Earlier this year, Toyota launched the new Supra — but it seems as though the carmaker may have plans for other parts of its sporty lineup. A new generation of Toyota’s other sports car, the 86, appears to be in the works.
Tetsuya Tada, Toyota’s chief engineer, confirmed to Australian outlet WhichCar that the company has “a new 86 team” developing a car that “surpasses the Supra.” Japanese reports suggest the car could debut as soon as the Tokyo Motor Show in October, potentially alongside an all-new Land Cruiser.
The new model may be a significant departure from the present Toyobaru, where the 86 and the Subaru BRZ use a Subaru boxer engine, ride on a modified version of the old Subaru Impreza platform. For one thing, Toyota could swap out Subaru’s boxer-four for a more conventionally laid-out engine. Tada noted the car could incorporate lessons from the Supra, which manages to have a lower center of gravity than the 86 while using a BMW-sourced inline-six, even though a low center of gravity is a prime benefit of having a boxer engine.
Tada-san, as he’s known, did not confirm what engine the new sports car would have. Previous rumors have suggested Subaru’s 2.4-liter boxer from the Ascent could be a possibility.
WhichCar suggests Toyota may choose to move the new car off a Subaru platform entirely. Toyota’s TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) platform or a forthcoming rear-wheel-drive platform from Mazda (a long-term Toyota partner) may be a better fit than Subaru’s new Global Platform underpinning most of its models, as that platform is designed for all-wheel-drive cars.
How Tada defines “surpass the Supra” will be interesting to see. We can assume, however, that will mean providing the pure driving experience the current Toyobaru is known for without outdoing the halo car on power, performance and price.
