Reviews are in for 2020 Supra MKV preproduction car

[Jdmuscle]

via AutoBlog

2019 Toyota Supra First Drive Review | Speed-dating the fifth-gen Supra
Toyota is hush on specs, but the car is plenty of fun behind the wheel

MADRID — We've never known less about a new car before actually driving it. The first time I even laid eyes on the new Toyota Supra was in the pit lane at Jarama Circuit, outside of Madrid, Spain. A still-camouflaged prototype slid up next to me and I popped into the driver's seat. Moments later, I was skittering around the track's 13 tricky corners, the first driver of the afternoon.

From there, the impressions came quickly.

A new Supra is a pretty big deal. While the mystique of the car — largely centered on the fourth-generation A80 with the big wing and fearsome twin-turbo inline-six engine — has lived on in popular culture, the last Supra disappeared in 2002. That's a long gap, indeed.

The good news is we can report how the A90 drives and handles. The somewhat disappointing asterisk to that is we were given no specifications whatsoever. Particulars such as weight, 0-60 times and even horsepower were withheld. Nope, not happening, says Toyota.

How's that for a blind date? Or, perhaps, a speed date, as we got a total of eight laps and less than an hour on regular roads.

Engineers insist they aren't being coy. "The car is still being finalized," said the project's assistant engineer, Masayuki Kai. "The truth is we don't know the final numbers ourselves." Kai has been based in Munich for the past five years, working alongside Toyota's technical partner, BMW. The Supra coupe and latest BMW Z4 roadster were designed in tandem, with Bimmer engineers doing the lion's share of the work. The Supra's powertrain hardware comes from BMW, and Toyota is responsible for its own calibration and tuning.

Toyota is still working on stability controls, electric steering and pedal feel. They were quite curious about our driving impressions, and almost as intrigued by comments from a colleague who had also driven a prototype Z4. Apparently, the partnership hasn't gone so far as to drive each other's cars.

So for now, guesses about the Supra's specifications will have to suffice. Engineers won't even officially confirm that the 3.0-liter inline-six engine is a version of the twin-scroll, single-turbo B58 found in the new Z4. (It is, though.) Like the Z4, the Supra also gets the eight-speed ZF transmission and BMW's electronic M differential.

Guided strictly by impressions from our ass-o-meter, we'd say the car has around 365 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. Sixty comes in perhaps 4.5 seconds. Acceleration is brisk but not savage. The cars we drove were fitted with European-mandated particulate filters, which rob some power. Output will be higher in the States. As for curb weight, Toyota says the Supra weighs less than 3,300 pounds.

There is something tantalizing and unusual about a totally blank slate. I had no expectations about the Supra until I was actually inside. Once there, I found that the interior was also covered up by fabric, but a glance under the curtains proved that buttons and controls are from BMW. (The car will be produced in a BMW factory.)

Crawling out of pit lane, I left the car in Street mode and automatic as I took a sight lap. Jarama is a former F1 circuit, and it has both plenty of elevation and blind turns. The Supra's rather placid nature around the track left me disconcerted. Not much noise, little tension, easy shifts. I had a driving instructor/car minder in the passenger seat, and she reached under the felt covering, keyed Sport mode and things changed entirely.

The Supra has adaptive damping, and rarely have we experienced a more significant shift between Normal and Sport. The step in terms of engine noise, gearing and the steering weight is significant. (We uncovered no Sport-Plus mode, but it does seems that you can turn everything off.)

A few other snippets: The Supra has a 50/50 weight distribution, a center of gravity lower than that of the Toyota GT-86 and body rigidity greater than that of the Lexus LFA. The engineers were very pleased by its short wheelbase and wide track. (Again, no dimensions were given, but the new Z4 has a wheelbase of 97.2 inches, length of 170.1 inches and width of 73.3 inches.)

And then we were concentrating on banging around Jarama. The Toyota's nose takes to direction changes happily, even with an abrupt turn-in, and the car firmly resists understeer even when you pick up the throttle. But the A90 likes a certain driving style. Drag the brakes too long and the transitions through corners become staccato. Go neutral through an apex and the car is light and skittish.

Rather, the Supra likes to be braked early, and then comes alive under a stabilizing throttle. A firm push on the gas through the apex settles the car down and moves you through corners firmly and quickly. The 19-inch Michelin Pilot Super Sports have great grip, and we never managed to induce any slip angle.

One wishes the car pivoted more from its hips, but its width and front-engine, rear-wheel-drive configuration work against it. You can find a rhythm in ess turns, but the Supra doesn't give the effortless cadence of a Porsche Cayman, surely one of the benchmark competitors.

Torque is bountiful. It can take a third-gear corner in second or fourth and not suffer great consequence in overall speed. The steering is able, but not as sharp or quick as we'd prefer, and feedback is muted. More work is needed here. So, too, goes the brake pedal, which is long and not nearly firm enough.

Toyota says its intention was not to make a track car, so the wriggling roads back to Madrid were perhaps more indicative of its true nature. To its credit, the company didn't send on us a middling route, but rather a challenging set of roads used in tarmac rallies. With varying levels of grip, few guardrails and serious consequences for an off, the roads made for a highly entertaining ride.

In the real world, the ample but not overwhelming torque is much appreciated, and the Supra feels particularly well suited to a quick but not searing pace. With that maintenance throttle dialed in, the grip allows you to sling along curves. And yet the ride is pliant and totally without punishment. It's the antithesis of, say, a Jaguar F-Type.

That also includes the sound. Or, sadly, the lack of overt sound. It is almost hybrid quiet. The engineer Kai's eyes lit up when he mentioned that the U.S.-spec cars will be "louder... much louder."

The cars were still in their speckled camouflage, but the overall silhouette is potent. We particularly liked it from the rear, where you can see the rounded roof, sucked-in sides and thick hips. It shares the Z4's rather jutting nose, which may not be such a good thing.

Do we think we totally got to know the new Supra? No. Like any good first date, we had a good back-and-forth repartee between machine and driver, a few lingering questions and the desire to meet up again. When all the camouflage comes off, the specifications are unveiled and the calibrations are finished, we have a feeling the Supra will be an entertaining partner indeed.

Sponsored

 

[justbake]

via AutoCar

Toyota Supra 2019 prototype review
Long-awaited sports coupé is driven at last, but leaves us with as many questions as answers

What is it?
It’s still dazzle-camouflaged outside and carpeted like they’ve skinned Sweep the puppet and draped him over the switchgear inside, it’s still eight months away from production and it’s still very much in prototype form. I’m accompanied by a minder whenever I go near it and they’ll barely tell me a single flipping statistic about it.

Because the numbers don’t matter, they insist. (Which begs the question: why not just tell us, if they’re so unimportant?) All that matters at the moment, they say, is the way it drives and the way it makes you feel.

And this, I’m thrilled to report, I can tell you. I’ve driven it, quite a lot and quite fast, at least by the standards of events that only have four prototype cars available and quite a lot of Toyota regional managers to demonstrate them to.

But it’s nonetheless yet another painful ‘plink’ in the agonising drip-feed of Supra information that, let’s not forget, began in 2012 when BMW and Toyota announced they were going to work together. Does Toyota really need seven years to build a car?

Of what we know, then, only this much is confirmed: the Supra has a lower centre of gravity than a GT86, despite having a 3.0-litre straight-six engine, which drives the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic gearbox (BMW/ZF respectively), while a BMW M Active limited-slip differential sits at the back axle. As with the BMW Z4 version, the weight distribution will be 50:50. I still can’t tell you the exact power but 340bhp sounds about right, as does 350lb ft, and the kerb weight is likely 1500kg.

The body, despite being a blend of steel and aluminium, is as rigid as a Lexus LFA’s carbonfibre one. The wheelbase is around 2440mm and the track approximately 1600mm.

There will be faster and, I suspect, slower versions of this car later, to make the sums add up for Toyota, so the slow release of information will go on even after production begins in May. You’ll see the final car, shorn of its disguise, at the Detroit show in January.

And we can add this to what we know: it’s good to drive.

What's it like?
Our route is a two-hour loop from the outskirts of Madrid, so partly in the city, partly on the motorway, partly on country roads, and then – goody gumdrops – partly at a race track.

Because I’m sharing the drive with a colleague from another magazine, even though I’m contractually obliged to pretend there is no such thing, and because there’s always a minder in the Supra, sometimes one of us is following in a GT86 while the other drives the Supra, which I mention for reasons I’ll come back to.

First, then – getting into the Supra. Despite the drapery inside, you can sense it has is a BMW-centric interior. The switchgear is BMW, the driving position is long and straight, the gearlever is BMW’s. Does that matter? I doubt it. The iDrive multimedia system is better than Toyota’s alternative, although there’ll surely be a Toyota face on that, as there is on the instrument binnacle, while the steering wheel is thinner of rim than BMW uses and round. Praise be on both of those counts.

You sit low, peering through a letterbox windscreen with a high window line and the curved bonnet spearing off into the distance. No idea whether it is (it probably is) but it immediately feels bigger than, say, a Porsche 718 Cayman, whose corners are easier to place, owing to better visibility. You are aware at once where the Supra’s engine is.

It’s a refined engine and drivetrain, though. If there’s work still to be done on the calibration, it’d be news to me. A six is always smooth but a BMW six, turbocharged here, is incredibly so. Step-off is smooth and the Supra, even in standard drive mode, is unencumbered by the response modern autos sometimes give, where they feel like they’re trying to lug things out from revs that are too low. Stop-start wasn’t functioning, which probably helps, mind.

Should I buy one?
But that’s fine. It is, in this spec, 90% road car and yet still happy on a hot circuit, being pushed hard without overheating its steel discs, offering more handling balance and playfulness and more reward the more you push it.

Toyota has taken a delicate path with the Supra: a road car that gives more when you ask for more. And where, say, an A110 or M2 Competition might give you more all the time, that’s no bad thing. In terms of daily maturity, it’s closest, then, to a 718 Cayman. Curious.

A few years ago, a Cayman was regarded as unbeatable. Now everybody wants a crack at it. On this showing, Toyota is getting as close as anyone.

Toyota Supra specification

Where Spain Price £50,000 (est) On sale May 2019 Engine 6-cyls, 3000cc, turbo, petrol Power340bhp at 5500rpm (est) Torque 350lb ft at 2500rpm (est) Gearbox 8-spd automatic Kerb weight 1500kg (est) Top speed 170mph (est) 0-62mph 4.8sec (est) Fuel economy 31mpg (est) CO2 225g/km (est) Rivals BMW M2 Competition, Porsche 718 Cayman

Push the Sport button and the throttle and gearbox response sharpens, but there are gearshift paddles, so if you want a quicker response it’s probably more rewarding to take control yourself. There’s no word on a manual gearbox yet, but Toyota would like one.

The Supra rides well too – better than, while on the same size tyres as, a BMW M4: bespoke Michelin Pilot Super Sports, 255/35 R19 at the front and 275/35 R19 at the rear.

Passive dampers will be standard but adaptive dampers were fitted to the cars we tried. These, too, firm up via the Sport button, as does the steering weight, although in regular daily driving there’s no need: the underlying compliance is welcome but there’s no sense that the body weight is getting away from it.

The Supra feels like a stable, well-rounded sports coupé. Its engineers say they did 90% of its development work on the road, and I think it shows. In town, on the motorway, it’s mature in a way that, say, a BMW M2 Competition or Alpine A110, perhaps even a Cayman, are not.

It’s only when you get on to a country road, then, that you start to push the boundaries of the standard suspension setting’s limits. The steering is smooth, progressive, sharper off the straight-ahead than some front-engined coupés, presumably to give an extra sense of agility that, compared with a 718, the Supra simply can’t have. Body roll builds progressively, but this is where you want the dampers firmed because, without it, as you get back on the throttle and the differential begins to worry about acceleration, you feel the body’s mass shifting in a way I don’t think you would in a Cayman.

With the dampers tightened the sensation is much alleviated, with not too much loss in compliance, and there’s a pleasing, reassuring balance. Hints of understeer on the way in, likewise oversteer on the way out, not unlike, say, an Aston Martin Vantage, only a bit lighter. A BMW M2 with both more compliance and control (or an M2 Competition with more compliance).

Swapping into and following in a GT86, though, you’re reminded of the advantages that minimal mass gives you: sure, the GT86’s engine is wheezy but, working it hard, you can carry speed and enjoy delicate fingertip steering responses that are denied to the bigger car. It’s a reminder of how exceptional the GT86’s chassis is; which I suspect wasn’t the objective of the exercise.

But still, there are other things a Supra can do. The engine is extremely sweet, smooth and broadly responsive but happy to rev. In Sport mode, a flap opens in the exhaust and Toyota says there’s more work to do on the induction noise, probably via sound tubes off the engine – so real, rather than fake noise. But, unlike a Cayman, you’re happy to let it sing, or sit at high revs pre-overtake.

And it’s clearly a chassis that can handle more power. Nowhere is that more evident than on a circuit where, Sport mode engaged, the Supra displays the same balance as it does on the road, only enhanced. The suspension maintains good control but serious compliance over bumps or kerbs; where those would thump through in an M2 Competition, the Supra glides across, as a Cayman might. It doesn’t rotate as willingly as a Cayman or, from my limited experience, an Alpine A110, but that’s no surprise given where its engine is.

With stability control set to ‘have a little slip’ but not ‘off’ (the minder still alongside, see), you get to feel the balance: steering that’s smooth if not laden with feel, a hint of entry understeer, a hint of exit oversteer and the knowledge that you could have a lot more if given the opportunity. Some of my favourite-handling cars – an Aston V12 Vantage S, that GT86 – have the kind of balance the Supra displays, albeit usually with more rawness.

 

[tha7osavage]

via AutoExpress

New Toyota Supra prototype review
Drive of prototype suggests the reborn Toyota Supra coupe will be a hit
Verdict

Toyota has worked hard to make the Supra feel like a proper sports car. Its balance, precision and feel are exactly what you want from a car like this. There may be some fine tuning to do, but on this early drive it already feels a highly-polished machine.
There is still some time to wait before Toyota reveals the all-new Supra at the 2019 Detroit Motor Show. But this didn’t prevent Gazoo Racing – the firm’s motorsport division responsible for developing the car – from allowing us to drive a lightly-disguised prototype in the hills above Madrid earlier this month.

The camouflage wrap does a good job of disguising the more intricate details of the Supra’s coupe body. Yet closer inspection reveals an aggressive design carrying a number of motorsport- inspired styling touches, such as the cooling ducts, double-domed roof, aero wings and a rear diffuser incorporating a very cool LMP1-inspired high-intensity light. This is deliberate, too, because Toyota – or rather Gazoo – is also building a GTE-spec Supra race car.

Gazoo has worked hard on the proportions of the Supra, focusing on achieving a wheelbase-to-track ratio it says is perfectly matched for a sports car.

Combine this with 50:50 weight distribution, achieved by installing the BMW-sourced turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six as far back as possible in the engine bay, and Toyota proudly claims the Supra is a genuine front-mid-engined sports car.

The engine – along with the eight-speed automatic gearbox – is one of only six components the Supra will share with its German half-brother, BMW’s new Z4.

From the moment you sit in the Supra, it feels just right. There’s the sensation of being sat on top of the rear axle (you’re pretty close to doing so) and that rising bonnet stretches out ahead like a sports car of old. Legs straight, steering wheel pulled to your chest, arms bent, and the Supra embraces you. It sounds good, too. The straight-six isn’t theatrically vocal, but has a depth to it that will be alien to Toyota GT86 owners.

Combine this with 50:50 weight distribution, achieved by installing the BMW-sourced turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six as far back as possible in the engine bay, and Toyota proudly claims the Supra is a genuine front-mid-engined sports car.

The engine – along with the eight-speed automatic gearbox – is one of only six components the Supra will share with its German half-brother, BMW’s new Z4.

From the moment you sit in the Supra, it feels just right. There’s the sensation of being sat on top of the rear axle (you’re pretty close to doing so) and that rising bonnet stretches out ahead like a sports car of old. Legs straight, steering wheel pulled to your chest, arms bent, and the Supra embraces you. It sounds good, too. The straight-six isn’t theatrically vocal, but has a depth to it that will be alien to Toyota GT86 owners.

We also tried the Supra on track. Here, the steering and chassis flow as one; the latter requiring little correction or additional inputs once you’ve committed to a corner, the former feeling incredibly planted and precise in both medium and high-speed direction changes.

Combine these attributes with Brembo brakes that are powerful and easy to modulate, and the Supra leaves you a little bit in awe of what Toyota and Gazoo have achieved. We wanted it to be good, but perhaps weren’t expecting it to be so involving. It feels like a pure sports car.

From our initial drive, it’s already clear that when we try the finished Supra in production guise next spring, the 718 Cayman, Alpine A110, Audi TT RS and Ford Mustang GT will need to be prepared for a very tough fight indeed.

Key specs

• Model: Toyota Supra
• Price: £50,000 (est)
• Engine: 3.0-litre 6cyl turbo
• Power/torque: 300bhp/470Nm (est)
• Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive

• 0-62mph: Sub-5.0 seconds (est)
• Top speed: 155mph+ (est)
• Economy/CO2: N/A
• On sale: Summer 2019

 

[GT-Four]

 

[AZSupra]

Guys .... calm down. It's a fu**ing car!!!! If you don't like it ok, but you don't know a lot about it and have not even driven one... how can you dare to judge.

Let's see what Toyota gives us, no one can change what they come up with. Take it or leave it.

It's shaping up to be a great drivers car. I would of preferred a manual and a DCT, but oh well, these are the times.

It's still shaping up to be a proper 2 seat RWD sports car. Early reviews are commenting on the balance. It won't match the Cayman, but nothing can for the money.

 

[justbake]

It's shaping up to be a great drivers car. I would of preferred a manual and a DCT, but oh well, these are the times.

It's still shaping up to be a proper 2 seat RWD sports car. Early reviews are commenting on the balance. It won't match the Cayman, but nothing can for the money.

At some point, manuals will die out. Better sooner than later I guess?

Even then, BMW has plenty of off the shelf options and parts for us if we don't like it after all

 

[Guff]

The diff looks like it works well

 

[Rotaryrunner]

via AutomobileMag

First Drive: 2020 Toyota Supra Prototype
It might not be perfect, but it just might be the perfect Supra

ADRID, Spain – It’s been 16 long years since the 24-year, four-generation run of the Toyota Supra ended in 2002. Many thought there would never be another. But here we are, about to step into the all-new, A90 series 2020 Toyota Supra. So was it worth the wait?

At first blush, the answer is yes, but with a big asterisk: We were only allotted two four-lap sessions at the Jarama Circuit and about an hour of driving on roads near Madrid in the 2020 Supra. That is, of course, not nearly enough time to properly evaluate all aspects of a modern sports car. But in the case of a prototype that’s still about nine months away from production (the firmest answer we could get was that production would begin in the second half of 2019), it might be just enough time to get a feel for where it’ll all end up.

Pay No Attention to the Buttons Behind the Curtain

It might help to understand just how in the dark even those lucky few of us who got to drive the car actually were. The exteriors of the four Supra prototypes were wrapped in Toyota’s now-famous multi-color triangular camouflage; the interiors of each were draped in thin black batting.

What we could see of the interiors under that batting was distinctly BMW, indicating that much of the remaining months of Toyota’s development will be spent there, rather than on performance or chassis tuning. Not that it needs much more, but more on that later.

We also remain in the dark as to the specific power output of the Supra’s BMW-sourced 3.0-liter turbocharged inline six-cylinder engine, though our finely calibrated butt dyno tells us it’s not likely less than 360 hp nor likely more than 380 hp, given the Supra’s “target curb weight” of less than 3,300 pounds balanced 50/50 over each axle.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Speaking with the engineers trackside at the legendary Jarama RACE Circuit—a Formula 1 track until 1981—we learned most of the essentials of the 2020 Supra’s composition, if not the specifics.

The drivetrain and chassis are shared with BMW’s Z4 as has been widely reported, though each has been tuned separately; the hardware is shared, but the software isn’t. At the rear, an electro-mechanical locking differential enables full two-way limited slip function, with infinite variability and different programs for the virtual “ramps” guiding the lockup profiles on acceleration and deceleration depending on the drive mode selected. A choice of wheels ranging from 17 to 19 inches will be available, though Toyota says it will make larger wheels available if the market demands. The vehicles we tested all had the 19-inch optional wheels wrapped in 255-width Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires up front, 275-width tires out back.

Two suspension specs will also be available: a standard version, using traditional passive dampers, and a second, Sport suspension option, which lowers the car by roughly 7-mm and adds an array of sensors that scan the road, enabling the active dampers of the Sport suspension to further improve ride comfort while enhancing handling. Toyota says the Supra’s center of gravity is lower than that of the GT86, while the torsional rigidity of the chassis is greater than the carbon chassis of the Lexus LFA.

Talks done, we hit the track. My first session was spent primarily learning where the twists, curves, and blind crests of Jarama lead; the second session saw enough pace to get a feel for the car’s ultimate character, if only just.

The Supra’s overall balance seems to be slanted ever so slightly toward understeer at the steady-state limit, though it rotates willingly on corner entry, especially with the Sport mode engaged for drivetrain, diff, and dampers, and the traction control and vehicle dynamics systems in their not-quite-off, not-fully-on mode, accessed by a single short press of the stability control button in the center console. Driving off the corners, the diff applies the power with neither drama nor delay, sorting the yaw rate and intended line transparently and effortlessly. The brakes function in much the same way, delivering massive stopping power from the large-diameter discs and four-piston Brembo calipers on the front axle, though without much in the way of feel for where the ABS threshold might lie.

While it’s fun, and fast, and certainly up to the task of repeated hot laps, the Supra left me feeling a bit unengaged. In my notes, I wrote that it almost feels like driving a really good simulator.

We’re Off to See the Wizard

After that somewhat disappointingly limited track experience, I was prepared to learn even less on the open road. Fortunately, I was wrong; the Supra’s lines of communications, while somewhat muted on track, open up to full broadband on the road. The core weaknesses spotted on track are still there, of course, but because road driving is so different from track driving, they’re rarely, if ever, evident.

Toyota says it has done 90 percent of the development work on the car so far on public roads, rather than at race tracks. The road-focused development definitely shows, as the Supra is as rewarding on a smooth, tight mountain pass as your average Porsche, which is to say, very.

Whether you’re running hard on fast, open sweepers or braking hard for tight switchbacks, the Supra never fights you. Its systems and electronics are seeking only to help, and doing so only as much as necessary. The most intervention I noticed even during the most spirited portions of our public road run was a brief flicker of the traction control light with no perceptible reduction in power.

The 8-speed automatic transmission, too, shows its strengths—and Toyota’s—on the road. While it was fine on track, able to sort downshifts and hold gears as needed, the less obvious, often less decisive inputs borne of road driving are often enough to confuse even the best dual-clutch or automatic gearboxes and their software. Ever on the lookout for any reason to impugn the character of a slushbox, I can’t find a single fault with the Supra’s.

Even the steering, which seemed like the typically accurate if not particularly sensate electric-boosted fare on track, comes a bit more alive on the street, delivering enough information about the road surface to convince your lizard brain that the information you’re getting is really coming from the tire’s contact patch, rather than a clever simulation thereof.

There’s No Place Like Home

The all-too-brief drive done, the Supras headed back to be prepped for another round of journalists to experience the car the next day. While waiting for my flight home, I was left with strong but mixed emotions.

This is a genuine sports car, of that I have no doubt. But it’s a thoroughly modern sports car, and that brings with it the host of complications and regulatory compromises that all modern cars face. Chief among the ailments brought about by modern sensibilities on the Supras we tested: the EU-spec exhaust, which so thoroughly dampens the sound coming from that torquey, compliant straight six that it can’t be heard from more than 100 feet even at full blast down the main straight at Jarama. Toyota’s engineers are well aware of this, however. Assistant chief engineer Masayuki Kai told us, “We are very unhappy with the EU standards, but those are the regulations.” Kai-san also told us the U.S. market would get a “much, much louder” exhaust. Hopefully we’ll get a crack at that U.S.-market car in the near future, too. Hopefully you’ll hear us coming.

But the Supra can’t be evaluated in a vacuum. There’s the competitive set, of course, formed by the Boxster and Cayman and perhaps even the Corvette, and, obviously, the BMW Z4 with which the Supra shares its core architecture and powertrain. But more importantly perhaps, especially for the legions of 30- and 40-somethings that grew up in awe of the legendary Supras of the ’80s and ’90s, there’s the matter of legacy. As good as the Supra is, and as fun as it is to drive, and as worthy as it is of the name—and it is all three—is it really a Supra if the hardware is mostly German?

That question might be the most important of all, and it’s a question that can’t be answered on a track, or on a mountain road, or even on the pages of a magazine. That’s a question that can only be answered in the hearts of those who will or won’t buy the 2020 Toyota Supra when it finally hits the streets later next year in full production form.

But if you want my two cents, Toyota has nothing to worry about. The Supra is back, and it’s shaping up to be great.

 

[JP_Supra]

How do you do it? Lol

Which review said it’s ‘that rigid’? C&D says it’s nice.. smooth inline 6 and a few other things. How did you conclude ‘that rigid’ from any of the reviews. Please point me to it.

Yes, I’m happy about the after market companies having the access to have products ready. But.. this is a double edged sword. Toyota will void your warranty if you tune your car. Tada can say whatever he wants.. I just don’t see Toyota honoring parts replacements on Cars with ECUs that are tuned.

Who needs a warranty when you have 500hp

 

[SS900]

via AutoTrader

The All-New Toyota Supra – Global First Drive Impression
By Chad Lückhoff

Toyota invited the media to drive the all-new Supra ahead of its official 2019 launch. As a BMW joint-venture, Chad Luckhoff explores the contributions from each brand, and delves into what Toyota has created.

The Supra Story.

The Toyota Supra story starts back in 1978 with a car known as the Celica. The car that started out as the larger, more brutish version of the Celica, the Celica Supra, eventually split off and became its own model range. The Celica later departed rather significantly from the original formula by adopting a compact front-wheel-drive layout, while the Supra carried the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive flag forward.

This recipe remained largely the same for several decades and the second, third and fourth generation Toyota Supra enjoyed much success in the motorsport arena across a variety of disciplines including rally, drag racing, drifting and especially touring car formulas across the globe.

Much of its success lay in the approach Toyota took in producing the car. They ensured that the weight distribution, centre of gravity and overall chassis dynamics were dialled-in, and then they threw as much power as they were allowed to, at it. In the 90s, with the MkIV (or A80 chassis), this figure was capped by the Japanese “Gentleman's Agreement” that saw sports car producers placing a 206 kW limit on the final power output. It mattered not if it was a straight-six or a flat four, the peak power was restricted by this agreement.

The MkIV Supra saw the introduction of the venerable 2JZ-GTE engine, an engine that was destined to become something of a legend, capable of making in excess of 400 kW on the standard, twin-turbo arrangement, and even as much as 600 kW with stock standard Toyota internals (albeit with a few ancillary changes). In standard turbo trim, this engine could propel the Supra to 100km/h in under 5-seconds and onwards to a limited top speed of 250km/h. You have to remember that this was nearly 30 years ago, and with such storming performance, it was stepping into genuine supercar territory.

Its predictable, sure-footed handling and near 50/50 weight distribution secured it numerous victories on the racetrack and praise from the motoring press, heralding it as one of the best driver's cars for the money.

Planning on the MkIV started in 1989, with the fourth generation seeing the light of day in 1993, before enjoying a nine-year run until it was discontinued in 2002 – much to the disappointment of its sizeable fan base. With no confirmation of a successor, the public was led to believe that this was the end of the mighty Toyota Supra: another victim of emissions regulations.

The rumour mill about the possible continuation of the nameplate started up in the years that followed, with many desperately wanting to see a return. Their excitement escalated when a copyright on the Supra name was applied for in Europe, and again later in the USA. This confirmed the suspicions that Toyota was indeed working on a new version.

Thankfully, the wait is nearly over. On a recent sojourn in Spain, I was afforded the opportunity to sample the all-new, MkV, A90 Toyota Supra.

Much has been speculated about the latest offering to come from Toyota, and, while we were unable to speak directly to Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada (the man responsible for the Toyota 86/GT86), we managed to enter into lengthy discussions with Assistant Chief Engineers on the Supra project, Masayuki Kai and Keisuke Fukutomo.

The All-New Toyota Supra.

The new Supra is a joint venture with BMW, a project that started back in 2012, ten years after the last MkIV Supra rolled off of the production line. As such, the new Supra and upcoming BMW Z4 use similar components, with BMW supplying the engine and drivetrain, as well as the modular chassis architecture, known by BMW as CLAR.

It's not the first time that we've seen this approach, and Tetsuya Tada drew on his experience with the Subaru joint-venture for the BRZ/GT86 in order to make the Supra project come to life. With Kai based in Cologne, Germany, and being versed in German, his responsibility was to act as the bridge between the German manufacturer and the team over in Japan.

Development of the Supra was taken care of by the Toyota Gazoo Racing department, to ensure that a thoroughbred sports car was created. They drew on their experience in a variety of motorsport disciplines and the knowledge gained over many years of successful competition, to inject the Supra with a DNA that is unmistakably performance orientated.

Their core philosophy was to concentrate on three primary aspects, to ensure that the new Supra is deserving of the legendary name. They believe that the creation of a pure sports car lies with Track Width, Wheelbase, and Center of Gravity. Power and speed is a by-product and to quote Gazoo Racing directly, “Numbers are one thing, feeling is what matters.”.

Is the new Supra a rebranded BMW Z4?

While the A90 Supra shares a large amount of mechanical componentry with the next Z4, the development of the Supra was primarily done by the Toyota Gazoo Racing team. Once a package was decided upon (the engine type, gearbox, chassis length, width, A-pillar and passenger compartment positioning), the teams split up and continued to develop their individual cars as they saw fit. Toyota is unable to tell you what the final specs of the Z4 are, and vice versa. This is not badge engineering as we know it, instead, it's a cost-effective dip into the knowledge pool.

The new Supra Engine.

Emissions regulations are the bugbear of the performance industry – it's what killed off the 2JZ-GTE. Toyota knew that they had to give the Supra a straight-six engine and, ideally, a turbocharger. For this, they would need BMW's assistance, as BMW is one of the only manufacturers still producing a high-performance straight-six.

The A90 will be using a BMW-derived B58B30, 3.0-litre, turbocharged, straight-six engine and this is mated to an 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox. Power output is expected to be in excess of 300 hp with reports suggesting that the final number will be approximately 335 hp (250 kW). These numbers are approximate and not even the engineers can confirm final output numbers as Toyota is still working on the final tune for both the engine and the gearbox.

The current tune of the engine sees it pull well from low in its RPM range, and come onto song in a progressive and linear fashion with only a small amount of drop-off higher up in the rev range, where the turbo spools out and excess boost is vented. The low-end torque delivery makes light work of the slower corners and eliminates the need to shift down to a lower gear to get the engine energised.

Automatic only – for now.

Many may be disappointed to hear that there are no immediate plans to introduce a manual derivative, but Kai-san also expressed that this may again be looked at in the future, depending on market demand. With that said, the 8-speed ZF is rather good, with well-timed, purposeful shifts in Sport mode and silky changes in Comfort setting. Around the Spanish Jarama circuit, the Sport setting had the Supra reading the inputs from the driver and adjusting the shift points accordingly, anticipating the required down changes and holding gears longer when need be.

Combining electronics and mechanics.

It plumbs the power to the rear wheels, and features a 2-way, electronically activated clutch-type limited slip differential, that uses multiple signals, from steering input, throttle input, wheels speed and ABS sensors as well as yaw sensors to dial in variable amount of lock – anything from completely open to 100% lock in mere milliseconds.

This, combined with the suspension tuning (which I will get to shortly), gives the Supra a sharp turn-in and neutral balance when diving into a corner and then provides great amounts of traction on the exit. Toyota will still refine the electronic driver aids as well as the engine and gearbox programming over the coming months, ahead of the anticipated, official, 2019 launch.

A Pure Sports Car.

Discussions with Herwig Daenens, Toyota Gazoo Racing Master Driver, the man responsible for a large amount of the chassis setup, highlighted the core philosophy. Toyota aimed for a “Golden Ratio” when it came to the chassis development, aiming for a wheelbase-to-track ratio of less than 1.6 – a figure that they managed to achieve. The A80 Supra, the MkIV, had a ratio of 1.67 while the GT86 stepped in with a 1.68. For those without engineering degrees, this means that the Supra is shorter but wider than the GT86. This secured two of their objectives with the A90.

Their next challenge was to drop the centre of gravity, and through the use of high-tech bonding and construction methods, they managed to achieve this. As a result, the A90 Supra has a centre of gravity that comes in lower than even the Boxer-engined GT86.

Rock-solid chassis.

These high-tech construction methods, consisting of spot-welding, seam sealing and chemical bonding, have resulted in a chassis that is more rigid than that of the Lexus LFA – and this without using carbon fibre composites in the construction.

The suspension is comprised of active dampers, which allows for a supple and compliant ride in Comfort mode as well as pin-sharp handling prowess in Sport mode. The Sport mode allows for up to 7mm reduction in the ride height and, as is the norm these days, sharpens up the throttle response, gearbox shifts and steering response.

Despite being fitted with electric power steering, a system that is often criticised for lacking in feedback and response, the Supra transmits a rather surprising amount of information through to the driver, particularly in the aforementioned Sport mode. The anti-roll bar was redesigned with traditional drop links utilised in order to provide a better initial feel on turn-in and counter understeer at higher lateral G's.

The new Supra is beautifully balanced and confidence inspiring. After a mere three laps around the technical Jarama circuit, I was confident enough to lean on the suspension and climb in the power progressively earlier. With the car rotating around a centre-point that could be identified as being near your hip, the balance is neutral and both understeer, or oversteer, can be provoked with the right inputs.

I would have liked to see a better brake feel and indeed, better braking performance as well. While much of this could be down to the cabin insulation and notable composure of the chassis detracting from the actual speed, the feel from the brakes was neither as progressive nor as responsive as I was expecting. This saw me out-brake myself more than once, leaving me to rely heavily on the front end grip of the car.

Conclusion.

Most of my experience with the new Supra was performance orientated, and this is to do with the fact that what I sampled is still a work-in-progress, a teaser before the final product. There's still trimmings, programming and a handful of final touches to come before we can quote hard and fast facts and figures. We still have no idea what its final form will be, either inside or out. Toyota is just about ready with the mechanicals, and they seem quite proud of their achievements. And rightly so.

It's not a rebranded BMW Z4. It's a car that feels Japanese more than I thought it would. It's a car that brings some of the analogue driving experiences of the 90s into the modern age. It reminds you that driving can be an enjoyable, exciting experience. It's a Toyota and it feels like one – and a rather good one, at that.

Admittedly, as I consider the new Toyota Supra, I am left a little torn. The old-school Supra fan in me is a little saddened that it has become as digital as it is, but, on the other hand, the side of me that spends time with modern performance cars revels in its traditional upbringing and analogue feel, especially in this day and age.

It's a wonderful thing to pilot through twisty switchbacks and hairpin turns. It rewards the driver that engages with it and encourages spirited driving. It does the GT thing rather well too. There will always be detractors, but I don't doubt that you will find scores of fans, both new and old, defending its honour.

The Supra is back. The new album may sound a little different from the last, but the band is still rocking out, harder than ever.

 

[Daigor]

via Car&Driver

The 2020 Supra Proves Toyota Hasn't Forgotten How to Make a Sports Car
We can't tell you anything about the numbers yet, but Toyota's new sports car is terrific to drive.

If someone 10 years from now pops the hood of a lightly wrecked 2020 Toyota Supra and says, "B58 engine, no shiz," or whatever profanity is popular at the time, we'd be surprised. Not that there is anything wrong with the BMW inline-six. In fact, it is one of the smoothest and lag-free turbocharged engines in the world. If you were setting out to build a rear-wheel-drive sports car powered by a turbocharged inline-six, it's about as good a starting point as you could find. Some will still consider it sacrilegious to power a Supra with anything but the legendary 2JZ inline-six of the Mark 4 Supra and, less importantly, The Fast and The Furious fame.

HIGHS
Handles like a dream; (probably) looks like one, too; the greatest inline-six Toyota could possibly use . . .

LOWS
. . . still isn't a 20-year-old 2JZ to the Toyota faithful, could use a little brake refinement.

Those two things—chassis layout and engine configuration—are the only elements of heritage that carry over from the fabled fourth-generation A80 Supra to this new A90 Supra. The gap between them stretches over enough years to grow an adult driver from scratch, after all. Conceivably, other nuggets of commonality might be found in the specifications, but for now, Toyota is keeping a tight lid on those details. Before cutting us loose on a racetrack and roads used as rally stages north of Madrid, Spain, assistant chief engineer Masayuki Kai gave us one quasi-spec: The new Supra's wheelbase-to-track ratio would be at least 1.6:1 for optimal handling, but he wouldn't reveal either dimension. Nearly every other question about metrics was answered with an inequality: "More than" 300 horsepower. A zero-to-60-mph time of "less than" five seconds. A target curb weight of "about" 3300 pounds. You get the picture.

Kai-san makes it pretty clear that Toyota wants us to think less about the numbers and more about how its new hero car feels. But to review, this is what we know: Toyota has revived the Supra name for a new sports car in a collaboration with BMW. BMW gets the roadster Z4, which we've had a similar exposure to, while Toyota gets the coupe. As we mentioned, BMW supplies the engine, and it's paired with ZF's ubiquitous eight-speed automatic. Both cars will be manufactured by Magna Steyr in Austria. The Supra will hit dealerships midway through 2019 as a 2020 model and probably will ring in at about $50,000. Most, if not all, of the camouflaged switchgear we saw in the cabin looked BMW-like. If earlier reports are to be believed, the engine will flaunt 335 horsepower, and an inline-four also is in the works but won't be offered at the start.

Feels Right
We were fully expecting the Supra to be much like a modern BMW, which is to say plenty capable but a little numb. Instead, there is a smoothness to the Supra that we haven't felt in a BMW in years. Turn-in is crisp without being too heavy. The claimed 50/50 front/rear weight distribution—there's a spec—lends itself to tuning for minimal understeer, while an electronically controlled limited-slip differential ensures great traction on corner exit. The transmission's logic in Sport mode makes shifting with the paddles an exercise in vanity.

The one dynamic component that could still use some attention from the engineers is in the brake tuning. The pedal never had that "I'm a track car, stand on me with confidence" feel, instead evincing a dead spot in the initial travel and a generally spongy response. Both the Jarama circuit and the nearby rally roads are taxing venues for brakes, and while what we felt could have been the residual effects from repeated abuse, we can't say for sure because we never got in a fresh car. That said, the brakes never gave up, and there wasn't so much as a single pucker moment.

With a nearly identical component set as the BMW—including adaptive dampers, a shear plate stiffening the front end, 19-inch BMW-spec Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires (17- and 18-inchers will be available, too), and Brembo brake hardware—the Supra's tuning limitations were defined by a crisp box. The personality instilled in the chassis comes down to the critically important knobs that Toyota controlled. When asked what the Toyota engineers thought of the Z4, they had no answer—not because they didn't want to badmouth the competition/partner, but because they had never driven nor even laid eyes on a Z4.

Both based in Munich, the Z4 and Supra engineering teams split four years ago and haven't communicated about the development paths they've followed since. Kai-san remembers fighting for a little more control over the engine. It wasn't loud enough (the European models are downright quiet), and he wanted to get more sound to tickle the heartstrings. Concessions were made, and Toyota got its way. Sport mode opens a butterfly valve in the exhaust, and there is, unfortunately, some faux noise pumped through the stereo. European pass-by-noise standards are tough, but we're told the U.S. market will get a louder exhaust than the one on the cars we drove.

Designed for Toyota Fans
If the attention these camouflaged prototypes received in Madrid is any indication, the car won't need the exhaust to turn heads. The shape is nearly identical to that of the aggressive FT-1 concept shown in Detroit back in 2014. What doesn't show through the camo is that, despite the Bavarian roots, this is an unmistakably Japanese design. Cues from two of the great '90s Japanese cars are present. The rounded nose and front overhang are unmistakably A80 Supra influences. Resemblance to the FD Mazda RX-7 is seen in the double-bubble roof as well as in the taillights split by a ducktail spoiler integrated with the hatch; it's different from the Mazda in detail but similar in concept. Either way, this new, A90 Supra has a distinctive exterior you won't mistake for anything European.

Driver comfort is exceptional for such a tightly packaged cabin. The roof carves out more headroom than the exterior suggests, although mid-six-footers will find it tight. The C7 Corvette is the poster child for practicality in two-seaters, and the Supra won't dethrone it. An hourglass-shaped hatch opening looks to have the room to squeeze a set of golf clubs into the cargo bay, but not much more will fit.

Only Finishing Touches Remain
According to engineers, the cars we drove were 90 percent complete. Just a few more tuning tweaks plus some decisions on interior elements and option packages remain to be decided before it gets the final stamp of approval. By the time that comes, the Munich-based team will probably be working on variants such as the aforementioned four-banger; a targa roof is still possible, and there may yet be a manual transmission, although the latter is unlikely with the six because of concerns over shift quality with such a torque-rich engine.

It has been a very long time since there was a Toyota sports car filling the gaping void in the showrooms between the budget-conscious 86 and the budget-be-damned, now-discontinued Lexus LFA. The Supra is poised to fill it. Kai-san said, "We believe this will be the final generation of Supra with just internal combustion." We're never going to live long enough to hear, "AC motor, no shiz." It's a great thing to know that a 90-percent-finished Supra is so good to drive, and we're looking forward to actually seeing it. Reactions will likely include profanity.

 

[GT-Four]

 

[PerformanceSound]

via CarMagazine

New 2019 Toyota Supra prototype review

► First drive of new Toyota Supra
► Straight-six BMW turbo, RWD
► New platform shared with Z4

They say good things come to those who wait, and Lord knows they've kept us waiting with the new Toyota Supra. The last one – synonymous with The Fast & The Furious, Japanese JGTC racing (now Super GT) and Gran Turismo – launched a full quarter of a century ago. Since then there have been false starts, concept cars, whispers on the wind and, thanks to the car’s fanbase and epic tuning potential, the systematic modification of almost every A80 Mk4 on the face of the planet: you try finding a standard one.

For years – decades in fact – Toyota has had little time for sports cars, preferring instead to focus on hybrids, fat margins, fiendish production efficiencies and to chase the status of global sales numero uno.

But the latest chief Akio Toyoda has rung the changes, Toyota’s back in sports cars and in 2019 you’ll be able to buy the new Supra you see here in our early review. We’ll see undisguised cars in January (first customers will also get their cars in 2019), and with cute camo graphics intact we have now driven the car in a representative form – in much the same spec as the car that tore up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, in fact.

And you’ll be pleased to hear you may now continue to get very excited about what is a very exciting car; a £50k Porsche Cayman S/Alpine A110 rival powered by a turbocharged straight-six motor and engineered by the man who brought you GT86.

New Supra’s good. Really good.

The new 2019 Toyota Supra: gimme the basics again
New Supra’s a front-engined, rear-drive, 350bhp-ish (final performance figures are yet to be confirmed) sports car with a powertrain of BMW hardware; turbocharged straight-six engine, eight-speed paddleshift auto and an active differential (an e-motor wind the diff’s ratio up and down via a reduction gear). Both BMW and Toyota initially considered a mid-engined platform – and got quite excited – but subsequently plumped for the more classical layout.

The Supra and new Z4 share a basic platform tuned pretty comprehensively in markedly different directions – the Toyota as ‘a Porsche killer,’ according to chief engineer Tetsuya Tada. The Supra takes advantage of BMW’s adaptive suspension hardware, calibrated to its own ends to give the car bandwidth and to combat the choppy body movement short-wheelbase cars can suffer on rough roads.

The Supra also runs unique front anti-roll bar geometry and, being a coupe (and a Tada-optimised one at that), enjoys a more rigid structure than the BMW.

And inside the Toyota Supra?
Climb in and at the moment there’s BMW everywhere, from the drive selector to the infotainment display, as you’d expect. The driver’s instruments (and cute HUD) are bespoke Supra, and if BMW’s screen and iDrive architecture stay, expect a Toyota skin to the software.

The basics are good: nicely low-slung and supportive seats within a snug, sophisticated cockpit that feels worthy of the asking price. Above your head the double-bubble roof gives oodles of headroom, while visibility is pretty good given the sleek glasshouse. On the move road noise and vibration are notably more effectively suppressed than they are in the GT86 – ‘This car is a more high-end car than the GT86, which means higher expectations from the customers. They’ll be looking at the daily use and comfort aspect, not just using the car on track,’ says Tada.

Two drive modes are offered, Normal and Sport, governing engine noise, shift speed (ultra-quick in either, but with a more dramatic shift-shock in Sport), steering weight, adaptive damper response (the adaptive element works on the compression side only) and the behaviour of the active diff. As with the GT86, a single push of the VSC button gives you more slack but with a safety net: hold it down for six seconds (on the move or stationary) and you’ll knock the system out entirely.

Anyway, enough fluff – has it been worth the wait for the 2019 Supra?
On the evidence of this drive (30 minutes on spectacular Spanish mountain roads, then the same again on former Spanish Grand Prix circuit Jarama), Toyota has a proper little weapon on its hands.

This shouldn’t be surprising for several reasons. One: GR kingpin Tetsuya Tada is a fine engineer and an incurable enthusiast; the man who delivered the deliciously malleable GT86 and who’s already getting frothy about a faster, more hardcore GRMN Supra and a Supra-based GTE LM racer World Endurance racer. Two: the powertrain is a peach – smooth, soulful and spectacularly capable, blending ultra-quick, flawless shifts with an engine that can do it all, from easy motorway flying to high-rev hooliganism. And three: all the engineering fundamentals are right, from a steel body stiffer even than the carbonfibre LF-A’s, through a 50:50 weight distribution to a centre of gravity lower even than that of the boxer-engined GT86.

On the road you’re struck first by the engine’s awesome turn of speed. Picking off trucks and slower cars is child’s play, the Supra sprinting by whenever the opportunity emerges thanks to the six’s strong torque and, should the need to hurry arise, urgent top-end. Toyota’s being vague on output but the Supra feels every bit as quick as the (335bhp, 1545kg) BMW M240i, if not quicker.

Meanwhile the ride quality’s admirably pliant in Normal mode, the car offsetting its stiffly-sidewalled Michelins with relatively small rims (19 inches front and rear), that rigid structure and the sensible spring rates a low centre of gravity allows a car to use. Despite all Toyota’s talk of this being an out-and-out sports car, it hasn’t dropped the everyday driver ball, either – you could put in hours in this thing, should you be so lucky.

Get into the good stuff, get busy with the paddles and put some bigger numbers on both the tacho and the speedo and it takes all of the first corner to become attuned to the Supra’s response, something Tada cites as a unique and highly-prized advantage of a (on-paper less ideal) front-engined layout versus a mid-mounted engine.

The steering’s really sweet, being lighter than a typical BMW set-up and GT86-like in its responsiveness (no dead-ahead vagueness), linearity and confidence-swelling tactility. And where you expect to feed the car into corners bonnet-first, it soon becomes apparent the Toyota isn’t that kind of car, turning instead around its middle (the engine’s tucked right back at the bulkhead, Lexus LC500-style) and responding to your bidding as one, rather than as a front axle and, some time later, a rear.

Lean on the front tyres and you’re impressed by both the lack of understeer and the roll control. It’s here again that the bigger, heavier, and altogether more powerful Supra feels a little GT86-ish, the sensation of the car turning-in enjoying more than a dash of that car’s reassuring composure and clearly-communicated enthusiasm. You’re impressed too by how quickly you’re comfortable to lean on either end, the rear tyres in particular feeling quite untroubled by even generous applications of the straight six's shove on corner exit.

And on track?
Interesting. Tada is proud of the Supra’s road bias, explaining that while prototypes inevitably pounded the Nurburgring, they also proved themselves on the roads around the ’Ring and on North America’s battled-scarred highway pavement. As such the Supra is in its element on the road, and leaves plenty of headroom for a track-ready GRMN Supra, which will follow.

Not that the standard car’s lacking on track. That front-end grip again shines through, even when you think you might be taking liberties, the Brembo brakes are strong and pretty tireless (though our stints were short) and the engine’s relentlessly brilliant; smooth, easy to bring in smoothly, even when lateral grip’s already being tested, and with thousands of revs of useful reach.

Wind off the VSC and it becomes clear what a sensitive, malleable device the Supra is, with nuanced slip and grip at both axles and, presumably as a result of that short wheelbase, happily trimming its line with very subtle front/rear shifts of weight. Twitchy? I wouldn’t go that far, particularly in the dry with a VSC safety net in place, but cold, wet circuits with VSC off would be equal parts challenging, rewarding and nerve-wracking. Which is the way it should be, right?

New Toyota Supra: the CAR magazine verdict
We won’t get our hands on finished, production-spec cars until later in summer 2019. But on first impressions there’s very little for Toyota’s engineers to fix between now and then. Purposeful, refined, distinctive, fast and keen on putting you at the heart of the action, whether you’re pounding a track or tackling a favourite stretch of road, new Supra is a serious statement of intent from a manufacturer (and a sub-brand, GRMN) keen on capitalising on its recent Le Mans glory.

A Porsche-killer? That the Toyota’s in with a shout is testament to a hugely promising new sports car.

Specs
Price when new: £50,000
On sale in the UK: 2019
Engine: 2998cc twin-turbo straight-six, 350bhp, 400lb ft (est)
Transmission: Eight-speed paddleshift auto, rear-wheel drive, e-diff
Performance: 4.0sec 0-62mph, 160mph (est)
Weight / material: 1500kg/steel (est)
Dimensions (length/width/height in mm): 4380/1855/1290mm

 

[AZSupra]

I always wanted to like the 86. I love a proper RWD coupe focused on weight, but I do need some power. I think of this car as the car the 86 should of been. We are going the way of hybrids and electric. Toyota is giving us a 2 seater RWD sports car. I am thankful and excited. The MKIV was really a super car of its time. Much more 911 turbo than Cayman. It was not exactly a focused drivers car in the way this car is attempting to be.

When you have one of these passion projects headed by an engineer with passion, Japan nails it. The only question is price. I don't see how it can go for more than an M2 comp and be a success

 

[PerformanceSound]

via CarAdvice

2019 Toyota Supra review: Prototype drive
It's one of the most hyped sports cars and it carries a name that demands respect. But, can the all-new Supra live up to its name? Paul Maric finds out.

It's one of the most hyped sports cars and it carries a name that demands respect. But, can the all-new Supra live up to its name? Paul Maric finds out.

Pros

• Dimensions and proportions are bang on for a nimble sports car
• One of the smoothest engines ever to grace a sports car
• The return of an iconic nameplate

Cons

• Could do with more exhaust noise
• Steering wheel doesn't feel chunky enough for a purist sports car

With a history dating back to the late ’70s, the Supra name is synonymous with high performance, rear-wheel-drive Japanese motoring. Despite a lengthy hiatus, the Toyota Supra is back, but this time around Japanese engineering blends with German ingenuity, with the Supra sharing a platform with BMW’s upcoming Z4.

Toyota invited us to Spain to drive pre-production prototypes of the Supra, ahead of the vehicle’s global launch in early 2019. The drive also coincided with Toyota Australia announcing that the Supra will go on sale in Australia during the second half of 2019, with pricing and specifications yet to be determined.

These prototypes are amongst a handful of hand-built cars currently being tested around the globe – so you can imagine that our ability to have a proper crack was a little limited, given the value of these cars and their incomplete engineering states. We also had no video resources to work with, so your first look at the Supra is a quick, bite-sized cut of our time behind the wheel.

But, despite the limitations, we've had a red-hot crack in the Supra both on twisting mountain roads and the technical, fast Jarama racetrack in Madrid.

Let’s start with the most important information: the powertrain under the bonnet of the 2019 A90 Toyota Supra.

• Power: 220kW+ (295hp+)
• Torque: 450Nm+ (332lb.ft+)
• Transmission: Eight-speed automatic with torque converter
• 0–100km/h: Under 5.0 seconds
• Driven wheels: Rear-wheel drive with electronically controlled active differential
• Weight distribution: 50:50
• Build location: Magna Steyr plant in Graz, Austria

From the outside, the proportions look really good. It's bigger and wider than I thought it would be, but it doesn't look or feel too big. The wheelbase (exact dimensions are not confirmed yet) is shorter than the Toyota 86, but the added width gives it a monstrous stance on the road.

While the vehicles still had a camouflage wrap, we've knocked together a computer-generated image to give you an idea of the design beneath the wrap. It looks damn good – even down to the traditional Supra branding on the rear of the car.

If you take a closer look at the front end, you'll spot the full LED headlights, the LED daytime running light strip, and the embedded radar cruise-control module. Other safety features include blind-spot monitoring, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and a head-up display with forward collision warning.

Most of the air vents you see on the car are disappointingly non-functional. You'll notice them on the front three-quarter fender, around the door arches and at the rear. Toyota says these will be functional on the race car, but the final version of the road car will retain blanked, faux inlets.

Other points of interest on the outside are the big brakes – Brembo branded with four-piston callipers at the front – while the tyres fitted to the car will be Michelin Pilot Super Sport treads that measure 255mm wide at the front and 275mm wide at the rear sitting on 19-inch alloy wheels.

In terms of the interior – we weren't allowed to take any pictures. But, we can tell you from our previous spy photos, it's a lot of carryover equipment from BMW. The screen appears to be an iDrive unit, while the switchgear and steering wheel are from the BMW range (but the steering wheel isn't quite as bulky in the hand as a BMW M vehicle).

What is different, though, is the screen ahead of the driver. Instead of a full LCD display, it's split into segments with the speedometer and tachometer on the left and visual highlights on the right. They include the trip computer displays, a graphical display for the engine temperature, and highlighted bars for the fuel level.

One of the big benefits of a get-together with BMW is the ability to retain some of the higher-quality parts. Everything in the cabin, even on these late prototypes, feels well built and premium. Even the thud of the door as it closes feels upmarket – in comparison to something like the 86.

Before we get into the engine details – how does it sound? Well, it actually sounds almost the same as a BMW M140i, which definitely isn't a bad thing. There are twin exhaust outlets at the rear with bi-modal functionality, while extra sound is plumbed into the cabin through the speakers when the Sport mode is engaged.

When the car starts, it gets the same 'cold start' functionality as the LCI BMW M140i, so there's increased revs and a small crackle as it starts. Punch it off the line and it sounds good, but not amazing. We were expecting a bit more sound from the outside to really make it sing.

Toyota has confirmed Australia will get the Supra with a 3.0-litre turbocharged (twin-scroll) inline six-cylinder petrol engine with direct injection and variable valve control producing “more than” 220kW of power and 450Nm of torque, for a claimed 100km/h sprint time “well under five seconds”.

While the exact gearbox is yet to be confirmed, we know it’s an eight-speed unit – Toyota says it was picked for its “shift speed and direct feel, as well as for maximising torque converter characteristics for powerful take-off acceleration”.

The use of a torque converter should mean there's no low-speed jerkiness, the likes of which is common in dual-clutch transmissions, with the logical gearbox being the BMW-derived ZF Sachs eight-speed automatic.

Chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada, said the goal of the Supra program was to develop a robust car that would reward the driver.

“Regarding driving pleasure, my target was to achieve extreme handling performance as a pure sport car,” Tada-san said. “Thanks to Supra’s robust body and high-performance suspension, you can enjoy an extremely high level of all performance aspects, including acceleration and deceleration response, ride comfort and cornering.”

Each corner rides on adaptive suspension with front and rear stabiliser bars and tuned spring rates designed for comfort and mid-corner compliance. Part of the reason the suspension works so well is thanks to the 50:50 weight distribution, with none of the engine hanging over the front axle.

In and around the city, there's a nice groan inside the cabin, even in the regular driving mode. The adaptive suspension on the cars we drove was remarkably good and coped well with the bumps and potholes of Madrid.

The gearbox is arguably the highlight of the drivetrain package. Despite offering eight gears, the gearbox never hunts and leans on the engine's meaty torque band to propel it with ease. It can be doing 50 or 60km/h and start accelerating in fifth or sixth gear without feeling laboured.

Stab the throttle for urgent acceleration and the wave of torque is not only relentless, it's also virtually instant. The twin-scroll turbocharger never feels caught off guard, and even in the regular driving mode it's ready to react and get things moving.

Find yourself a freeway on-ramp and the missile-like acceleration becomes immediately evident. From 80km/h, if you drop the hammer it throws you back in the seat and begins sprinting like a bull that has just seen red.

Two driving modes are available – normal and Sport. A big Sport button on the centre tunnel is the method of switching between the modes. The normal mode offers a soft suspension set-up, while the Sport mode firms up the suspension, adds extra steering weight and pumps more noise into the cabin.

It's through corners that the Supra really shines. We hit Jarama racetrack just outside central Madrid to sample the Supra at higher speeds. This former Formula One circuit boasts a brand-new surface, a long front straight and technical elevation changes. It's the perfect place to hammer the Supra's brakes and figure out whether it can match the engineering claims.

Sending torque to the rear wheels is a complex active differential that features all the benefits of a two-way differential, combined with tailor-made lock ratios and stepless variability from 0–100 per cent lock.

By taking inputs from the stability-control system, yaw and rotation inputs, along with steering and throttle positions, the ECU is able to determine the level of locking required and then adjust it finely using a high-reduction gear that applies tension to a mechanical disc stack. The end result is the benefits of a limited-slip differential, with the flexibility of an open differential.

It works a charm too, with gradual throttle inputs through to full throttle mid-corner resulting in very progressive and linear acceleration without the fuss associated with overly intrusive stability controls. That's also partly thanks to the sticky rubber – it's one of the best tyres on the market, so it's a perfect package to get all of that torque to the ground.

Steering feel both on-track and on-road is excellent. In normal mode it's on the heavier side of light, while in Sport mode it firms up nicely and offers chassis feel through the palm of the hand. Seated in the driver's seat, it feels like you're directly connected to the car and you always know precisely what it's about to do.

The brakes are also excellent with communicative and progressive brake pedal feel. A larger brake booster has been optimised for feel and it never feels dull or spongy, even when you reach fade points with the brakes.

Despite its short wheelbase, there's never a point where it feels anything less than predictable. Switch all the safety aids off and it becomes a drift machine. In fact, Toyota spent a portion of its Supra development time ensuring it would easily perform donuts and would offer drivers the confidence to hang it sideways without risk of it chewing you up and spitting you out.

If there were a criticism in terms of performance on-track, it would just be that the gearbox could hold gears for slightly longer in its Sport mode and that the steering wheel be a bit thicker in the hands. At the moment it feels similar to an entry-level 3 Series, as opposed to the chunky wheel you'll find strapped to an M3 or M4.

What are the exact performance numbers? We don't have that information at the moment – Toyota is still working on final calibration of the vehicle. We also had a VBox with us, but our request to get a performance figure was knocked back, understandably, by the engineering team.

Toyota spent 90 per cent of its product development time on public roads and tracks to emulate what a real road user will do. That included Vmax runs on German roads, long-distance highway driving in the US, and snow driving in Sweden and Finland. And, while the platform is shared with BMW and the Z4, BMW and Toyota co-developed the package early on to the point where dimensions were agreed. From there, the two teams diverged and developed their own products uniquely.

That means the Toyota team hasn't driven or interacted with BMW on the Z4, and the BMW engineering team hasn't driven or worked on the Supra. And it definitely shows – the Supra doesn't feel like just another BMW. It feels like it has Toyota DNA built into it, and that time was spent to ensure it hits the mark for the elements Supra owners of yesteryear are after.

While our time with the all-new Toyota Supra was limited, it's really hard to pick faults with the drivetrain and its on-road and on-track performance. It delivers quick, lag-free acceleration, and gives the driver enough freedom to push it towards its limits without biting back and becoming unpredictable.

Now, the only thing left is to see what it actually looks like beneath the skin, and to figure out exactly what the interior will look like. Plus, the most important part, pricing. While it feels premium, it'll still wear a Toyota badge, so it can't be too over the top.

Does it feel like a car worthy of the Supra badge? Hell yes. We can't wait to have a proper fang of the production car when it launches globally early next year.

What do you think about the all-new Supra? How much would you pay for Toyota's halo sports car?

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