Toyota Introduces 1.2 Liter Turbo Engine For Corolla

Over the past couple of years, car companies are downsizing their power plants to make them more fuel efficient as well as compliant with more stringent emission standards. From the German luxury brands to the Japanese economy brands, downsizing the engines are top priority. Automotive empires like Ford, VW and many other European companies have already introduced lower displacement engines and made their cars more powerful and fuel efficient by using turbochargers. Electric and hybrid vehicles have started flooding the market but still there is a big market for fuel efficient regular engines.

The automakers from Japan were lagging behind in the downsizing race until recently when Honda confirmed a 1.5L VTEC turbo engine for  10th Generation Civic. The folks at Toyota are also working on a plan to launch 14 new engines which includes a couple of turbocharged engines as well. The program was launched in April 2014 and most of the new engines will be revealed by the end of 2015.

The first new engine introduced by Toyota under the plan is a newly developed 2.0L turbo engine for an entry level crossover under Lexus brand named NX, which went on sale in the fall of 2014. Today, Toyota has released details on another engine and this time it’s the new 1.2T, and you have guessed the letter “T” correctly. This is an all-new, direct injection turbocharged petrol engine. The engine is coded as 8NR-FTS for identification. According to Toyota, the new engine will have an output of 114 horsepower and 136 lb-ft/ 185NM of torque and will have same performance as regular/conventional 1.6L engines.

Toyota further details that the new engine will have much improved intelligent Variable Valve Timing (VVT) which will allow the engine to use the Otto or Atkinson cycle. Toyota further explains it:

“The latter is used in extremely low load conditions, when the intake valve remains open for a fraction of time, after the compression stroke has set in, allowing part of the gas charge to be pushed back into the intake. As a result, the effective compression stroke is shortened. Pumping losses are reduced, since the pressure on the piston is lower, and also the throttle valve can be opened wider.”  

This will make the engine thermally very efficient, which will be around 36%. The 1.2T will have water-cooled turbo and heat exchanger and a compression ratio of 10:1. The new engine technology will result in outstanding performance and efficiency.  The 1.2T engine will be offered in European and Japan Toyota Auris (a hatchback derived from Corolla platform). The new engine will help the hatchback reach from zero-100 kph in 10.1 seconds and achieve a top speed of 200 kph. The economy figures are impressive too which are 4.7 liters/100 km or 50 MPG on US scale.

Toyota further said in a statement:

“Despite the success of hybrids, Toyota is aware that vehicles with conventional power-trains still represent the majority of vehicles sold. By constantly increasing environmental performance across its entire vehicle lineup, Toyota aims to offer a portfolio of environment-friendly vehicles that meet the diverse needs of consumers.”

There is a strong rumor that Toyota is working on introducing forced induction in the next generation of Toyota Vitz as well as the next Toyota Corolla. The talk of town till now was if Honda Pakistan will introduce the next generation of Civic with a turbo or if the 1.2L Audi A3 sedan is powerful enough, now we can add another to the list; if Toyota Indus will introduce a turbo engine in the rumored Yaris/Toyota Vios or the next generation of Corolla and are the fuel available on local fuel stations is good enough for these innovative engines? Lets have our fingers crossed.

Source: Toyota Newsroom