Apparently, Toyota's 'pure sports car' will offer little in the way of comfort and practicality.
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| © Sebastien Mauroy/Toyota |
By Chris Tsui, The Drive
Even though Toyota's upcoming Supra and the imminent BMW Z4 may share platforms and engines, don't expect the two sports cars to behave the same once rubber meets the road.
The folks at Motoring Research recently spoke to Supra Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada (who's resume notably includes the 86/BRZ) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and discussed what drivers can expect from Toyota's new sports car. While the Supra will use the same powertrain and sit on the same platform as BMW's next roadster, the two cars won't be badge-twins like the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ.
"Each company defined what we wanted and went from there," Tada told Motoring Research. "Both cars have completely different suspension and software calibration, for example."
The Toyota engineer goes on to say that the new Supra "will be a pure sports car—practicality and comfort were almost not considered." Better keep the chiropractor on speed dial, then.
As for whether or not a hotted-up, Gazoo-branded Supra is in the pipeline, the report says it won't be available at the car's launch but likely sometime in the future with Tada confirming that such a car is indeed being thought out. "I would like to see something like that eventually," says Tada. "We are preparing for it."
Toyota's Gazoo Racing department recently confirmed that it will produce a hypercar based on its Le Mans-winning TS050 Hybrid racer. Between that and the Supra, the GR family is about to get a lot bigger—and faster.
We've reached out to Toyota for further comment and will update this story if we hear back. The production-ready, Mk4 Toyota Supra is set to debut in early 2019.
Even though Toyota's upcoming Supra and the imminent BMW Z4 may share platforms and engines, don't expect the two sports cars to behave the same once rubber meets the road.
The folks at Motoring Research recently spoke to Supra Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada (who's resume notably includes the 86/BRZ) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and discussed what drivers can expect from Toyota's new sports car. While the Supra will use the same powertrain and sit on the same platform as BMW's next roadster, the two cars won't be badge-twins like the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ.
"Each company defined what we wanted and went from there," Tada told Motoring Research. "Both cars have completely different suspension and software calibration, for example."
The Toyota engineer goes on to say that the new Supra "will be a pure sports car—practicality and comfort were almost not considered." Better keep the chiropractor on speed dial, then.
As for whether or not a hotted-up, Gazoo-branded Supra is in the pipeline, the report says it won't be available at the car's launch but likely sometime in the future with Tada confirming that such a car is indeed being thought out. "I would like to see something like that eventually," says Tada. "We are preparing for it."
Toyota's Gazoo Racing department recently confirmed that it will produce a hypercar based on its Le Mans-winning TS050 Hybrid racer. Between that and the Supra, the GR family is about to get a lot bigger—and faster.
We've reached out to Toyota for further comment and will update this story if we hear back. The production-ready, Mk4 Toyota Supra is set to debut in early 2019.
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