Interviews with Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada

5 Things About the New Toyota Supra They Didn’t Tell You

The real Toyota Supra isn’t here yet, but the GR Supra Racing Concept that just debuted is making enthusiasts hungry for any Supra information they can get their hands on.

Although the press release on the racing concept was low on information regarding a production model, AutoGuide.com was able to sit down with Tetsuya Tada, Toyota’s chief engineer, at a roundtable discussion (and at dinner) to learn more. Fun fact, he’s also the man behind the Toyota 86.

Here are five things we found out about the production Toyota Supra:

1. Perfect Weight Balance
Tada-san has promised that the new Supra will have a perfect 50/50 weight balance. This could be a BMW influence, as they’re masters at the weight distribution game and are co-developing the Supra/Z4 with Toyota, but that ratio would certainly help the Supra’s driving dynamics. Tada-san also said that the Supra will have two-fold body rigidity over the 86 and an even lower center of gravity, “so you can expect the fun-to-drive [factor] to be greater,” Tada-san said through a translator. Because of this, it will be a two-seater, not a 2+2 like Supras past.

2. There’s a Chance for a Manual
Although Tada-san wasn’t able to confirm any type of transmission information for the new Supra, he did say that a manual transmission “makes perfect sense,” but also that Supra loyalists didn’t have an overwhelming demand for one, which is hard to believe. So while earlier rumors citing leaked information claimed that there would be no manual transmission, the car is still being developed and there is hope that those rumors could be wrong.

3. Turbo Straight Six Confirmed
A turbo straight six engine has been confirmed for the new Supra because this was “an indispensable element” for fans of the Japanese sports car. “When we started this project, the first thing we did was to make sure to listen to the various requests and comments of the Supra fanbase around the world,” Tada-san said. The sports car will get an electrically assisted power steeringsystem along with a true torque vectoring system that won’t be integrated with the brakes.

The other non-negotiables for them were a front-engine/rear-drive configuration and the ability to customize and modify the car and engine. Tada-san said he learned some important lessons with the 86 — it wasn’t easy to add more power without changing the car’s purity and dynamics, so he’s making sure the engine in the Supra will have the capacity to support tunes to increase output. “This car can be boosted up to higher engine [specs] while keeping the fun-to-drive element,” he said.

He also said a hybrid model isn’t likely, dispelling previous rumors. He did make a joke that the Supra will have zero emissions and be extremely safe in its first race because it will be a virtual E race! The GR Supra Racing Concept will have its racing debut in Gran Turismo Sport in April.

4. Porsche Influences
Tada-san said there was no direct car Toyota benchmarked in development for the Supra, but that “every time there are new models coming out from Porsche, we make sure to buy them and study them.” He also said Porsches in general as his favorite cars ever (outside of the obvious Toyotas).

5. Future GR Models Coming?
“This GR Supra Racing Concept is a concept car, but its the first concept model of the first production car that would go under the GR model, and that’s important,” Tada-san said. Does this mean we can expect other performance-oriented Toyota GR models in the future that are inspired by motorsports? We hope so.

Bonus: Toyota and BMW started this partnership about six years ago, but it wasn’t easy at first. It took the two teams two whole years to establish a good working relationship. “We have quite a lot of differences in terms of the way we make cars, the developmental process between the two companies, the philosophies of the companies, as well as the mentality of the people,” Tada-san said. “We had to overcome a lot of differences.” There were a few crisis moments in the partnership, he said, but “after many years, we are now able to understand each other much better and now our developmental cooperation is going very smoothly.”

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Aggressively Engineered Toyota Supra Targets Porsche, With Help From BMW

It’s the moment that fans of reasonably priced sports cars have been waiting for. The all-new Supra is back and due to land in showrooms around this time next year.

Co-developed by Toyota and BMW in a landmark collaboration, an all-new interpretation of Toyota’s legendary coupe captured the spotlight when the covers were taken off earlier this month at the Geneva Motor Show. But the car that showed up was not the road-going production version. Instead, Toyota brought a race-spec Supra in full competition livery.

For the international media, this was a rare moment. Not since the Nissan GT-R was launched in Tokyo in 2007 has hype for a Japanese sports car been so intense. You could literally hear the "oohs" and "ahs" sprouting forth from hundreds of press who had gathered for the Supra's reveal.

And when Tetsuya Tada, chief engineer of the new Supra, took his place on stage in front of the all-new coupe for a photo opportunity, the atmosphere had a rock star feel to it as cameras and flashes lit up the stage.

But why launch the Supra using its race-spec version? After a quick chat with Tada, I found out that there was method in the madness.

“Most race cars are based on road cars. But this time, we thought we’d reverse engineer the Supra. Firstly, the Supra was built on the premise that it would race,” he explains. That means the car was designed with race-spec aerodynamics. “If you develop the road car from the start as a race car, then when you come to modify it into a race car, most of the job is already done. For example, the vents in the hood and the large airdam are there to cool the engine bay and feed the intercooler for the turbocharger. Meanwhile, the rear wing and diffuser are fitted to maximum downforce,” he continues.

As a state-of-the-art piece of hardware that will no doubt do its job to the letter, the Supra is a triumph. Its curves set a sporty tone and it drips with street cred, but it’s not quite as pretty as it could have been. Had Toyota stuck to its guns and not toned down the sexy FT-1 concept coupe from 2014, on which the Supra is heavily based, the firm’s new coupe-de-force could have been a real heart-breaker.

But it’ll still woo a legion of global fans, simply because of its basic ingredients. Apart from the fact that the new Supra was a collaboration between Toyota and BMW, and employs the German firm’s platform and powertrains, it was penned at Toyota Calty design studio in California, and I must admit, still has some nice proportions. It's been aggressively engineered and that fact will bode well for this legendary revival.

The car you see here looks radical and racy because it’s covered in racing aeroparts. But the road-going version will lose the paintwork, that huge rear wing and diffuser, and those hood vents to start with. It’ll also be fitted with a choice of two engines; a non-turbo straight-6 and a turbocharged straight-6 that will pump out over 400hp. “If there are two things we had to include in the new Supra, they were a straight-6 and rear-wheel-drive. The fans expect nothing less,” stresses Tada.

It just so happens that many fans actually expect a 6-speed manual gearbox option too, just like its predecessor, a car that went out of production in 2002. But Tada has reservations about manual gearboxes for the Supra. Sources close to Toyota say that an 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox with flappy paddles looks like the main transmission offering.

“Do you really think the Supra needs a manual?” he asks. “After all, the gear shifting is slower on a manual, its acceleration is slower and you need to worry about clutch degradation. I really don’t think a manual is an option, although dozens of Western journalists pressured me for answers to that question.” While Tada would not discount the inclusion of a manual option, I’d have to say that the probability is extremely low.

When asked about Toyota’s reasons for collaborating with BMW, Tada had this to say. “The sports car business is harsh. You put a lot of hours and funds into a car that doesn’t sell that many units and yet needs a whole host of performance parts to please a discerning market. All the while, your returns on investment are low compared to more mainstream models,” he explains.

But then Tada said something that made my eyebrows shoot skywards: “Our goal is Porsche.” In developing the next generation Z4—the sister to the Supra—BMW will stay with their chosen philosophy of part luxury part sports car while Toyota is focusing exclusively on pure sports. “To that extent, we are targeting Porsche. That’s not to say that we’re benchmarking one particular model like the Cayman. No, our aim was to create a sports car that could compete with Porsche’s handling.” Given Porsche’s reputation as a producer of some of the world’s best handling sports cars, that’s a tall order. And Toyota could only hope to go that extra yard thanks to their BMW collaboration and in-house industry-leading quality levels.

While Tada remained tight-lipped about pricing for the new Supra, he did say that Toyota could not build the coupe for anything close to the $35,000 sticker price of the predecessor. Expect prices to start in the high 40s and 55-plus for the turbo model. For those who can’t wait until the 2019 spring launch, why not try this new coupe in the virtual world on the updated Gran Turismo Sport edition due to go on sale in April. That’s where I’ll be starting.

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zakira said:

I'll leave this here, another Tada san interview, in case it hasn't been posted yet.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterl...gets-porsche-with-help-from-bmw/#3bc2200499cc

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solidsamir said:

Interesting, a non turbo I-6 and a turbo I-6. Also high 40s to 55+ sounds better than the 55-80k I was hearing. Also important to note is they are chasing Porsche’s handling rather than their power.

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Modal170 said:

But, who would even bother getting the 40k version when a couple dollars more gets the turbo variant? Just saying.

Now, a mid 40 to low 60, like 60,450 or 59k for the turbo is a big change from 45k or maybe 50k.

10,000 is a huge change in performance and if the turbo is pumping 400 HP while still handling like a Porsche, we got a problem.

Well, not the owners, everyone else.

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solidsamir said:

Interesting, a non turbo I-6 and a turbo I-6. Also high 40s to 55+ sounds better than the 55-80k I was hearing. Also important to note is they are chasing Porsche’s handling rather than their power.

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A70TTR said:

80k would be a higher tier car, not the regular supra.

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A70TTR said:

80k would be a higher tier car, not the regular supra.

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A70TTR said:

80k would be a higher tier car, not the regular supra.

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Lexusisf said:

When referring to pricing, ex. $80K is that US?

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Tetsuya Tada said:

“Our goal is Porsche.” In developing the next generation Z4—the sister to the Supra—BMW will stay with their chosen philosophy of part luxury part sports car while Toyota is focusing exclusively on pure sports. “To that extent, we are targeting Porsche. That’s not to say that we’re benchmarking one particular model like the Cayman. No, our aim was to create a sports car that could compete with Porsche’s handling.”

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Tetsuya Tada said:

“Do you really think the Supra needs a manual?” he asks. “After all, the gear shifting is slower on a manual, its acceleration is slower and you need to worry about clutch degradation.

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HKz said:

yet they are worried about gear change speed? Why isn't Porsche worried?

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