Toyota GR will keep gas engines and manuals alive

We can lie in bed on a “full electric GR lineup” that is “long-term”.

Toyota’s Gazoo Racing (GR) lineup is one of the last remaining bastions to burn performance cars in a world that quickly moves towards electrification. Toyota carves a solid niche with models like the GR86, GR Corolla and GR Supra. And now, even if brands continue to shift to electrification, there is good news for enthusiasts: the GR family will not abandon gas engines, or manual transmissions at any time.

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“The combustion engine and manual transmission will last for a long time,” Sean Hanley, an executive of Toyota Australia, in the process of raising the storm. car. If this is an information TV, we will prompt a slow clapping. In a world full of bad news or worse, he brings us something that excites us.

Over the past few years, cars like GR Supra, Gr Corolla and Gr 86 have continued to leave their mark in the enthusiast community. It seems that the trend will continue for the foreseeable future, with gas-powered engines and manual transmissions still being a key part of Toyota’s performance strategy.

A commitment to a firm driving fun

Hanley made it clear that it could be said that GR is on his own path. “Even if we transition to electrification, there is still room for a performance enthusiast who are dying, and these enthusiasts are not dying breeds,” he said. So, there is no need to panic and assume that Toyota is about to paint some synthetic exhaust sounds onto the EV prototype to mimic the feeling of a real sports car.

He clarified what he meant: “While we are focusing on future electrification in other model lineups, we plan to keep the sound, smell and the feeling of burning engines the same – we all really like burning, crackling and popping.” Unless the automaker plans to bake some gas-emitting diffusers in their electric cars, he has to talk about real burning engines.

It is worth noting that Hanley’s approach to Toyota’s performance-oriented car is not dogmatic. He made it clear that the automaker could theoretically push sports-focused cars and use hydrogen later on.

Even if the company does ultimately take the risk of using electric cars, they plan to maintain the core value that makes GR cars attractive: raw performance and real driving engagement. Hanley stressed that the GR brand will still cater to “every car enthusiast and performance fan” of future products.

It sounds like we can all fall behind the future.

Image source: Stephen Rivers