Currently reading: New Toyota 2.0-litre petrol engine is world’s ‘most thermally efficient’

Petrol power arrives alongside new hybrid system, with promise of world-leading fuel economy

Toyota has developed a 2.0-litre engine that it claims is the most thermally efficient petrol unit in production.

The new four-cylinder engine is said to have a thermal efficiency of 40% – just 1% short of what the Toyota Prius offers with its 1.8-litre hybrid powertrain.

Toyota said the engine can achieve unparalleled levels of fuel economy as a result of new friction-reducing technology and more efficient exhaust and cooling systems.

It will be rolled out across Toyota’s new global architecture (TNGA) models in the coming years.

Toyota Aygo update brings more power and improved refinement

The new 2.0-litre petrol engine, which peaks at 169bhp, will also offered with hybrid electric power. In this guise, it will match the Prius’s 41% thermal efficiency but offers more performance thanks to its larger capacity.

This hybrid powertrain is expected to be introduced via the upcoming Auris, which is scheduled for reveal at the Geneva motor show next week.

It will be one of two hybrid powerplants offered in the new Auris, with the existing 1.8-litre hybrid powertrain remaining as the entry point, albeit in an updated form.

The expanded hybrid line-up created by the new 2.0-litre engine should partially fill the void left by the departed diesel Auris. Toyota dropped the diesel version of the Auris last year amid low demand, with just 651 examples sold in 2017.

Toyota Supra to share BMW electronics with upcoming BMW Z4

Toyota has also developed a more efficient CVT gearbox that uses the world’s first gear drive for initial acceleration. This essentially gives the gearbox the quicker off-the-line response of a standard automatic but enables the higher efficiency of a CVT when moving.

Meanwhile, Toyota has created a torque vectoring system for petrol all-wheel-drive models that can decouple the front axle for pure rear-drive. This system will be introduced into Toyota’s all-wheel-drive and off-road models in the near future, with claims of improved fuel economy.

Toyota’s new technology comes at a time when it's about to make big changes to its UK line-up. The Japanese car maker looks set to replace its low-selling Avensis saloon with a new Corolla model.

Although it hasn’t been available in Britain for 11 years, the Corolla has remained on sale in other markets as a saloon. The new car will have strong technical links to the Auris, using the same underpinnings and powertrains.

Advertisement

Read our review

Car review

The Toyota Auris is super-rational and a good ownership proposition, especially at £4k

Back to top

Join the debate

Comments
27
Add a comment…
hpsupport 26 April 2018

Best car

This Toyota car hs the worlds most powerful engine. I have already checked the reviews and if you interested in this car then contact hp support.

mpls 2 March 2018

Don't you mean HCCI ?

Don't you mean HCCI ?

 

I think Toyota are workign together with Mazda, so I'm expecting more to come from Mazda & Toyota..

Paul Dalgarno 3 March 2018

Where are the great cars though?

All very laudable, but what about real world fuel consumption? Will be a nice engine to drive, or awful like torque free Honda VTECs with headline bhp levels in the past?

Will they install it in a good looking and talented car?

Aygo is a good little car, had a hire car and a friend has one. Not for a 2 litre engine  

Yaris - deadly dull little box. Had a previous generation one that looked good though.

Auris. For when a Vauxhall is just too exciting for you....

CHR - Not my taste but can see the appeal.

RAV - A dull looking thing.

Verso - Why?

Avensis - Why?

Very little to appeal in the UK by the look of it. Don’t understand Japanese car companies at the moment.a few decent sports cars, but little else interesting across the board. Neither attractive or interesting in commodity models, and some hideous such as Civic. A lull from Japan at the moment, have the Koreans stolen a march on cost and styling in Europe?  

 

jer 28 February 2018

Its reported Mazda's

New SCCI engine will approach 56%, if you believe it. I know forced induction and spark and compression ignition but still some achievement. Picking up someone else point I reckon 100k for a Merc F1 engine is an underestimate!

cymrogog 1 March 2018

F1 engine cost

jer wrote:

New SCCI engine will approach 56%, if you believe it. I know forced induction and spark and compression ignition but still some achievement. Picking up someone else point I reckon 100k for a Merc F1 engine is an underestimate!

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/131367/f1-engine-deals-getting-cheaper--mercedes

"If you get this kind of engine at prices like $12-14m, which is what we're trying to achieve, I have no understanding for somebody that claims the engines are too expensive." Wolff says that engine costs are now a relatively small element of a customer team's budget. "It's 5% of the big teams' overall costs, and for the smaller teams it's between 8-10%," he said.

5 engines per season last year... do the math. Around $3 million