Expect A Straight-Six But No Manual In The New Toyota Supra
Will the Supra have a manual gearbox option, or not? The “will they, won’t they” thing has rumbled on for months, fueled by a seemingly endless stream of conflicting rumours. Now though, we’ve had a clearest indication yet than the Supra - previewed by the GR Racing Concept at the Geneva Motor Show - will indeed be auto only.
Autoblog reports that, speaking at a rountable session at the Geneva show, high-ranking Toyota engineer Tetsuya Tada said that “Supra fans don’t think it’s a huge requirement.” Supra fans as a whole would probably disagree, but Tada-san - the man behind the GT86 - is probably more referring to Supra fans who are actually willing to stump up the cash to buy one, and in that case he’s on to something.
Like it or not, the people actually buying sports cars these days tend to opt for automatics - that’s why Alpine with its relatively limited resources didn’t make a manual. There was only scope to make one transmission choice, and a manual-only direction may well have harmed sales.
It’s not all bad news though, as Tada-san seemingly confirmed that the car would have a straight-six, because a Supra isn’t a Supra without one. That we can all agree on. It should be quite tuneable from the sounds of it, which is also a must if the car is to live up to the legendary name. This inline-six won’t be hooked up to a transaxle gearbox, but the Supra will still manage to have a 50:50 weight distribution.
So, when will we see the production car? Not for a while yet, is the answer. Topgear.com - which is also reporting that the Supra’s straight-six will be a “recalibrated” BMW engine - claims we’ll have to wait until the Detroit Auto Show in January 2019.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
No.
So an over sensitive BMW engine that will not be nearly as reliable as the 2JZ, no manual, likely under 400hp, likely to be priced around $50-60K, yep still can’t be bothered to care about it in the least
i wAnT mY mAnUaL
Rumours, rumours. I will still have hope in this supra until it is proven that is an auto with a bmw engine at the official release. Toyota can’t do this to their supra fans. It will be a bad move for sales and stuff. It just doesnt make any sense to me. Maybe theyre trying to give us one craxy suprise.
Junk
so is your opinion
“Tada-san is probably more referring to Supra fans who are actually willing to stump up the cash to buy one, and in that case he’s on to something.” Indeed he is. Most of the people who I’ve seen making a big fuss over automatic transmissions don’t even have a permit yet. Now, I don’t either, but I also lack a transmission preference.
See this is where the disconnect between the manufacture and the enthusiasts are. Manufactures market to potential consumers, not their fans. It’s a shame but a reality. Take the Viper for example, it was never considered a money maker because it was manual only, limiting how many buyers would choose it over a Corvette or something more European.
Its got to the point where i just couldnt care less about this car anymore. Its not gonna be as good as the mark 4 simple as. Weve seen so many concepts, leaked images and spyshots everyone knows what itll look like. Its a shame really…
Its got nsx-sindrome
blame the terrible, shit fanbase of hype-feeding worms and parasites, not the car.
Nah, it’ll be even better than the MK4 in every way, but it’ll never get out of the MK4’s hype
When you look at the old Z4 with multiple engine and transmission options i can not imagine that there will be an auto only Supra when its on the same platform
BMW= high maintenance, unreliable, expensive parts, worst of all there is no dip stick to check the oil!
Completely unrelatable to this post.
lol you must be living under a rock, the N54 is the new 2jz