You might be disappointed that the Toyota Supra isn’t exactly ALL Toyota and it’s only coming with an automatic but this track-focused model should make you feel better.
It’s getting better even before its begun. As per Top Gear in an exclusive one-on-one with Toyota head honcho Tetsuya Tada they put up earlier yesterday (Sept. 14,2018) a track-focused Toyota Supra isn’t only on the table, it’s practically written in stone. Flying under the GRMN banner, Toyota’s racing arm that handles all things racing, this Supra aims to cut enough weight that might see it dip underneath 3,000 pounds.
“At some point I would like to make a track-limited Supra with less weight. We’re already making a racing version so we know if you take out 100kg it’s a completely different car – you don’t even need any more power,” Tada told us. Question is, will it be road-legal or a track-only toy? “We’re investigating both avenues, there’s always a trade-off because being road-legal brings restrictions.”
So far we know that the Supra will come with a turbocharged inline six good for 335 HP and a turbocharged inline four boasting something around 262 HP. Paired to either will be a ZF 8-speed.
So, while Toyota doesn’t have much freedom under the hood to keep costs at a minimum with this BMW/Toyota partnership, they can add lightness.
Auto Car UK quoted that the Toyota Supra would come in around 1500 kg or 3,300 pounds. Estimates from other sites landed around that same number. If that’s true and combining this new news that Tetsuya knows that 100 kg is the sweet spot, I’m thinking Toyota just might land a final curb weight sub-3,000 pounds.
At that weight-point it would make the Supra as light, if not lighter than the MKIV Supra of 90’s lore with a fraction more power if we’re not taking the gentleman’s agreement into consideration and the oft-quoted 320 hp at the flywheel is used.
I reckon this track-focused Toyota MIGHT see a manual transmission, as it’s only right. Throw in less sound deadening, buckets only, lightweighting in the interior/exterior and carbon fiber used throughout.
The million dollar question is if this track focused Supra is coming to the United States?
Tetsuya wouldn’t rob one of the Supra’s biggest potential markets of this driving joy, would they?
