Since the demise of the Starlet GT in 1995, Toyota has been the only Japanese auto manufacturer that has done without a proper hot hatch in its stable - until now. With the introduction of the JDM-only Blade Master and Master G, Toyota has created a veritable muscle car out of the pedestrian Blade (The rich sister of the Auris) by dropping in a 206kW 3.5-litre V6.

The engine in question is the 2GR-FE that also sees service in the Camry and Lexus ES350. While 206kW may not sound like much in this day and age, keep in mind that this is the same amount of power that an R32 Skyline GT-R (officially) put out, as well as many other Japanese performance cars of the ’90s. Granted, at around ~1500kg the Blade Master is no featherweight and the heavier engine up front probably won’t help the Master’s cornering ability, but at least its brakes have been upgraded to help compensate for the added heft.

However, power is useless without control and given that all of the 2GR’s grunt is chanelled into the front tyres we’re betting that all that power will induce a sizeable amount of torque-steer. Disappointingly, the only transmission available is a 6-speed automatic, although there are steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters if you ever feel like doing some DIY shifting.

A four-wheel-drive drivetrain would have been ideal and could have potentially made the Blade Master G a genuine WRX-fighter, but it seems that for whatever reason (most likely cost-cutting) Toyota did not want it to be so. The lack of 4WD and the omission of a manual transmission option really robs the Blade Master and Master G of the opportunity to really extract the most of its prodigious power, and that’s a great pity.

Toyota’s press release is here, while the Blade’s (Japanese) site is here.

[Source: Toyota Motor Co.]
[Photo courtesy of Toyota Motor Co.]