The upcoming Toyota Supra and BMW Z4 may share historical roots on how they were born, but both models are going to bring two completely different elements to the table. From a physical standpoint, the difference between the new Supra and new Z4 are obvious. One is going to be offered as a coupe while the other will arrive as a roadster. Beyond that, Toyota claims that the Supra will be the sportier of the two, right down to its driving experience.

Toyota chief engineer Tetsuya Tada made those claims, and it’s hardly a surprise they came from him because he’s the driving force behind the 86 sports coupe and the upcoming Supra sports car. Despite sharing a lot of underpinnings with the BMW Z4, the Supra was developed from the perspective of turning it into a pure performance vehicle. “From our side, Toyota wanted to make a pure sports car, and BMW has a slightly different direction,” Tada said. “Engine calibration is quite different between the two cars. Even if the hardware is the same in some elements, the calibration is completely different – the driving experience will be very different to the Z4.

Tada’s claims have a sprinkle of irony in them considering that he’s hinting that the Supra will have a purer driving experience than the sports car developed by a company that prides itself on being the purveyors of cars that offer “the ultimate driving experience.”

To his credit, Tada didn’t explicitly say that the Supra was better than the Z4; it will just be different in many ways. That could be interpreted in a number of different ways, but Toyota’s chief engineer isn’t shying away from identifying the Supra as the more performance-oriented of the two models.

We’ll know more about the Z4 and the Supra once both cars hit the market. The BMW roadster is expected to debut over the summer, so we’re going to get a clear picture of what it’s capable of then. As for the Supra, cross your fingers that Toyota unveils it soon after BMW’s own unveiling. There’s no word yet on when Toyota plans to do it, but hopefully, it doesn’t make us wait too long. Tada already apologized for the delay ofin its arrival, so I don’t expect him to come up and apologize again in the coming months.

References

Toyota Supra

Read our full speculative review on the 2019 Toyota Supra.

BMW Z4

Read our full speculative review on the 2018 BMW Z4.

Read our full review on the 2017 BMW Z4 Concept.

Read our full review on the 2018 Toyota GR Supra Racing Concept.

Read more BMW news.

Read more Toyota news.