Spied: Toyota benchmarking Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) for new Supra?

[Sun Devil]

..
imo the supra should be more focused on power..

I like how you think.

The GT4 is a great car, but the price point is too high. I'll repeat that the Supra should be $50-60K. It should be obtainable without selling your family.

I've had high horsepower cars where you can't safely exploit all the power. I've also had the low horsepower great handling cars (FR-S). I'm hoping the Supra fits in the middle.

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[Craigy]

Cayman is setting the bar awfully low.

For the concept the benchmark was the 911.

 

[Sunspot]

I like how you think.

The GT4 is a great car, but the price point is too high. I'll repeat that the Supra should be $50-60K. It should be obtainable without selling your family.

it's it's $70 to $80...I could live with losing 1 family member...wait let me think about this.......yes..I could live with myself on that kind of trade in.

 

[HKz]

it's it's $70 to $80...I could live with losing 1 family member...wait let me think about this.......yes..I could live with myself on that kind of trade in.

..if it is at that price then the BMW/Toyota partnership makes even less sense than it already does especially if the performance doesn't turn out to be a bit groundbreaking..will give more fuel to the Corvette bandwagon.

 

[Craigy]

I have a hard time believing it would be $70-80k. Toyota does sell the Landcruiser in that range but overall that just seems too spendy for a Toyota, particularly if they want to sell many. If this wasn't supposed to be mass-production, and just an expensive limited edition halo car, it wouldn't be some parts sharing joint venture manufactured by a third party.

Also, re Cayman benchmark, Toyota has already been seen benchmarking the GT3 RS, so that should put that rumor to bed.

Price wise it might line up more with a Cayman, which starts at $55k, or $67k for a Cayman S. But at that price it can't be comparable to a Cayman or people would just buy the Cayman. Porsche has earned their brand price premium, while Toyota is far from it.

 

[Sunspot]

..if it is at that price then the BMW/Toyota partnership makes even less sense than it already does especially if the performance doesn't turn out to be a bit groundbreaking..will give more fuel to the Corvette bandwagon.

I agree..the cayman and corvette bandwagon

 

[Sunspot]

Just a new thought.....I really think Toyota is trying to hit that 55k to 65k market range. And to do that they have to sacrifice on the powerplant. Can they put out a new car for that price point with anything that is hybrid? If not, it would make sense for the top end car to have a v6 turbo.

 

[Craigy]

Just a new thought.....I really think Toyota is trying to hit that 55k to 65k market range. And to do that they have to sacrifice on the powerplant. Can they put out a new car for that price point with anything that is hybrid? If not, it would make sense for the top end car to have a v6 turbo.

For that much money, why would they have to sacrifice? Shelby GT350 starts at $56k and doesn't have to sacrifice. Corvette starts at $55k and doesn't have to sacrifice. Etc. etc.

Hybrid, sure, they could make it a prius for $25k or whatever those cost. But yeah, for $55k-65k, I don't think they're going to have some hi-po hybrid system like the NSX or 918.

None of the original details, interviews, literature, press releases, gran turismo appearances, words out of Mr. Toyoda's mouth, you name it, mentioned or even hinted that this thing would be a hybrid. A few crappy blogs guessed that it could be a hybrid and a bunch of journalists ran with those guesses and have been making further guesses on top of guesses. Could this have changed in 3 years? Sure. But Toyota doesn't need to make this a hybrid since this will be low-production and they already have one of the most efficient fleets in the business and can take the CAFE hit. And, throughout its lineups, they demonstrate this with old inefficient vehicles that they refuse to update year after year because they don't have to.

I'm still holding out hope for a traditional high-power sportscar which is what we were promised. That will probably be a turbo 6, but tbh I really don't have a preference as long as it makes lots of power.

 

[Sun Devil]

Definitely 6 cylinders. Hybrid and 4 bangers .... no thank you.

 

[Sunspot]

So......6 cylinder, 4 sec.....low production car for under 60k....and they couldn't do that without BMW's help.....?

 

[HKz]

So......6 cylinder, 4 sec.....low production car for under 60k....and they couldn't do that without BMW's help.....?

it is mind boggling especially since toyota makes heaps more outright profit than bmw..if toyota uses the opportunity to come out with an insane new generation engine then such efforts would be understandable, but with all the info we've received it really just seems like they cheapened out and perhaps don't really care about the results as this is only intended to boost their economy brand image which is priceless..

 

[zigzagz94]

I don't think we'll see a traditional prius type "hybrid". If there are batteries they'll be used in a KERS type fashion and power the electric supercharger "hybrid" turbo they're patenting.

As far as the GT4 target goes I'm cool with it cuz a Cayman variant of some sort is the only other car on my radar right now.

 

[Sunspot]

it is mind boggling especially since toyota makes heaps more outright profit than bmw..if toyota uses the opportunity to come out with an insane new generation engine then such efforts would be understandable, but with all the info we've received it really just seems like they cheapened out and perhaps don't really care about the results as this is only intended to boost their economy brand image which is priceless..

Glad it's not just me that is not understanding this.Hopefully there will be some answers soon and our jaws will drop as we pull out our wallets.

 

[SupraGuy19]

Isn't Toyota either the largest or the most profitable car company in the world or something to that effect? I have a difficult time believing they don't have the resources to put more effort into the Supra project and build it themselves and still price it low. Look at all the beastly muscle cars that have come out in recent years and being offered at relatively affordable prices.

 

[HKz]

Isn't Toyota either the largest or the most profitable car company in the world or something to that effect? I have a difficult time believing they don't have the resources to put more effort into the Supra project and build it themselves and still price it low. Look at all the beastly muscle cars that have come out in recent years and being offered at relatively affordable prices.

virtually all other car companies pale in comparison to toyota when it comes to sales & profits...while I find it facepalming that toyota wouldn't want to develop their next halo sports car on their own, I can understand some of the business concerns especially since Toyota is trying to push out a 2nd gen 86, a 3rd sports car to the lineup and supposedly high performance models of the Yaris & Corolla...so I'm sure trying to persuade shareholders to allocate even more money to non-core products would be a tough proposition...even though it makes sense, it still irks me that the boardroom couldn't push such an agenda out...and muscle cars shouldn't really be compared, none of them utilize any major efficiency..they are huge chunks of rolling metal that win on merely brute strength & size.

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