While the Toyota C-HR may be fresh out of the oven, a hotter variant is under consideration as a rival to the Nissan Juke Nismo.
Hiro Koba, lead engineer of the C-HR project told Autocar, “I am pushing to make such a car. I need to get approval”. The performance C-HR would allow Toyota to compete in the profitable compact SUV market.
In addition to that, Rembert Serrus, senior manager at Toyota said, “The car lends itself to it. It would be possible, but it depends on how much we have to change. A sports version could be a minor change or it could be a new project. A sports version would make a lot of sense.”
Koba has already driven a race-prepped Toyota C-HR, and the car will compete in the Nurburgring 24 Hours race in June. Toyota will gauge the public’s response in order to decide on the business case of the performance C-HR.
The racing Toyota C-HR features a turbocharged 1.5-litre engine that pushes out 178 horsepower that could power the road car. Koba also looks forward to more powerful variants of the C-HR. It is also likely that the racer’s aerodynamics would be carried over to the road car. The performance variant could feature stronger brakes, revised shocks and steering as well an improved interior.
Photo & story credit: Autocar
