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Chief Engineer Rejected Hybrid Powertrain Option For the 2020 Toyota GR Supra

As everyone was expecting of Tada-san, the chief engineer of the GR Supra can’t make and isn’t willing to develop a hybrid option for the Japanese sports car with BMW Z4 underpinnings. The more curious thing is, Toyota said in December 2017 that it would electrify every model by the year 2025.
2020 Toyota GR Supra 18 photos
Photo: Toyota
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Speaking to Australian magazine Motoring, Tetsuya Tada made it clear that “Toyota marketing people are asking me to develop a hybrid Supra and I say no.” The most obvious reason for the rejection is BMW, whose platform and engines are utilized by the four- and six-cylinder GR Supra.

“The weight is the issue,”
is Tada’s explanation, and that’s a fair point given the fact that Colin Chapman’s mantra still stands true. The only way to make the GR Supra Hybrid happen would be for battery and e-powertrain technologies to advance to the next level, well into the 2020s.

“Maybe in the near future there will be a point where you can use EV or hybrid in this car, but at the moment not,” said Tada, who believes that the next generation of engineers will work their magic. A soft-top convertible body style and a manual gearbox have been shot down by Tada as well.

On the upside, enthusiasts and prospective owners can brace themselves for a more powerful derivative of the 3.0-liter engine from BMW. Believed to be called GRMN Supra from Gazoo Racing Masters of Nürburgring, the performance-oriented version of the B58 could mirror the output of the Z4 M40i roadster or level up to the S58 engine of the M3 sports sedan.

For the time being, the most potent GR Supra takes its mojo from the single-turbo B58B30. The straight-six that Toyota describes as the spiritual successor of the 2JZ is good for 340 PS (335 horsepower) and 500 Nm (369 pound-feet) of torque in this application. The Z4 M40i for the U.S. market is rated at 387 PS (382 horsepower) and the same level of torque from 1,600 rpm.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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