How the Supra Chief Designer Shaped Toyota’s New Sports Car

2JZ-No-Sh*t

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https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-n...upra-s-styling-is-growing-on-me-ar185388.html

The 2020 Toyota Supra’s Styling Is Growing On

After spending several hours with it, I’m finding it more and more attractive

When Toyota released the new fifth-generationA90 Supra at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show, I wasn’t terribly impressed by its styling, saying that it looked like a “dumbed-down, bastardized version” of the FT-1 concept upon which it was based. And I still think that’s true - the FT-1 is an amazing piece of design, and the production A90 Supra can’t live up to the standard it sets. However, after spending some one-on-one time with the A90 in Virginia (courtesy of Toyota), I’m starting to come around.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

toyota-supra---drive-8_1600x0w.jpg


When I first saw the production-ready 2020 Toyota Supra, one thing in particular stood out to me - the nose.

I didn’t like it. It looked strange to me. I didn’t like the V-shaped upper portion, or the twin lower air blades below. I think it looked pinched and faux-functional. Granted, it was an upgrade over Toyota’s traditional gaping maw, but it still didn’t sit well with me all the same.

toyota-supra---drive-69_1600x0w.jpg


For the most part, I didn’t mind the rest of it, though. I thought the profile’s cab-back proportions were spot on, with the large fenders rolling across the side of the car made some big performance promises. The double-bubble roof and window line played a solid counterpoint. However, I thought some of the vents seemed a bit tacky and unnecessary, as did some of the lower character lines.

toyota-supra---drive-10_1600x0w.jpg


At the same time, I thought the rear end looked pretty good thanks to its cool duck bill spoiler providing a fitting endpoint for the sculpted roof. The downward sloping vents coming off the taillights looked a bit weird, but the large diffuser made up for it.

So then, when it was first released, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the 2020 Supra’s styling, especially up front.

However, I think a lot of that has to do with how the design looks in pictures, as opposed to how it looks in person.
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vb22

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https://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/toyota+supra+icon+half+century+in+making.htm

Toyota Supra: An Icon A Half-Century in the Making
  • James Bond’s Toyota
  • Gen 1: Six and the Double-X Celica
  • Gen 2: “The Right Stuff”
  • Gen 3: The First Supra Turbo
  • Gen 4: King of the 1990s
  • FT-1: Convincing the Boss
FT-1: Bridge to the Future
Years after production of the Supra had ended, many inside Toyota, including Mr. Toyoda, were eager for a sports car revival. The 86, initially marketed as the Scion FR-S, got things started in 2012 as an affordable yet highly capable sports coupe praised for stellar handling. That model instigated talk that something more potent could be coming.

“Even though Toyota had no plans to make a new Supra, just like a lot of other diehard Supra fans around the world, I secretly wanted to make it happen. So did a small group of our designers at Calty, it turns out,” Toyoda said at the 2019 NAIS.

In 2014, Calty created the FT-1 concept car. “FT” meant “Future Toyota” and “1” indicated “ultimate.” The car’s extroverted shape clearly alluded to the previous Supra, and it certainly got the boss’s attention.

The link between past and present is visibly clear today. The FT-1, at a quick glance, almost seemed like a fourth-gen Supra turned into a 21st-century superhero’s ride. Meanwhile, its “double-bubble” roof, wraparound windshield and side glass openings were distinct nods to the classic 2000GT, and those elements, which together suggest a racing helmet and visor, carried over to the GR Supra.

The Calty crew craftily worked with Polyphony Digital, creators of the popular Gran Turismo driving simulator, to put the FT-1 into the game. Company executives then “drove” the FT-1 in timed laps around a virtual Fuji Speedway. Mr. Toyoda, an accomplished racecar driver, completed the circuit faster than his best real-world lap time at Fuji in his Lexus LFA.

The boss was sold. The Supra got the green light.
 

SupraFiend

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Stockholm is a thing.

YES PLEASE. This is much better, though they could have softened the transition even more. I like where the quater panel is and how it is shaped, and the door is decent in most corners, but the transition into the quater could be smoother still. I really wish they had just ignored the FT1s impractical and unnecessary door vents.
 

reyoasian

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The vents are actually meant to be functional if you need extra cooling (the stock car does not need them).
 

SupraFiend

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really. What are they going to cool, your elbows? Good luck making door vents channel into the quater, then channel into the rear wheel wells, to cool brakes that apparently don't fade at all to start with.

The quotes from interviews you are referencing are aimed at all the other fake vents. Those there is actually some possibility of making them do something and they don't bother me that much. The door vents however, will never be functional, they look stupid, and they must cause some amount of drag and turbulence as well. There's a reason one of the first parts TRD made for this car was a delete panel for them. I really hope Toyota just takes them out completely in a mid cycle refresh or something. Save a few pounds and make a 1 piece door something like above.
 

elpadrino

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The vents are actually meant to be functional if you need extra cooling (the stock car does not need them).
Hi. I see you're new here. Welcome!

The vents are fake. Can't be made functional without tearing the car apart. Here's an article:
https://jalopnik.com/i-just-dont-believe-what-the-toyota-supras-chief-engine-1831838527.

During the reviews event, Tada-san said you can make them functional but only if you cut holes and add your own ducting. I really wish he would just stop talking about it.
 

rob13567

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Do not worry , the aftermarket will have something for everyone
 

KahnBB6

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OP, thank you for sharing the clay model photo! Interesting to see the car’s design just prior to production spec.

The super thin fake vents on the doors specifically have no future functional potential whatsoever because there is nowhere for them to duct to with the solid frame in the way behind the door.

All the other fake vents I am okay with since you could conceivably make use of most of them if you really wanted to.

I would prefer the car without the door side vents but it’s not nearly as bothersome as the biggest complaint: no manual transmission option (yet).
 

Jabba

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The super thin fake vents on the doors specifically have no future functional potential whatsoever because there is nowhere for them to duct to with the solid frame in the way behind the door.
I believe the aftermarket will have some type of door garnish cover like the TRD Concept Carbon Fiber pieces introduced a few months back.
 
 




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