First details emerge for Toyota's all new entry-level sports car – a compact rear-drive coupe-hatch

It’s been more than two years since Toyota revitalised its ailing sports car line up with the brilliant 86 coupe, which was recently upgraded for the 2015 model year. To keep the ball rolling, engineers have been working on sports models that will be positioned either side of the GT86.

Recently we brought you news of the 86’s upcoming big brother, the successor to Toyota’s Supra, as well as the expansion of the 86 line-up itself, including convertible and sedan versions with turbo and AWD-hybrid powertrains.

Toyota president Akio Toyoda has long expressed his desire to offer a whole family of sports cars around the 86, and now our sources have revealed more details of the Japanese giant’s rumoured smaller coupe, which actually turns out to be a cross between a coupe and a hatch.

And we’ll see it in Australian showrooms within four years, following its Japanese release in early 2018, according to our sources.

In contrast to the Supra successor, which will benefit from technology extracted from BMW, the all-new compact sports car will be developed entirely in-house on an all-new front-engined, rear-wheel drive architecture.

Mazda first preview such a concept at the 2010 Tokyo Auto Salon with the GRMN FR Hot Hatch Concept (pictured). Yes, the Japanese love an acronym, which in the case of this small rear-drive five-door show car based on the Aygo micro, stands for ‘Gazoo Racing Meister of Nurburgring’ and ‘Front-engine, Rear-drive’.

Gazoo Racing is one of the company’s racing arms and manages race cars for the Nurburgring endurance events in Germany and high-profile GT races in Japan.

A follow-up concept emerged at the 2011 Nurburgring 24-hour in the form of the GRMN Sports Hybrid Concept II, which paired a front-mounted electric motor with a 3.5-litre V6 driving the sub-1500kg two-seater convertible’s rear wheels.

Now, sources tell us that Toyota is in the advanced stages of developing a new compact rear-drive coupe that will tip the scales at just 980kg, matching Mazda’s upcoming MX-5.

Powered by a 1.5 litre inline four-cylinder engine generating about 100kW, the new Toyota two-door will fill the shoes vacated by the discontinued MR2.

What you see here is an artist’s impression of the form the new compact two-door will take. And the silhouette is radical to say the least. Gone is the two-seater convertible configuration, replaced by a raunchy 2+2-seat cross-hatch design.

Toyota’s sports DNA might not register with many readers, but the company actually has a rich heritage in small sports cars like the KP61 Starlet and the Sports 800, not to mention the AE86-generation Toyota Corolla Levin.

In its desire to appeal to both male and female enthusiasts, Toyota appears to have come up with a design that is loosely reminiscent of the BMW 1 Series and Mercedes A-Class.

Engineers started the R&D process by experimenting with a combination of the B-segment platform that underpins Toyota’s Yaris/Vitz and Prius C to create a viable rear-drive platform, but when that adventure failed the team decided a bespoke platform was called for.

Starting more than four years ago, Toyota has created a prototype constructed from a steel platform with a body crafted in carbon-fibre and aluminium to keep weight down while optimizing rigidity.

Toyota is able to apply this expensive manufacturing process by expanding the use of carbon and aluminium body construction to several other sports models, and the next-generation Prius, which we’re told will incorporate “some” carbon parts.

Our insider tells us that the compact cross-hatch measures 3995mm long, 1695mm wide and just 1320mm high, with a wheelbase of 2480mm — dimensions that are close to that of the original 1989 MX-5.

It is powered by Toyota’s naturally aspirated 1.5 litre 2NR-FE engine, fitted with Atkinson Cycle induction technology, dual VVT-i valve timing and a higher compression ratio, thus boosting the standard engine’s 67kW/132Nm outputs to 97kW/145Nm.

These figures may not sound sporty, but our source tells us that Toyota engineers are focusing more on the handling and ride quality of the car than pure speed.

Bolted onto the compact powerplant initially will be the same Aisin six-speed manual transmission currently fitted to the 86, with a six-speed automatic to be added to the line-up further down the track.

MacPherson strut suspension will reside up front, while a more sophisticated double-wishbone set-up will replace the Yaris’ torsion-beam rear-end. Also befitting a rear-drive sports car will be respectably sized (195/50 R16) tyres to fill the wheel-arches.

Expect Toyota’s all-new baby sports to debut in concept form at the 2015 Tokyo motor show next October, before appearing in final production guise at the 2017 Tokyo show and then landing in showrooms around the world the following year, priced from under $20,000.

Image: Holiday Auto