What is it?
More than anything, this Toyota Supra is remarkable for the fact it exists. The imperative that it make money meant Toyota could not do the car by itself, but the joint venture with BMW that created it and the BMW Z4 has been so fraught that Tetsuya Tada, its refreshingly honest chief engineer, told me "there were many times when I believed it simply would not happen".
So you might fear some unsatisfactory compromise between Toyota’s craving for a balls-to-the-wall Porsche Cayman rival and BMW’s no less strong but more commercially-motivated desire to build a broadly defined sporting GT. If so, you’re not alone: Toyota did too. Which is why once the hard points had been agreed – platform, powertrain, wheelbase and so on – the two projects became separate entities, to the extent that Tada-san has driven a Z4 just once and has no idea how his car differs from theirs in terms of settings for suspension, steering and electronically controlled differential. "If you’re going to compare the Supra to another car, compare it to the Cayman," he said. Some might call that fighting talk.
It’s an intriguing car even before you’ve fired up BMW’s 335bhp twin-scroll, single-turbo straight six. Remember too it’s the first car developed from scratch by Toyota’s in-house Gazoo Racing high performance division, hence its full title of Toyota GR Supra. I think it looks great, save some fussiness around the tail, but the hybrid BMW/Toyota interior takes acclimatisation. I don’t suppose too many Toyota customers will be outraged by the clear and effective iDrive interface and the bespoke instrument pack is informative and attractive. But the BMW switchgear looks odd in here, at least to me.
Of the two transmissions you might expect to find in a Cayman rival – a manual or double-clutch gearbox – there is no sign. Instead ZF’s ubiquitous 8HP 51 auto directs the power to the rear wheels via a multi-link rear axle. There are struts up front. The driving position is excellent and while the glass house is quite small, visibility all round is good enough by two-door coupé standards.
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Too old for this sort of thing
I don't think it looks that great, but then I think body designers have, in the main, run out of ideas...another cleft here, another flute there, here's winglet. Back to simple and smooth for me. Equally, sadly, this appears just yet another "interface appliance", meaning you touch control surfaces not the surface of the road. I'm sure it'll be a success and just what the clinic ordered for those who'd find the Alpine just a wee bit too close to the void. Ok, I'm a former Elise pilot, and I to give up as it was just too raw for daily use. I had recent Boxster too, but it had too many gizmos as well. If I had the inclination for a new car (I don't) currently Alpine for me, followed by Cayman, probably. But I am of my age and have a preference for life's naked pleasures so it'd be a used 911, simpler the better. New cars are a waste of money for thr serious diver-pleasure seeker and this adds to the canon. One of those off-piste GT-86's turbo's might do.
Never to old
Yep GT86 Turbo OR Supercharged, there's quite a few companies (including Cosworth) that do them for around £4,500 fitted. Just wish Toyota would make it an official upgrade.
Too old for this sort of thing
I don't think it looks that great, but then I think body designers have, in the main, run out of ideas...another cleft here, another flute there, here's winglet. Back to simple and smooth for me. Equally, sadly, this appears just yet another "interface appliance", meaning you touch control surfaces not the surface of the road. I'm sure it'll be a success and just what the clinic ordered for those who'd find the Alpine just a wee bit too close to the void. Ok, I'm a former Elise pilot, and I to give up as it was just too raw for daily use. I had recent Boxster too, but it had too many gizmos as well. If I had the inclination for a new car (I don't) currently Alpine for me, followed by Cayman, probably. But I am of my age and have a preference for life's naked pleasures so it'd be a used 911, simpler the better. New cars are a waste of money for thr serious diver-pleasure seeker and this adds to the canon. One of those off-piste GT-86's turbo's might do.
Toyota Sports Cars
At £54k it might well struggle if the GT86 is anything to go by, in 2018 it sold just 1,250 units across the whole of Europe (It only just beat the Bentayga), BRZ was even further behind. Shame because it's a car alot of people wanted.