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Toyota must have realized that their cars were pretty boring, so the Japanese company is set to release a few hybrid sports cars. There will be two coming with names that should sound pretty familiar to car lovers. The first will be the MR2 and the second will be the fabulous Supra. The MR2 should be here around 2013 and it will feature a hybrid 1.5-liter petrol engine. The car was originally going to get a V6 hybrid, but after the strong sales of the Honda CR-Z, Toyota has decided a four pot was the better option. The Supra was thought to be dead, but the strong sales of hybrid cars have brought it back again. The new Supra will be powered by a V6 hybrid motor, similar to the FT-HS concept on which the car is based. Of course this is not exactly a new piece of news considering we caught wind of this vision back in 2008, but now it seems that the vision has progressed to a full blown project in the new Supra. Hit the jump for the full story including what may be interesting competition for the MR2 and Supra. These models come in the wake of the FT-86 delay, which is now scheduled for 2013 as well. Toyota’s hybrid sports cars will face some serious competition, as Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi are planning hybrid sports cars of their own. Nissan’s sports hybrid will use the Leaf for key mechanical and design elements. The car will also use a few cues from the Landglider, but it probably won’t be able to lean into corners. The car is due to launch in 2014. Mitsubishi is working on a two-door sports version of the i-MiEV, which is due to launch in 2012. The company is also planning a hybrid version of the Evo. The only Japanese company that hasn’t joined the pack is Mazda. The new MX-5 is set to launch in 2012, but it will most likely get a four-cylinder motor or the new SkyG engine. 34 comments: Toyota to launch new Supra and MR2 The V10 was tuned to 620 bhp for the race version that Toyota used to win back-to-back class victories at the Nurburgring 24 hours. That is the engine that should be used, not a V8, as all of Toyota’s existing V8 engines are both less powerful and heavier, and engineering twin-turbochargers for it would add to the development costs. The powertrain I suggested would consist entirely of existing parts.
 What 620 bhp V10? The Nurnbergring edition only pushes the power to 570. Are you planing to add a supercharger? That would easily push the power past 600 hp as well as give it extra torque.
Personally i really like the idea of a twinturbo V8, with lots of torque and hp, all within the limit of 7000 rpm.
I just had an idea as to how Toyota could cost-efficiently release a Supra without competing with the LFA: Toyota should take a super-stiffened widebody FT-86, modify the front end to facilitate the shoehorning-in of the 620 bhp V10 from the racing LFA mated to the 6spd Getrag manual from the MKIV Supra, give it a hard, Nurburgring-tuned racing suspension, throw a huge wing on the back and call it a Supra. They should also remove the rear seats and eliminate such frills as automatic climate control, power windows/door locks, power-folding mirrors, leather seats, ect. While these are no doubt nice amenities, they only add weight and cost, and let’s face it: a lack of heated power seats isn’t going to be a deal-breaker for anyone buying supercar. Also, I think that Toyota should re-gear the 6spd Getrag transmission and sacrifice the LFA’s sophisticated automatic and 202 mph top speed for a more involving conventional manual and a quicker 0-60 time, because while paddle-shift automatics may be the newest craze, when push comes to shove nothing beats a good old fashioned manual in a performance car, and while increased acceleration would be useful in track situations, on no track is any owner ever going to push the LFA to its 202 mph top speed. A Supra with 0-60 acceleration in the mid-2 second range and a 155 mph top speed would be much better-suited for track duty. Marketing the Supra as a street-legal race car and the LFA as an ultra GT car would prevent self-competition as well as help Toyota to balance the millions that went into the development of the LFA V10. Seeing as the majority of the parts that this new Supra would require for production have already been engineered, development costs would be low, and so long as Toyota doesn’t gussy-it up with luxury features, I bet they could sell this Supra for under $100k, which if you adjust for inflation is cheaper than the MKIV Supra was when equipped with the full line of TRD upgrades. I wonder why the chose a V10. Was it the link to F1? Why not a V12? Might be heavier and require more space, but has better natural balance.
I agree that Toyota should have continued the Supra into the LFA, and I was hoping that they would sell the LFA under the Supra name. But we can’t have both at once, and the LFA is the one we got.
Fact it, the previous management at TMC has a lot to answer for. They had one main objective and that was to beat GM in volumes. In doing so, they eased back on quality and dropped cars like the Celica and Supra in order to focus on mainstream models like the Corolla and Camry. Nissan stayed in the sportcar game, while Toyota dropped out. That is why they today have to start from square one. What they should have done was to upgrade the Supra back in 2002. Not only would the Supra name still be alive, but they would have saved a lot of developement costs and time on the LF-A, which then may have been called Supra today.
 Didn’t the FT-HS become the FT-86 already? Redo the looks of the LF-A to be rounder and smoother looking and drop in the IS-F motor would be an awesome Supra replacement. They can use the IS platform and save a ton of cash. The hybrid version can run the system currently on the GS-400H. Don’t need to wait til 2013, unless they want to use next gen IS backbones(which will be even better)
@SF695, the modification capability of the Supra was indeed one of its selling points, but even in stock form it held the Nurburgring record for nearly a decade, and a revived model would have to do that again. I agree that the spirit of the cars is what’s important in regards to the Celica and MR2, but the Supra was such an incredible vehicle that if redone the new model would need to be perfect in every way, as was its predecessor. As I said, if Toyota were to release a new MKV Supra, its toughest competition would be the achievements of the MKIV, and as such I don’t see Toyota releasing it, because in comparison to the MKIV if there is a single record the new MKV Supra doesn’t hold, it would be a failure.
They may be a million miles from where Toyota is, but you can’t tell where the want to be. Akio Toyoda being a petrolhead is a good think in my opinion. The previous management was all about volumes and profit, even sacrificing some of the legendary quality that has been Toyota’s trademark. Beating GM of the top had first priority. Wrong priority in my opinion. I hope now, that in the future we will see of that quality return, as well as more interesting cars, regardless if they are called Toyota or Lexus or they are called Supra, Celica, 2000GT or something else. It’s the spirit of those cars i’m looking for. The Lexus LFA and IS-F are a step in the right direction. Now, let’s see some more of that. Doesn’t have to be all that hitech. Doesn’t have to have 8 gears. A manual 6 speed transmission will serve me just fine.
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Posted on
07.1.2010 @ 09:39