Photo: CarPix
Tetsuya Tada is a man of many talents in the automotive realm. The chief engineer behind the GT 86 and a soldier of rear-drive fortune, Tada-san also happens to watch over the J29 Supra's development. And according to him, DCT is the way to go.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, the chief engineer gave a negative answer to the possibility of a good ol’ manual transmission. “At the moment, it is not,” he told Infoseek.co.jp, adding that “a dual-clutch transmission” is how the next-generation model rolls, and that will be that.
Tada explains that the manual isn’t on the agenda because the torque produced by the Supra would make the “shifting feel worse.” On the other hand, the chief engineer made it clear that the Supra will be more of a “pure sports car” compared to the Z4, which is described as a “luxury sports car.”
Confirmed with rear-wheel-drive and a front-mounted inline-six engine, the J29 Supra isn’t a “revival of the former generation” according to the official. It’s something new for the brand, a sports car “that fits the technological advancements of the modern era.” On a different note, Tada told the Japanese publication that development of the newcomer started in 2015 when the chairman told Tetsuya to go to BMW HQ in Munich for a meeting.
Presenting the Supra as a racing concept at the Geneva Motor Show isn’t a coincidence, for Toyota plans to go racing in the GTE class of the World Endurance Championship. Fingers crossed Toyota will be luckier with the Supra GTE than it was in LMP1 in these past years with the TS0XX Hybrid.
These being said, when will we get to see the all-new Supra in the flesh? “Fall of 2018” is all the Japanese publication can report, which might coincide with the G29 Z4 premiere at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. In other words, the Supra and Z4 will both go into production for the 2019 model year in Austria.
Tada explains that the manual isn’t on the agenda because the torque produced by the Supra would make the “shifting feel worse.” On the other hand, the chief engineer made it clear that the Supra will be more of a “pure sports car” compared to the Z4, which is described as a “luxury sports car.”
Confirmed with rear-wheel-drive and a front-mounted inline-six engine, the J29 Supra isn’t a “revival of the former generation” according to the official. It’s something new for the brand, a sports car “that fits the technological advancements of the modern era.” On a different note, Tada told the Japanese publication that development of the newcomer started in 2015 when the chairman told Tetsuya to go to BMW HQ in Munich for a meeting.
Presenting the Supra as a racing concept at the Geneva Motor Show isn’t a coincidence, for Toyota plans to go racing in the GTE class of the World Endurance Championship. Fingers crossed Toyota will be luckier with the Supra GTE than it was in LMP1 in these past years with the TS0XX Hybrid.
These being said, when will we get to see the all-new Supra in the flesh? “Fall of 2018” is all the Japanese publication can report, which might coincide with the G29 Z4 premiere at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. In other words, the Supra and Z4 will both go into production for the 2019 model year in Austria.
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