Toyota Teases GR Line Up: Supra MK6, Celica MK8, MR2 MK4, 86 MK3 and GR GT

[GRMan]

Right, while the market is definitely not very large, what i'm saying is the smart way to go is target the MK6 at the 85K range and more or less market itself as a 911 non-turbo alternative with more power for much less money.

I definitely get that most 911 buyers have deep pockets and are buying them mostly because of the Porsche badge, but as Nissan demonstrated with the GTR in the 2000's, if you make a car as good as the 6 figure behemoths for a more reasonable price, you can have some serious success. The GTR sold extraordinarily well in its first years even though the Nissan brand and logo was synonymous with boring cheap junk cars, people didn't care what brand the GTR was because it was such an amazing package for such a great price.

And again while the market isn't large, it also feels like there's a bit of a gap in the "not quite supercar money" segment right now. That is to say, if the MK6 comes in at say $85K with 500+ HP, a manual trans option, a premium interior, and better out of the box handling than the base 911 / 911-S, then I really think it could be a big hit. There aren't a lot of high-potential 2-door sports cars out in that range right now, especially if you exclude performance models of basic sedans (M-cars/most AMG's.) Only ones I can think of are the Vettes (which aren't "special" unless you pay $115K+ for a Z06 / no manual), Emira (Lotus reliability is a huge turnoff), Cayman (not a great enthusiast platform in most cases), LC500 (more of a comfy GT car), and lower trims of the AMG GT. Hopefully I'm not missing anything / correct me if I'm wrong and there's way more than that available new.

Absolutely. Just like back in the early to mid 90s, the FD RX7 won the Australian Bathurst 12 hours race in Mount Panorama and made Porsche salesman’s life very difficult in selling the 968 as it got beaten.

The Lancer Evo5 stole a bit of sales from 996 Turbo buyer as back then, there were a population of rich guys that were not brand whore, they were genuinely interested in high performance cars. They are still around. The Honda S2000 was a direct competitor to the 986 Boxster and it did very well. The WRX cult started in the mid 90s was because it could out accelerate any Aussie big V8s back in the days. The GC STi then came along and destroyed all the Porsche and Ferrari sports cars you can buy in the showroom in performance, sealing its fate as the most sought after sports car in that era, regardless of pricing.

Back to now, the A90/91 Supra with minimum mods (200TW, coilovers), is frequently a direct competitor to the Porsche GT3 and GT4 at the Sydney Motorsports Park, running comparable times. Even a mildly modded GR Yaris (Tune, suspension, 255/265 200TW) runs similar times to a GT3/GT4. That’s why the Yaris is so popular even given the steep pricng for a small hot hatch. Lots of people tracking it or doing rally sports with it.

The upcoming Supra 6 will be successful as long as it retains the ICE power unit and couple with a 6MT (auto will also be available obviously). Given GR’s track record on refining their sports car in motorsports, I am sure it will be very capable.

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