Tuesday 6th March 2018

GR Supra Racing Concept: Geneva 2018

Racecar concept inspired by as-yet-unreleased road car unveiled to the public

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The will they, won't they tale of Toyota's new Supra is one of the motoring industry's longest running stories and worst kept secrets. Having had confirmation for a while now that they will in fact be bringing the Supra name back from the dead, many details seem to have been leaked ahead of time by Japanese media.

We knew that that car would not be making an appearance at Geneva this time around, but despite this, there was still an element of intrigue in Toyota's pre-show foreshadowing of a Supra-related reveal - and here it is.

This, then, is the GR Supra Racing Concept. It's a front-engined rear-wheel drive racer which shares much of the styling expected from the road car, but makes extensive use of an unidentified 'lightweight composite material' for many of its parts. These include but aren't limited to the front and rear bumpers, bonnet, front splitter, rear diffuser, side skirts, and rear wing. The doors are lined with carbon fibre and the windscreen and windows are made of plastic for additional weight savings too.

The cabin, meanwhile, is described as "entirely competition-focused" fitted as it is with a racing dashboard and OMP driver's seat, safety harness and quick-release steering wheel - as well as the obligatory full roll cage and fire extinguishers.

Lowered suspension front and rear, BBS racing wheels with centre-locking nuts, Michelin racing tyres, Brembo Racing calipers and discs, and a racing exhaust complete the 'because race car' bingo sheet.

All of these details are somewhat moot, of course, given that this is just a concept - albeit one clearly very heavily influenced by the upcoming production car. On that subject Tetsuya Tada, the Supra's chief engineer, told Autocar that manufacturing would begin early next year.

"Supra is the sports car of Toyota, and we're very proud of its heritage," he said. "It's really fun to drive this car. Front-engined, rear-drive - with such a concept, you can have the greatest amount of fun."

As Tada was also responsible for Toyota's last sports car, we can be absolutely sure that he knows what he is talking about. It's heartening then to hear that the Supra will be "similar to the GT86 - the difference is power."

He continued: "The development of the GT86 was extremely difficult. Before the GT86, we experienced lots of time with no sports car. There was nothing I could learn from my predecessors, so we did it from scratch. With Supra, it's different. We learned form the GT86 experience, so the process was much smoother."

Can't wait to see the end result? Neither can we. For now though, the Racing Concept - coming to a PS4 near you in Gran Turismo Sport format - will just have to do.

[MustardCutter]

Looks awesome apart from that nose. I suspect the road car lurking somewhere beneath all the addenda will suffer the same fate...

"Supra is the sports car of Toyota, and we're very proud of its heritage"

So much so that they got BMW to develop it on one of their platforms and put their engine in it. Not necessarily a bad thing as BMW know a thing or two about rear wheel drive and straight sixes. Obviously Toyota will have input on the set-up/tuning but it just doesn't feel like a Supra to me.

Edited by MustardCutter on Tuesday 6th March 13:31

[MustardCutter]

Ryvita said:

MustardCutter said:

Looks awesome apart from that nose. I suspect the road car lurking somewhere beneath all the addenda will suffer the same fate...

"Supra is the sports car of Toyota, and we're very proud of its heritage"

So much so that they got BMW to develop it on one of their platforms and put their engine in it.

...just like they got Subaru to develop chassis and put an engine in the GT-86. At least they're consistent.

As someone who has had Subaru, Toyota and BMW sports cars, I find my brand loyalties, errr, confused but... aroused by all this cross-dressing?

Edited by Ryvita on Tuesday 6th March 14:27

Haha consistent, yes! I think they get away with it with the toyobaru/subota (whatever) as it's not really a halo car and haven't used that specific name before (I know it's a mash up of AE86 and 2000GT, but those are quite different cars) so doesn't have the heritage of the Supra name, and it's a big departure from Subaru's back catalogue so you could apportion a lot of influence from Toyota on the final product. However with this new Supra it's very much BMW bread and butter. I've never owned a Supra but have lusted after one, I've owned two generations of Celica and currently own a BMW but it's just not a Toyota (or GRMN/whatever) to me.