Photo: Toyota
After the Yaris GRMN, Toyota is working on developing Gazoo Racing as a fully-fledged performance division. A higher-performance Supra is next in line, and according to the chief executive officer of GRMN, it will be something like 100 kilograms (220 pounds) lighter than the bone-stock model.
Speaking to Top Gear, the chief engineer behind the Supra said that Toyota is looking into road-legal and track-only versions. “There’s always a trade-off [between the two] because being road-legal brings restrictions,” explained Tetsuya Tada, which leads us to believe that the road-going avenue is how the cookie crumbles.
In regard to motorsport, the Supra will compete in NASCAR from 2019 onwards. A GT endurance racer is also in the works, though it remains to be seen if the Supra has the chops to take of the likes of the Porsche 911 and Ferrari 488 in the LM GTE category of the World Endurance Championship.
To be produced alongside the 2019 BMW Z4 in Austria, the all-new Supra will be offered with a choice of 2.0- and 3.0-liter turbocharged engines. What isn’t too clear about the newcomer is the transmission. Ever since the beginning, evidence suggests that Toyota doesn’t plan to offer a good ol’ stick shift. On the other hand, some people claim a dual-clutch transmission could be preferred to the eight-speed automatic supplied by ZF.
“The Porsche Cayman has been our dynamic benchmark from the start,” Tada-san told Top Gear. “The Cayman has the advantage with its engine positioning but I’ve driven the cars back-to-back on track and we’re definitely in the same zone.” Now this comes as a complete surprise, more so if you bear in mind how little Toyota did in the past handful of years as far as exciting cars are concerned.
Looking back at the beginning of the A90 project, Tada and BMW would’ve gone forward with a mid-engine layout. “I took the idea to Akio Toyoda and he told me off.” In other words, the Supra could’ve become the MR2 if the head honcho went forward with a mid-ship design instead of a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car twinned with the Z4.
In regard to motorsport, the Supra will compete in NASCAR from 2019 onwards. A GT endurance racer is also in the works, though it remains to be seen if the Supra has the chops to take of the likes of the Porsche 911 and Ferrari 488 in the LM GTE category of the World Endurance Championship.
To be produced alongside the 2019 BMW Z4 in Austria, the all-new Supra will be offered with a choice of 2.0- and 3.0-liter turbocharged engines. What isn’t too clear about the newcomer is the transmission. Ever since the beginning, evidence suggests that Toyota doesn’t plan to offer a good ol’ stick shift. On the other hand, some people claim a dual-clutch transmission could be preferred to the eight-speed automatic supplied by ZF.
“The Porsche Cayman has been our dynamic benchmark from the start,” Tada-san told Top Gear. “The Cayman has the advantage with its engine positioning but I’ve driven the cars back-to-back on track and we’re definitely in the same zone.” Now this comes as a complete surprise, more so if you bear in mind how little Toyota did in the past handful of years as far as exciting cars are concerned.
Looking back at the beginning of the A90 project, Tada and BMW would’ve gone forward with a mid-engine layout. “I took the idea to Akio Toyoda and he told me off.” In other words, the Supra could’ve become the MR2 if the head honcho went forward with a mid-ship design instead of a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car twinned with the Z4.
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