2019 Toyota Supra spy shots and movie
Feast your eyes on the latest prototype for the fresh Toyota Supra.
This is the car Toyota originally announced in two thousand eleven when it signed a deal with BMW to jointly develop a sports car platform. BMW is using the platform for its next-generation Z4.
Toyota is yet to confirm the Supra name for its sports car, but there have been slew of hints it’s making a comeback. Most recently it was exposed that Toyota had trademarked the Supra name for the European market.
A spy movie shows an earlier prototype testing on the Nürburgring and sounding very much like a V-6.
As the photos and movie expose, the car features a relatively puny footprint. It’s clearly smaller than 2014’s FT-1 concept car, which previewed the design. Elements borrowed from the concept include the protruding nose, double-bubble roof, jet fighter-style glasshouse, muscular rear fenders, and ducktail trunk lid.
We can also see the layout of the fresh liftback in some of the shots.
The car isn’t expected on the market until well into 2018, which means we’ll likely see it arrive as a two thousand nineteen model. (It’s possible the debut will take place in late two thousand seventeen at the Tokyo auto display.) Being so far out from the market arrival, there are few solid details to report on for what’s hiding within the sheet metal.
We know the fresh platform features a front-midship layout and a low center of gravity, as evidenced by the very low fetish mask and roof. It’s likely to feature multi-material construction, perhaps even some carbon fiber to shed weight while boosting strength.
2019 Toyota Supra spy shots – Pic via S. Baldauf/SB-Medien
The car is expected to be suggested with more than one powertrain option, with the range-topper rumored to be a hybrid powertrain combining a twin-turbocharged V-6 with an electrified motor or two. The V-6 would power the rear wheels while the electrified motors power the front pair, creating a “through-the-road” hybrid setup. Toyota previewed a similar setup in two thousand thirteen with its Hybrid-R concept.
The downside is that such a system would likely see the price of the Supra come in at a high level. We’ve heard it will be priced higher than a Corvette, which starts in the mid-$50k bracket and quickly rises from there. So to offset this Toyota may also suggest an entry-level powertrain consisting purely of the twin-turbo V-6 or a turbocharged inline-4.
And to further reduce costs, production of the Toyota sports car along with its BMW counterpart is rumored to be taking place at independent vehicle manufacturer Magna Steyr’s plant located in Graz, Austria. Sharing a production facility makes sense considering the low volumes of pricey sports cars.
On a final note, we’ve heard that the fresh Supra might end up as the very first model from a fresh Gazoo spectacle sub-brand. Gazoo is the name of the official motorsport department of Toyota and Lexus.