated Jan 23, 2025, 01:05am EST
The FT-Se appears to hide the next-gen Celica's design.
Jayson Fong
Back in July 2024, we ran a story about Toyota’s plans to revive their two well-known sports cars of yesteryear—the Celica and MR2.
Now we are learning that the two cars are actually one and the same. In other words, what Toyota is resurrecting is just the Celica and not the MR2. When queried by Japan’s Best Car magazine recently about the future of a potential Celica or MR2, Toyota Executive Vice President, Hiroki Nakajima said, “To be honest, there’s nothing tangible at the moment. However, there’s strong demand within the company for the Celica. So, is it okay to say this publicly? We’re doing the Celica!”
Narrowing it down to just one model makes a lot of sense, especially given the fact that Toyota already has a strong sports cars lineup including the GR Supra, GR86, GR Corolla, GR Yaris and the LC and RC on the Lexus side.
New Celica Slated To Get Mid-Engined 2.0-Liter Turbo
But interestingly, the Celica’s mid-engined 2.0-liter turbocharged powertrain mentioned in the original story will indeed survive and it will be mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. And no, the powertrain will not employ any form of electrification. Translated that means no electric version and no hybrid variant. Just pure internal combustion.
The FT-Se concept's mid-engined proportions hint to a Celica design.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-personal-shopper/people/astrid-taran/
Which is going against the grain of the current world order which is progressively moving into the EV realm with battery-powered sports cars like the Audi RS e-tron GT, Porsche Taycan and Maserati Granturismo Foglio which cost an arm and a leg. Then there are a few more reasonably priced offerings like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N and MG Cyberster which will set you back $67,000 and £59,000 or $72,000 (AWD version) respectively, although for the time being, the MG is not offered in the U.S.
With his firm lacking a confirmed electric sports car for now, the former company CEO, Akio Toyoda, has said in the past that Toyota will push engine development to the limit, and what we see here with this all-new 4-cylinder, 2.0-liter turbo is something different. Just revealed at last week’s Tokyo Auto Salon, this radical new gasoline turbo unit is slated to slip into the Celica’s rear engine bay—that’s right, it’s a mid-engine setup—and power an all-wheel-drive powertrain.
Toyota Covertly Introduces Next-Gen Celica Engine At Auto Salon
Toyota actually ‘covertly’ introduced this gutsy 400-hp plus compact engine as a powerplant for a different car—the GR Yaris M Concept— but will read the signs and predict that this powerunit will propel the all-new Celica when it comes along at the end of 2026. And we can also expect the new Celica to inherit the rally-honed GR Corolla’s notchy 6-speed manual transmission and all-wheel-drive setup that will no doubt give the coupe unprecedented handling and max-out its fun factor.
The car you see above is the fully electric Toyota FT-Se two-seater concept which was revealed in October 2023 at the once-called ‘Tokyo Motor Show’ that’s been renamed ‘Japan Mobility Show.’ Toyota told us the FT-Se was an electric sports car concept, but the more we look at this strangely mid-engined proportioned coupe, the more we think they were cleverly hiding their next-generation Celica in plain sight. The new mid-engined 2.0-liter and the mid-engined proportioned FT-Se concept fit too comfortably together to be ignored. Even though we expect the completed exterior design to employ strategic differences, this car looks the part and its just the right size too.
The only downside is that the new two-door is expected to arrive wearing a price tag of around 10 million yen or just undercutting $70,000 at current exchange rates. For that kind of money, you could get a Dodge Charger Daytona, a Ford Mustang V8, BMW M2, a fully specced Nissan Z, Audi RS3, Toyota GR Supra, or a Chevrolet Corvette. With a rally-bred chassis, a mid-engined 400-hp 2.0-liter turbo, and all-wheel drive, could a redefined Celica compete with those models for similar money? Most probably, but perhaps Toyota might be better served by switching the new coupe’s brand to the Lexus stable to give it more status, more appeal for the money. That might appease potential buyers more.
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