In 2007 the first rumours aroused with the FT-HS Concept. In 2012, the GT86 was released. That was some sort of in between model,
but when the FT-1 Concept was released two years later, we knew it was coming. Sure, we had to wait for a while,
but the time has come. We're going to drive the brand-new Toyota Supra.
This Supra is the result of the philosophy change Akio Toyoda set up years ago. Toyota was supposed to build fun cars alongside the hybrids.
Fun machines, cars in loving memory of the 2000GT. Just like the previous four generations Supra, because this is the fifth generation.
And what that means, in the definition of Toyota, it's the classic sports car concept.
A long nose with a straight-six in the front, rear-wheel drive and a cabin which is relatively far back. That way, you get the classical silhouette.
Then, the designers started to work with the shapes and they went crazy. Almost 'Fast and Furious'-like.
It's quite the presence.
It's nice and all that it looks the part, but it's the driving pleasure it should be all about. And it all starts with the engine in the front.
Toyota hasn't built straight-six engines for years, so they had to shop elsewhere. Eventually, they ended up with BMW.
But the relationship didn't end at 'just' supplying the engine. The companies started working together on the whole development.
But does that mean this Supra is a BMW Z4 in a coupé-shell? No. The development teams from both companies started thinking about the car...
so that they could define the car. Measurements, wheelbase, track width, and with which parts. That way, the came to shared hardware.
And in that, Toyota has clearly left their mark. They wanted a wide car with a relatively short wheelbase. They wanted a two-seater,
no 2+2. When they defined the hardware, both teams went their own way when it came to settings.
Which springs, which dampers, anti-roll bars, camber, you name it. BMW and Toyota did those things apart from each other.
That means, both cars should have different personalities.
The engine feels familiar however. It's the 3.0-litre twin-scroll turbocharged straight-six from BMW. Producing 340 horsepower and 500 Nm of torque.
It takes this Supra in 4,3 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h. Nothing wrong with that.
It's a really smooth engine. And Toyota has fitted very big exhaust pipes, so the sound is amazing as well.
The best part is that it picks up at 3.000 RPM and it keeps going until it reaches 7.000 RPM.
And it doesn't matter what RPM you're at. If you put your foot down, it will pick up immediately. And it'll have the power and torque and it's amazing.
Only for the true sports car feeling it would've been better if the engine revved through to 8.000 RPM.
But that's a small detail, and it might just be reality. Maybe there's going to be a stronger version.
But just listen to this. I'm really enjoying it. This is amazing. Since we're talking about BMW, why don't we take a look at the interior.
The layout and the infotainment are very recognizable. But it's not that there's anything wrong with that, because if you think about the GT86,
what was the drawback? Or what were the drawbacks? The interior and the engine.
So Toyota has been very smart by using BMW's components, but giving it their own taste.
But it's a financial story as well, because an engineer told me that if they didn't share the parts, the car would be well over €100.000.
Now it's only €82.000, which still is a lot, but otherwise it would've been around €120.000.
If we take a look at the specs, some things stand out. First of all, the wheelbase. It's extremely short, only 2.47 m.
That's shorter than the GT86. The centre of gravity is lower than in the GT86 as well. It has a perfect weight distribution of 50/50.
Also, it's even more rigid than the Lexus LFA, despite the latter being built out of carbon fibre. Toyota has really tried their best with this.
If you add all of those things together, you get a car which is very good on paper. And in reality, it is as well.
When you're steering around a bit, it really likes to corner. That stands out, and that's because of the short wheelbase.
Also, because of the rigidity, the reactions are really quick. It makes for a very swift car, without it being very hard or uncomfortable.
It's got adaptive dampers, which processes most of the bumps. It's soft enough to go fast on bad roads, and it does that very well.
That also means it's no hardcore track day car. It's too soft for that, it holds back too much for that.
It's not very light however, almost 1.500 kg. So it's not as nimble as a Cayman.
What it misses as hardcore sports machine, is the speed the gearbox changes gear. It has the familiar 8-speed automatic gearbox by ZF,
which is one of the better gearboxes in its kind. Very quick for a conventional automatic gearbox, and it reacts very good.
If you put it in Sport-mode, it changes back very nicely. But if you start driving it on the limit and you need the brake very hard,
the gearbox doesn't react as quick as Porsche's PDK when changing back.
Then there's exiting the corner. It's fitted with an active LSD on the rear axle, which goes from 0-100%. It adapts incredibly quick, at the exact right times.
That way, you've lots and lots of traction when exiting a corner. You really get catapulted out of the corner.
It feels really mighty. The ESP only kick in for a very short while, but after that... I mean, it doesn't do anything out of control,
but it reacts very nicely to all of your input. You can feel the rear steering along slightly, but it's always within your control.
It's an amazing car, but no matter how much grip and traction it gives you... Whenever you turn off the ESP, something extra happens.
It goes to show how great it is for drifting.
If you ask me, it was absolutely worth the wait.