The GR GT may have debuted just two months ago, but we here at Motor1 already got an early look at Toyota’s new sports car during the 2026 Tokyo Auto Salon. Toyota had lots of juicy hardware on display, including a full body cutaway that revealed the engine, gearbox, and suspension, plus a bare chassis showcasing the GR GT’s clever engineering bits. We filmed a full YouTube video on the car, which you can watch above. But I also wanted to give readers a more focused, less haphazard breakdown of what I saw on the show floor. Simply put: There was a ton of fascinating detail to dig into—real clues about how the GR GT could drive, sound, and handle. See for yourself. A V8 Worthy Of A Halo Car The GR GT's Engine First things first: the powertrain. The GR GT uses a 641-horsepower, 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 paired with a rear-mounted eight-speed transaxle and an electric motor. To my nerd eyes, the V8 looks like a close relative of the GR Corolla’s G16E-GTS three-cylinder. It shares the same 87.5-millimeter bore and a similar cam phaser layout. That said, this isn’t just a scaled-up G16—there are some major differences. For starters, the direct injectors have been relocated to the top of the cylinder head, right next to the spark plugs. The engine also uses a single large timing chain, with the intake cam driven off the exhaust cam. Stroke is much shorter than the G16’s, too—83.1 millimeters versus 89.7. Visually, the engine looks even closer to Toyota’s unreleased G20E-GTS four-cylinder. It shares a similar fuel-injection layout and an equally massive-looking turbocharger. The GR GT also uses a dry-sump oiling system with seven scavenge stages and absolutely colossal oil feed and return hoses running to the dry-sump tank. The twin turbos are water-to-air intercooled, rounding out a very serious setup. The Transmission That Shouldn't Work (But Does) Power is sent rearward through a carbon-fiber torque tube to a rear-mounted gearbox. This isn’t a dual-clutch transmission, but rather an automatic adapted for transaxle duty. It uses an eight-speed planetary gearset with a multi-plate clutch instead of a torque converter, which creates some interesting packaging challenges. Normally, a manual or DCT uses at least two shafts—input and output—which allows the gearbox and differential to live in a single compact unit. That setup also lets engineers "stack" gears to shorten the transmission and choose where power exits the case. A planetary gearset, like the one used here, is narrower but longer and relies on a single shaft. Power can only exit from the rear of the transmission. That posed a problem for Toyota, since the GR GT’s rear-mounted gearbox is already pushed as far back in the chassis as possible. The solution? Toyota added a counter gear and sent power forward via an external driveshaft, which then feeds the differential before finally driving the rear wheels. Weird, huh? But it’s also elegantly simple. This approach avoids the complexity and weight of a DCT while keeping the gearbox compact. The hybrid motor is integrated into the clutch pack, further simplifying the layout. Overall, it’s a very neat setup. Aluminum, Everywhere You Look Next up: the chassis. The GR GT rides on a mostly aluminum structure with some intriguing material choices. The roof, door skins, hood, and various body panels are made from recycled carbon fiber to save weight, while the chassis itself relies on a mix of aluminum castings and extrusions. Much of the structure consists of large aluminum castings, including the shock towers, front and rear frame rails, and even the roof. Everything appears to be welded together rather than bonded with adhesive. Using cast aluminum for the A-pillars and roof is especially interesting, and it says a lot about the material's potential strength. Traditionally, aluminum castings are very stiff but can be brittle. Advances in metallurgy can mitigate those downsides, though, and this may be one of the first times cast aluminum has been used so extensively in rollover and crash structures—but correct me if I’m wrong. Using cast aluminum for the A-pillars and roof is especially interesting, and it says a lot about the material's potential strength. An experienced automotive engineer friend who was with me at TAS made some sharp observations. Around the suspension mounting points, the castings look almost AI-optimized for strength and rigidity. He also suspects that some of the casting molds may be 3D-printed, based on the extreme complexity of the shapes. By contrast, most of the body reinforcements are aluminum extrusions—cheap, strong, and easy to manufacture. The end result is likely an exceptionally rigid platform for the suspension to work from. In execution, it feels more Aston Martin than Toyota, which is very cool to see. Suspension-wise, Toyota kept things simple. The GR GT uses double wishbones at all four corners with forged aluminum control arms. All rear suspension links are mounted in double shear for added strength, while the front setup is slightly simpler. There’s a modest amount of anti-dive up front and anti-squat at the rear. Thankfully, there’s no wildly complex multi-link arrangement to decode here. The simplicity should translate to a delightfully communicative driving experience—exactly what you want in a serious sports car. A True Halo Car Overall, the GR GT looks deceptively simple. Nothing about it feels overcomplicated or overengineered, which usually points to extensive iteration and refinement. If the Lexus LFA is any indication—and given how long the GR GT has reportedly been in development—Toyota probably focused on perfecting proven ideas rather than chasing novelty for its own sake. Historically, Toyota has used its halo cars as rolling material-science experiments. The LFA pushed carbon fiber into the spotlight. The GR GT could do the same for advanced aluminum casting. All of which is to say: I’m very excited to drive this car someday. If nothing else, it’s a true Toyota supercar in both philosophy and execution. We want your opinion! What would you like to see on Motor1.com? Take our 3 minute survey. - The Motor1.com Team
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