We Hear: Toyota Planning Rear-Drive Four-Door Hatch with $20,000 Price
 

Found this seems Toyota wants to build a sporty hatchback.

http://stwot.motortrend.com/files/20...er-623x389.jpg

The 2013 Scion FR-S provides rear-drive thrills and serves as a halo car for the Scion brand, but what’s left for enthusiasts who can’t afford the car’s $25,255 price of entry? As early as 2016, Toyota may have an answer that’s nothing like the relatively inexpensive MR2 that was discontinued in the 2000s.

A voice from someone close to Toyota tells us that while the new fun-to-drive car will be positioned as a little brother to the GT86, it will get four seats, five doors, a 1.5-liter engine developing around 150 hp, and be aimed at a global audience no sooner than 2016. The new car will totally redefine the company’s entry-level sporty cars by taking on a new hatchback-style shape, a rear-drive platform and a naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine.

With lightweight sports cars a difficult sell in Japan, and young customers on a more global scale wanting hatchback style vehicles with more seats and extra practicality, the car will employ a sleek hatch-style silhouette and be priced around $20,000. A source told us that the hatch will employ a revised version of Toyota’s Rush mini-crossover pictured above but that the new iteration will employ a lower ride height and four-wheel independent suspension; just how much say BMW’s handling department will have in this car’s final settings is still unclear.

Whether such a car will make it from the drawing board all the way to showrooms around the world – or in the U.S. – remains to be seen, but we’re hopeful Toyota can prepare an rear-drive four-door hatch for about the same price as a base Toyota Camry.

Ummm... hell yes

want

Short Sport
 

How about this 2 door Short Sport under wraps? 3.5L V6 AWD with tuned suspension 0-60 under 6 seconds..

http://www.doanehoag.com/Forums/Cars...hort_Sport.jpg

Actually the Toyota is going to be a car hatchback based on the Rush platform low profile. It is suppose to be a performance hatchback along the lines of the GTI but rear wheel drive. In the USA it could end up being a Scion since FR-S is here.

Hell yeah, bring the Starlet back. It would re-redefine Toyota lol

I would buy one in a heartbeat.

Would love to see the Supra come back!




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http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/r...nceptDrift.jpg

I guess if you want a hot hatch you can get the Kia Forte hatchback with 201 hp turbo charged 1.6l
http://autoweek.com/storyimage/CW/20...r.jpg&maxW=630

A new engine option marked the reveal of the 2014 Kia Forte 5-door at the Chicago Auto Show.
The 1.6-liter gasoline direct-injection turbocharged four-cylinder engine puts out 201 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque. The engine can be mated to a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. This engine option is the most powerful of the Forte lineup, which also includes the Forte sedan and Forte Koup.

I'm more interested in what Nissan has in store. Waiting on a 240 resurrection. Plus nissan's sense of style to me isn't as fugly as toyotas. In my opinion anyways. The new sentras, Maximas, and altimas, look pretty tits.

On a side note you've got to be kidding me with that "supra" *puke*

I can tolerate the new "NSX."

Anyone seen this Honda "Urban" SUV concept? Looks pretty wild.

Of course sir X2 that !

The new Kia sure is nice. Will give GTI guys something to think about. Anyone know how the Veloster turbo engines are holding up? This appears to be the same thing, or a variant of it.

Believe it when I see it :P

Toyota is afraid of RWD. Sure, for the FRS. Not for normal people who buy hatches. It's more expensive and less safe. BMW, sure. Toyota? Give me a break. It has a chance only if Akio can really put his muscle behind it.

And I would definitely buy a 20k$ RWD hatchback made by Toyota.

It wouldn't be bad, built based on the FR-S. Could be sold as a Scion here, Scion needs some vehicles that no one else offers rather then a rebadged Toyota.

Glad I did a search before posting about this car,
I'm going to give it some strong consideration along with a couple others I like.I have not heard of any issues with the Veloster Turbo and hopefully the Forte should be good to go.

I read somewhere that the DSG could not hold up to the power so they went with the regular A/T with paddles like our Fit.

I would get the 6MT anyway with this car so no problem there.I'm waiting on the official word from Dodge on the Dart SRT4

Then I can compare to the Focus ST,Kia 5 door Forte turbo and a couple others on my radar.

meh, no thanks from me. thanks for sharing though. :)

So they are lowering the RAV4 and giving it less of a motor.

Toyota has the right idea, but 20 grand is still too much for what they are offering.

and rwd is not ideal for most folks espcially in snow belt states.

isnt honda considering bringin the Beat ? mid engine rwd ? 1.5 liter or something ..

are they? i donno.... people that buys these cheap cars are usually cash struck so they dont want to buy separate wheels/tires for winter use in snow belt states. thats why it seems odd they would bring such a car to the US.

they should just bring back the S2000 and sell it for $35-40K.

while the big hitters in the industry is following the footsteps of Nissan's Juke... Nissan has another leg up with the Juke Nismo :D

also those offering from toyata and honda are rather more ugly... bland... and looking like a shrunk version of what they offer in their SUV lineup.


http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog....mo-concept.jpg

http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/wp-c...Juke-NISMO.jpg