Power shock for Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ! Downsized hybrid engine coming for twin performance heroes as GR goes green - report

The Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ performance twins look set for a shock new engine choice, with reports out of Japan suggesting both will receive a turbocharged three-cylinder engine with hybrid technology in their next generation.

The reports, which surfaced in Japan’s Mag X, suggest the models will continue to be built in tandem, only this time with Toyota taking the lead on engine development - the current pair powered by a Subaru engine. What's more, they suggest the new model could be here by 2025.

The GR86 is currently powered by a 2.4-litre petrol four-cylinder ‘boxer’ engine, producing 174kW of power and 250Nm of torque.

Next time, though, both will reportedly be powered by a turbocharged inline three-cylinder engine complete with an electric motor and hybrid power.

The engine in question will already be familiar to fans of Japan performance cars. The Toyota GR range — including the GR Corolla and GR Yaris — is powered by a turbocharged three-cylinder engine, which suggests hybrid power could be coming to the rest of the brand’s performance line-up, too.

The model will also reportedly ride on a different rear-drive platform currently being worked on at Toyota, which would mean a new look, and new power, for the model that led the brand’s performance revival.

The most recent reports add weight to news that surfaced late last year, with Japan's Best Car Web also reporting the shift to hybrid power, with the change to come as early as 2025 in an effort to sidestep that country's fuel efficiency standards.

That would be a significant early mark for a new GR86, with the model only launching in Australia last year.

The next GR86/BRZ could drop its Subaru engine in favour for a Toyota GR powerplant.

Best Car suggests the new model will get a version of Toyota's GR powerplant, which in its most recent GR Corolla guise, produces more than 223kW and 370Nm.

But the brand will reportedly also pair that engine with the hybrid system that debuted in the new Crown, only this time exclusively powering the rear wheels via a system called Single Boost Hybrid.

Toyota is yet to comment, but if the reports prove accurate, then change is coming sooner than expected to the GR86.