http://www.wheelsmag.com.au/news/1606/toyota-300kw-supra-hybrid-targets-911/TOYOTA will switch to hybrid power for its next-generation 86 sports car and upcoming high-performance Supra revival.
The Japanese carmaker is already well advanced in the development of batteries and electric motors for its soon-to-expand sports car range.
Insiders tell Wheels the company is confident it can deliver performance gains and meet stricter emissions standards being phased in across the US and Europe by the end of the decade.
First out of the blocks will be the new Supra, due in 2018. Previewed as the FT-1 Concept at the 2014 Detroit motor show, and later presented in striking grey (pictured below) at Monterey in August the same year, the Supra production car will feature V6 power as well as an optional hybrid drivetrain.
Combined outputs of more than 300kW (400hp+) is anticipated â and needed if the Supra is to meet Toyota product guru Tetsuya Tadaâs goal of challenging the Porsche 911.
Wheelsâ spies tell us the Supra hybrid system will feature plug-in capability, with up to 50km of driving on electric power alone.
Hybrid sports cars are nothing new: the BMW i8 has shown how far modern plug-in tech can be pushed, while Porscheâs 918 took hybrid performance to the extreme.
But the only affordable hybrid sports car â Hondaâs CR-Z â failed to sell, something no doubt weighing on the minds of Japanese engineers keen to ensure the 86âs lightweight, fun-to-drive and affordable philosophy isnât lost.
Helping the hybrid charge, so to speak, is Toyotaâs commitment to deliver a hybrid version of every model in its line-up by 2029.
The advance of battery and charging technology is also making electrified drivetrains more appealing â both to bean-counters and engineers.
Carmakers are finding that hybrid-petrol powertrains are a financially viable way to reach new emissions regulations, including the 95g/km CO2 target for passenger cars in Europe â an average of 3.8L/100km.
Toyota is already well advanced on fuel-saving hybrids â the Prius and its brethren lead the way, while the Camry Hybrid and upcoming Corolla Hybrid back it up.
But a high-performance hybrid is new to a brand often accused of delivering dull transport.
Toyota 86 program manager Tetsuya Tada told Wheels hybrid testing is well advanced, but hinted that any petrol-electric tech would need to be very different to whatâs currently seen in Toyota hybrids.
Company boss Akio Toyoda â a keen backer of the 86 and more exciting Toyotas generally â will no doubt keep a keen eye on the project to ensure it lives up to the âwaku dokiâ thinking he is instilling on new models. (Waku doki translates as the anticipation of an adrenaline rush.)
Tada is also keen to ensure the 86 doesnât meet the same fate as the Celica and MR2.
Tada wouldnât be drawn on the likely arrival of the next 86, but did point to the example of sports cars such as the Mazda MX-5 enduring with longer model cycles.
That means an all-new 86 might not appear before 2020, some eight years after the original.
âWe have lots of ideas, but have just begun to think about the next 86,â he said. âWe havenât yet decided the details ... what kind of engine we will use, or the body styling.â
That said, the well-received styling of the original â considered the best-looking Toyota since the 2000GT â will mean little more than an evolutionary approach for the second-generation 86.
Tada says he is constantly asked by owners ânot to change the 86 at allâ. An equal number call for performance to be more âvividâ.
âIt is easy to put on a turbo, but many 86 fans would not be so pleased. People are very passionate. We want to surprise them.â
A hybrid would certainly do that, especially to younger buyers typically more interested in connectivity and technology over cubic capacity and turbos.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/future-cars/news/a29931/bmw-toyota-sports-car-hybrid-awd/We've known for a while that BMW and Toyota are jointly-developing a new sports car. And while the BMW version is rumored to be a Z4 successor, and the Toyota version is expected to bring back the legendary Supra name, we still don't know many details. But the latest rumor suggests that both models will get some form of all-wheel-drive hybrid drivetrain.
Autocar reports that the two cars, set to arrive in 2018, will use both a BMW-sourced engine and electric motors to send power to all four wheels. Sounds a bit like the new Acura NSX to us.
But just because the two cars are being jointly developed and will likely use the same powertrain doesn't mean they'll be as similar as the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ. The goal from the beginning has reportedly been to build two different sports cars.
"The one thing we're clear on now is that a platform for both companies can work," BMW's sales and marketing head Ian Robertson told Autocar. "The cars in themselves don't actually need to be positioned the same. The platform can spawn two positionings."
Presumably, that would mean the BMW version would be more luxurious, and the Toyota more affordableâbut according to what we've heard, there won't be an M version of the BMW.
Engines expected are a four And a six cylinder but with exclusive output unique to this car which assists the less is more philosophy from BMWi.
The Toyota will offer a hybrid and it not unthinkable BMW might do so later.