We Drive (What Could Be) the Reborn Toyota MR2Michael Aaron - Car and DriverIt has been said that test mules are bugs. Shod with GPS antenna, they often crawl through development resembling stag beetles instead of something any of us would drive. If we're ever fortunate enough to see them, it's usually by mistake. Or via the telephoto lens of some fancy helicopter-having spy photographer.That's not the case with Toyota's mid-engine M Concept, which could be the pupa of an MR2 or Celica revival. Toyota let us get close enough to sniff around the turbocharged inline-four it's currently developing (it smells hot); it also let us hoon an early prototype. And the best part? You don't have to plug it in.Michael Aaron - Car and DriverIt looks like a bastardized GR Yaris project car because it is. After three years of development, GR chief engineer Naohiko Saito told us there are currently six iterations of the mid-engine, all-wheel-drive test bed, with at least 14 more planned.AdvertisementAdvertisement"These are basically our toys," Saito-san said, though those toys represent the work of at least 500 Gazoo Racing employees. Some mules have widened, engine-bearing hips with swollen quarter-panels to feed radiators for additional cooling. Another wears an intercooler with cast-aluminum end tanks like a baseball cap, supported by rubber coolant hoses running through the carbon-fiber roof. Across the group, there are as many mismatched wheels and tires as there are different turbine housings.Michael Aaron - Car and DriverCaptain of the MidshipThe mule we drove, which engineers called the "first generation," wore company chairman Akio Toyoda's signature in permanent marker on its windshield and looked like a rolling nightmare of ideas. It had a solid hood, unlike the current race car, which cuts a valley into its nose for a giant radiator and electric cooling fans.Michael Aaron - Car and DriverUnder the hood, now engine-free, lies the rear subframe and differential of another GR Yaris, turned 180 degrees. In what's essentially an inverted setup to the GR Corolla and Yaris, the test mules are still all-wheel drive with front and rear Torsen limited-slip differentials, but with a prop shaft that runs from the transmission, now in the back, up to the front.Behind the bucket seats sits the GR Yaris's G16E-GTS turbocharged 1.6-liter three-cylinder, because this particular car was built before the new G20E turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four was introduced. To illustrate just how early a prototype Toyota shared with us, engineers said it would overheat after only 20 minutes behind the wheel.Aside from a dashboard and door panels, the interior was completely gutted, rally-car style. There was a full roll cage, those bucket seats that my butt was a bit too wide for, and random patches of tape, wires, and buttons, which I was afraid to disturb lest I delay the entire program by a decade. Rather than tempt fate, I tightened my glutes to drop farther into the seat and kept my right foot planted on the gas pedal.Michael Aaron - Car and DriverAdvertisementAdvertisementAll four Yokohama rally tires chewed through the gravel pit at Toyota's Shimoyama proving grounds in Japan like it's shaved ice. With its tiny two-door cockpit and the engine behind me, this might be the closest thing to a Lancia Stratos I'll ever get to drive. It's quick to rotate and can hold a slide without much effort, even with a 30/70 front-to-rear torque split. Engineers told us the M Concept is capable of 100 percent rear (there's your Initial D mode, folks) and up to 50 percent to the front diff. They tested a 70/30 split but said the car had too much understeer, which Akio Toyoda has famously described as "time to pray to God."Strangely, the 1.6-liter didn't feel particularly powerful in the test mule, which isn't too surprising given the heat soak and the heavy rally wheels and tires. If Toyota is serious about producing something with exceptional ability to rotate, they almost got it on the first try. Getting the nose to point inward, at least on gravel, is as easy as lifting off the throttle then pinning it again. And unlike in a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, taking the engine off the front axle and stuffing it behind the driver makes the car feel balanced even under conditions as ridiculous as a gravel pit.Turbo LoverWe also got a ride in a Gen-5 mule, this time on Toyota's 3.3-mile drive loop, which is paved with blind, uneven crests and hair-raising sections, some of which bear witness to test vehicles that understeered into oblivion. It's inspired by the Nürburgring but bends and loops like Mario Kart's Rainbow Road. We did a lap in a stock GR Yaris and then the M Concept, which happened to wear a fresh set of sticky Bridgestone Potenza RE-71RZ tires.The Gen-5 car is closer to the current race car, which is G20E-powered, and which Saito confirmed is a double-overhead-camshaft 16-valve inline-four with port and direct fuel injection and forced induction from a ball-bearing twin-scroll turbo. Compressor sizes varied, but every turbo we saw looked dramatically larger than the IHI turbo currently used on the GR Yaris and Corolla.Michael Aaron - Car and DriverIn the G20E-powered car, compared to the 1.6-liter, you pierce through the world at hyper speed. In sections of the track best described as "oh God" and "sweet Jesus," the car remains superglued to the tarmac. In high-speed sections where the 300-hp GR Yaris was going 75 mph, the M Concept reached nearly 100. However, the most impressive feats occurred during cornering, where Toyota's pro driver cornered with oversteer instead of lifting to counter understeer. The car felt much more rear-biased and more sensitive to trail braking, particularly in tight hairpins.AdvertisementAdvertisementToyota's mighty turbo four produces absolutely delicious turbo noises, in what we can only assume is proof of concept that the G20E will be able to achieve far more than 100 horsepower per cylinder. Loud exhaust pops rifled out of the exhaust between shifts—more evidence that no matter where this powertrain ends up, Toyota wants it to be heard.Austin Irwin - Car and DriverRace, Break, Learn, RepeatThe latest Gen-6 car competed at the 24-hour Super Taikyu race at Fuji Speedway in Japan. Incredibly, the M Concept's best lap was within a second of established GT4 cars. However, the demands of endurance racing certainly took their toll on their R&D race car.One of its many oil coolers cracked, and the rod for the turbocharger's external wastegate called it quits. Because Toyota is developing this powertrain for a multitude of applications, unlike the six-speed manual we drove, the race car uses an eight-speed automatic, as in the two-pedal GR Corolla.Austin Irwin - Car and DriverThe race car also had the widest fenders and quarter-panels. Eleven circular holes in the rear hatch helped vent hot air, aided by two big electric cooling fans where the license plate would normally live on a GR Yaris. Toyota extended the entire chassis to mount the engine farther back, effectively extending the wheelbase by 3.9 inches.AdvertisementAdvertisementTo keep the tail end stable during high-g braking, engineers fit the rear axle with two-piece brake rotors and four-piston fixed calipers. While it's difficult to say which parts are on the race car just for safety and endurance racing and what might make it to production, most of the mules we saw ran a staggered wheel setup. In race form, that looked like 260/660R-18 tires up front and 300/660R-18 in the rear. Hell yeah, brother.Michael Aaron - Car and DriverGR You Serious?We asked Saito about the biggest failures during development. "Too much to list," he said. "We are constantly changing designs. And sometimes when you change one thing, something else bad can happen."That seems to be the point. Toyota brought us to Japan to drive and sniff around this thing while it is still early, hot, weird, and half unfinished because it knows enthusiasts love a good project-car story. The program is so hot it literally overheats, but Akio Toyoda has put real trust behind something meant to excite people who care about Supras, Celicas, MR2s, GR Corollas, GR Yarises, and GR86s. That is more interesting than waiting around for a sheet pull.The whole program feels modular enough to become several things, but it is hard not to speculate with the rest of the internet that Toyota just showed us the larval stage of a new MR2. A Celica is possible too, or maybe this becomes something with no nostalgic badge at all. Toyota is not ready to say. The car, however, is saying plenty.Michael Aaron - Car and DriverOne thing is certain: If any arm of Toyota can outrun decades of beige car jokes, it is Gazoo Racing. We are total suckers for a fun car. The M Concept probably won't hatch out of its GR Yaris camouflage by the end of this year, but 2027 could bring even bigger teases. That is, assuming Toyota can work out a few more bugs.AdvertisementAdvertisement➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.Shop New Cars Shop Used CarsYou Might Also LikeGift Guide: Best Ride-On Electric Cars for KidsFuture Cars Worth Waiting For: 2025–2029