Just as news is coming out that nine major automakers are skipping the Frankfurt Motor Show, there appears to be growing rumblings that the Tokyo Motor Show will play to not one, not two, but three sports car debuts. It’s already been rumored that the return of the Toyota Supra will take place in Tokyo, but according to Autobild, the Supra will also be joined by the Mazda RX-9 and the Nissan 390Z.
Obviously, this is pretty big news seeing three separate automakers launch three separate performance cars. They may be different in presentation, but the fact that all three automakers – major ones at that – are going to present sports cars that could turn into rivals of the others is making the Tokyo Motor Show a must-see event. To be clear, though, neither Mazda nor Nissan have confirmed their plans for their local auto show. Likewise, we’ve heard very little about the RX-9 at this point and even less about the Nissan 390Z. If these two cars do show up in Tokyo, it’s going to catch a lot of people off-guard. Even Toyota hasn’t confirmed its plans for Tokyo, even though all signs point to its next sports car making its world debut at the event. It might be best to taper off the excitement for the time being, or at least until we know something more concrete. That said, it is tempting to get a little excited about the possibility of three Japanese sports cars all showing up and debuting in the same event. And they said those days were gone.
Continue after the jump to read the full story.
Too early to get excited, but it’s hard not to either
I’ll be the first to say that if what Autobild is reporting actually comes true, we could be in store for something wild happening at the Tokyo Motor Show. All this time, I’ve been preparing for the Toyota Supra to make its debut at the event. That much I’m confident in saying. It’s taken forever for the reborn Supra to finally show its face, so if there was an event to do it, the Tokyo Motor Show would be it.
What I didn’t expect is Mazda bringing the RX-9, much less Nissan bringing the 390Z, a car, by the way, that has been kept under wraps for the most part, even though a lot of us have been expecting it to arrive at some point to succeed the aging 370Z. So, in the interest of breaking down these three sports cars, let’s take a dive on what we know so far about them.
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Okay, so what else don’t we know about the return of the Toyota Supra nameplate? A lot has already been made about the sports car, including the well-known fact that it was born from Toyota’s partnership with BMW, the same partnership that’s also giving birth to Bimmer’s own Z4 Concept. Both models are expected to share the same platform, although the Supra will have its own engine lineup, comprised mainly of a four- and six-cylinder engines. Though the actual power figures have yet to be officially announced, it’s been widely reported the four-cylinder Supra will have 248 horsepower at its disposal while the six-cylinder engine will have close to 335 ponies on tap.
No matter the engine, the Supra will get a standard automatic gearbox, thus shutting the door on the possibility of having an option to go for a manual transmission. Once it makes its debut in Tokyo, the Supra is expected to be launched sometime in 2018.
Read our full review on the Toyota Supra.
Mazda RX-9
For what it’s worth, rumors of a Mazda RX-9 have been going on for the better part of this decade. In fact, talk of such a car first started all the way back in 2008, right around the same time Nissan unveiled the 370Z, the same aged model that’s expected to be replaced by the 390Z. That’s how far back the RX-9 has been bubbling under the surface. Recently though, Motor 1 cited “several web sites in Asia” claiming the Japanese automaker is beefing up its own sports car lineup with a next-generation rotary sports car that will sit above the Mazda MX-5 Miata. Naturally, speculation ignited once again that this “next-gen rotary sports car” is actually the long-awaited RX-9.
Granted, Mazda has not said anything that could hint at such a car arriving at the Tokyo Motor Show, but deeper speculation gathers that the RX-9 will feature a brand-new rotary engine that can produce as much as 400 horsepower, putting it firmly ahead of the MX-5 in the power department. In the event Mazda does debut the RX-9 in Tokyo in concept form, look for the turnaround time for the production car to be quick, possibly as early as 2019.
Read our full review on the Mazda RX-9.
Nissan 390Z
Arguably the most intriguing of the three concept sports cars is the Nissan 390Z. At this point, all we know is that the 370Z has been around since 2008. That’s an eternity for a single-generation model, even by sports car standards. The good news is that the replacement model is finally close to making its debut as Car & Driver reported back in January that Nissan plans to unveil a concept at the Tokyo Motor Show.
Little is known about the concept at this point, but those same reports hinted that the car will feature a 3.0-liter V-6 engine that can produce upwards of 300 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. A hybrid model is also expected to feature in the next-generation Z sports car, specifically combining the aforementioned V-6 engine with an electric motor that pushes out at least 160 ponies, bringing that output up to a conservatively estimated 460 horsepower. Don’t take these numbers as gospel, though, as Nissan has been cautiously tight-lipped about its plans for the 370Z successor. What we do know is that it’s coming a lot sooner than later now, something that’s welcome news for fans of the company’s Z line of sports cars. It’s about time the 370Z is put down. It’s earned retirement in more ways than one.
Read our full review on the Nissan 390Z.
References
Read our full review on the Toyota Supra.
Read our full review on the Mazda RX-9.
Read our full review on the Nissan 390Z.