Toyota surprised us big time last month by reviving the Scion name as a turbo hybrid UTV concept with over 300 horsepower. This week, my colleague Caleb Jacobs is on the ground with Toyota people in Arizona, and he’s learned that the company really is serious about entering the powersports market.
We’ve been hearing that non-cars (things like trikes, UTVs, and other toy vehicles that can side-step automotive regulations) may be the future of lower-priced enthusiast vehicles. Today’s intel from Toyota lends even more credence to that idea.
Jacobs dropped me a long list of notes he gathered about the Scion 01 based on direct comments from Toyota and things he overheard at the automaker’s event where the concept vehicle was trotted out for the media just hours ago. I’ll clean up his bullet points and contextualize them for you here.
Toyota’s people knew of 27 states that allow road usage of UTVs. The phrase “If Toyota’s going to enter this space,” referring to UTVs, was uttered, and Polaris (maker of the ubiquitous RZR sport UTV) was called out as a competitor.
As for specs, Jacob relayed that he heard the Toyota/Scion UTV was targeting curb weight in “the low 3,000s,” with “nearly 50/50 [front/rear]” weight distribution. Power figures being thrown around are 450 lb-ft and 325 hp, with talk of “peak torque at 2,400 rpm.”
The idea is to build the buggy around a Tacoma hybrid powertrain (2.4-liter turbo four plus hybrid electric drive) with “more than 50% off-the-shelf parts,” but with a unique transfer case, differentials, and, of course, chassis.
“Thing sounds sick,” Jacobs reports. “Big turbo noises. Runs silently at low speeds.”
A variety of suspension systems are reportedly being evaluated, but the concept Scion 01 has 26 inches of travel as it sits. It also runs GR Corolla brakes.
The concept is a four-seater, but somebody said a non-hybrid two-seater could be part of the lineup if series production does get green-lit.
Don Federico, Chief Engineer of the Scion 01 Concept, indicated to our guy Jacobs that a huge amount of the investment to bring this vehicle to life has already been made. Critically, he thinks Toyota can do quality, durability, and reliability much better than the main players in powersports today.
“Like, why not have a commercial-grade automotive powertrain with a real transmission that’ll go 100,000 miles?” Federico said. “Every time I go to my uncle’s cabin in northern Michigan, it’s like you get there on a Friday and then you spend ’til, like, Saturday afternoon trying to get everything up and running and stuff. And spent half your fun time fixing the stuff, and that’s what you don’t want to do.”
Seems to me like the remaining question marks for the Scion 01 UTV idea (besides specific design choices) are price point, scalability, and distribution and service network. Would these just be sold at Toyota dealers, or through existing powersports franchises?
Honda, of course, has made UTVs for many years. It even has a high-performance model, the Talon, which is pretty cool, though it has very little in common with the brand’s cars. It seems like Toyota (or “Scion”) is looking to make this look more like a direct offshoot of its automotive efforts rather than a standalone brand.
Jacobs asked about the potential for Toyota to take its UTV racing, to which Federico replied:
“Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, much like GR, the GR brand, like enthusiasts, we know how enthusiasts are going to use it, so we want to learn through racing and integrate those learnings into design because there’s no better way than getting out there and, you know, we’ll likely hire pro drivers and do that kind of stuff … [so Toyota can then] iterate on the design, learn and improve.”
Three months ago, I would never have guessed Toyota had any plans at all to build a freaking UTV, but now, having just processed this infodump from Toyota Arizona Proving Grounds, it sure sounds like the brand is serious about making this happen.
Part of me is naturally bummed that car prices are soaring so high that automakers are thinking about non-street-legal toys for lower-budget enthusiasts. But a bigger part of me is excited to see what a manufacturing monolith like Toyota can do with a high-performance UTV. Because if you do have a place to use it, a track- or trail-only toy really is a heck of a lot more fun than an economy sports car (and I’ve owned plenty of both).
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