Aww shucks….
Toyota have released another teaser image for their upcoming Supra, a new sports coupe they’ve engineered alongside BMW and their Z4 roadster. The Japanese sports car is due to make its official debut at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Expectations are high and the prospect to the see the resurrected Supra in the flesh for the first time is likely to draw a lot of worldwide hype and drive a big turnout for the event itself. However, unfortunately, it seems Toyota is still a bit shy about fully exposing the new Supra.
Yes, the car that will run up the hillclimb and be available for more up-close viewing will be a production-ready final version despite it still being termed as a prototype, but for some reason they are keeping the details of its paint finish (and some other minuscule bits) under wraps. Literally.
You see the geometric pattern of red, black, and white that the these teaser pics show the car to be wearing? Indeed, that’s exactly how the car will look as it’s rolled out for the Festival, starting July 12th. And, any way you spin that, that’s such a shame.
Tasked with driving up the famous hillclimb course will be the Supra’s chief engineer and Toyota legend Tetsuya Tada as well as factory expert driver Herwig Daenens. Hopefully corporate directive has not prohibited them from showboating a little for the audience.
After all, there should be plenty of playful yaw action to be had from quite a compact rear-wheel drive coupe, especially with a pokey BMW-sourced turbocharged 6-cylinder up front. Considering how keen the 86 was to being thrown into corners, this characteristic should run strong in the family.
Exact numbers for the BMW turbocharged straight-6 that powers the Supra remain mysterious, but Japanese outlets claiming inside knowledge have pegged the likely B58 unit producing in the vicinity of 250kW and 450Nm. Unfortunately, these same reports indicate the Toyota - like its sister the new BMW Z4 roadster - will not feature a manual transmission option.
It’s possible that the ZF 8-speed transmission will be the sole shifter upon the launch of both cars, but there’s still a chance that Toyota could be preparing a manual alternative for a later date. It’s also quite probably that both cars will eventually have performance-enhancing plug-in hybrid variants added to the range.
For more on Toyota cars, check out our Showroom.
