Toyota made the headlines with its stand in Geneva as it brought out the highly anticipated Supra albeit in Gazoor Racing Concept guise. Carefully ‘disguised’ thanks to vast aerodynamic bits thrown in for good measure, we didn’t exactly get to see the final shape of the production car or its interior. Details about the powertrain and transmission still remain secret but officials from Japan were not too shy to talk about the upcoming model.
One of the people chiming in on what we should expect was chief engineer Tetsuya Tada. Speaking to Evo, he made some rather interesting claims about the new sports car. As we already know, the two cars will be sharing a lot of their underpinnings but the Supra will be a Coupe in the end, while the BMW Z4 will come out as a roadster. However, both cars are supposed to offer a sportscar feel to the driver and according to Tada, the Supra will have the edge here.
“From our side Toyota wanted to make a pure sports car, and BMW has a slightly different direction. 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,” the Toyota chief engineer said. That’s good news as far as diversity goes but it would appear like BMW focused more on luxury and comfort rather than sportiness, if we’re to believe the things he said.
It remains to be seen how all of this shapes up in the final products though. According to our sources, the Supra won’t be coming with a manual transmission, even though Tada avoided offering a clear answer in this regard. There is a high chance we’ll get to see hybrid versions of the two though and it’s now a certainty that both cars will come with straight six engines and rear-wheel drive, in tune with the brands’ pedigrees.
