Report: More scoop on the latest BMW-Toyota midsized sports coupe collaboration that may be a Supra successor

BMW and Toyota have been known to be collaborating on a new midsized sports car, which has much of the general enthusiast crowd pondering about, mostly with hopes of a potential Supra successor. To follow up on the development, MotorTrend reports on some new information surrounding the project.

“Toyota is strong in environment-friendly hybrids and fuel cells… I believe BMW’s strength is developing sports cars,” said Toyota’s head honcho, Akio Toyoda, told MotorTrend earlier this year. “I get so excited thinking about the cars that will result from this relationship.”

But more so, MotorTrend was apparently able to get the scoop on how everything played out in the past and how BMW and Toyota ended up together to be working on such a project.

“When BMW announced in December 2011 that it would supply a new clean diesel engine to Toyota, the jointly developed sports car project had already begun,” an insider told the outlet.

Additionally, word is that Tetsuya Tada, the chief engineer for the GT-86 and Scion FR-S, will be spearheading the project—which sounds like an amazing start already, considering what he was able to accomplish with the GT-86.

“I am hoping for a synergy effect with BMW that will result in a product that none of us could have imagined; something more than anyone expects. I would like that to be something like a sports car,” Tada told MotorTrend. “I would even go so far as to say that for the collaboration to work we have to bring a product which exceeds all these expectations.”

MotorTrend speculates that the future midsized coupe will utilize either a BMW or Toyota inline-four, instead of the GT-86’s boxer-four and details have pointed to the GT-86 platform as the starting point, while BMW uses their magic on the chassis. There’s a small chance also that BMW will use their own platform, but this is unlikely.

All options are being considered, from natural aspiration, to super- and turbocharging, with even a hybrid-setup being possible. As of now, Toyota is reportedly working on an all-wheel drive hybrid GT-86 with electric motors powering the front wheels, which may find its way into the BMW-Toyota sports car, according to MT.

No time frame has been given, though we could at least see a concept at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show.

– By: Chris Chin

Source: MotorTrend

Chris Chin

Chris Chin is the Editor-In-Chief of egmCarTech and is a regular contributor to Automobile Magazine.

admin has 4428 posts and counting.See all posts by admin