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TOYOTA CONNECT


THE RUMOUR MILL After the demise of the last-generation


Supra, the Internet would generate a fresh rumour about a revival every so often. This continued for nearly 10 years, until someone unearthed a patent which had been fi led for the Supra naming rights by Toyota itself. Could this be? Were they fi nally going to do it? Word was then released that since 2012, Toyota had been working hand in hand with BMW to create a pair of sports cars with a rather interesting connection.


A JOINT VENTURE The night before my early-morning


test-drive, I sat down with Masayuki Kai, the Assistant Chief Engineer of the Supra project, to fi nd out more about the tie-in with BMW. “Discussions started in 2012 when we approached BMW for assistance in developing an engine for the new Supra,” he explained. “Tetsuya Tada-san was determined to keep the Supra true to its roots, in that it had to have a straight- six engine in front and be a rear-wheel drive. BMW’s the only company that still produces high-performance straight-six engines,” he said. Tetsuya Tada was the man responsible


for the re-imagining of the 86 – a car that would later be labelled the GT86 – and the chief engineer of the new Toyota Supra. Drawing on his experience in the development of the GT86, he and the team at Toyota Gazoo Racing set about achieving true sports car characteristics in the Supra. With the assistance of BMW, they secured the CLAR modular platform that BMW’s using for the new Z4, along with the B56B30 engine: an in- line, six-cylinder, 3,0-litre turbocharged power plant, rumoured to produce 250kW (335HP). While purists might scoff at the idea of a BMW engine and largely BMW-derived chassis in the new Supra, Toyota was left to its own devices when it came to fi nalising the concept. Imagine the joint venture as two kids who’ve been given the same Lego set, but neither of them has the instructions or a picture to work from. What they come up with uses the same components, but the two vehicles are decidedly diff erent. As a result, Toyota’s crafted a sports car which is marginally shorter than the 86, a touch wider and a smidgen taller, but produces nearly twice the power output. The short wheelbase gives the Supra a golden ratio of less than 1,6:1 – the Supra’s less than 1,6 times longer than it’s wide – a key point in true sports car handling. “The chassis development, which


includes spot welding, seam joining and chemical bonding, has given us a chassis rigidity that’s stiff er than the Lexus LFA supercar. That’s quite impressive,


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