With the G29 BMW Z4 unveiled last month, its platform sibling the A90 Toyota Supra won’t be far off. Given the commonalities between the two cars, one may expect a constant flow of data between the two companies regarding the coupe and roadster duo, but, Toyota says that hasn’t been the case.
In fact, Toyota’s development team for the A90 Supra has not spoken with anyone from BMW since 2014, just two years since the partnership between the two firms began in 2012, according to assistant chief engineer for the Supra, Masayuki Kai.
“We agreed on the packaging, like where is the hip-point for the driver, what’s the wheelbase, the width, location of the fuel tank, A-pillar, and so forth. This was around the middle of 2014, and after that we completely separated our teams. There was no more communication after that,” said Kai.
So complete was the communication blackout that the assistant chief engineer for the A90 Supra doesn’t even know exactly how much componentry co-developed for both the Supra and the Z4 will actually be in the German car, the report said. “Basically, the platform is the same, so we assume that we are using the same components, but as I mentioned, we are not sure that they will use the same components,” Kai noted.
Certainly, however, the team at Toyota is keen to give the Supra its own identity in terms of feel. “Tuning of the the shifting, some of the shift shock, shift speed – all of this is specifically designed for our Supra. For the engine, we have tuned it for throttle response and a little more (sportiness),” Kai said. The fifth-generation Supra has been quite some time in the making; looking forward to its debut, dear readers?
GALLERY: 2019 Toyota Supra spyshots
GALLERY: G29 BMW Z4
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Great, it works for marketing but not in reality. How could they have not communicated with the chassis & engine provider, BMW since 2014? For example, even when tuning the engine, they need constant input and feedback from BMW to conform to the standards set by BMW.
They try to make the new Supra feel exclusive and fully built in house by Toyota, but in reality its still a Z4 with exterior mods… not the kind of Supra that Supra fans would expect.
Toyota tumpang glamor BMW, malu betul
Have not ‘spoken’ but got emails, whatsapp, wechat, line & telegram going back and forth. Yep, not ‘spoken’ at all.
It’s good that Toyota is bringing back the Supra like everyone begged to and I think the partnership for development is beneficial for both parties.
I don’t know why people are so upset with the co-development with BMW, saying ‘Not my Supra’ and all that, those of what you call ‘purism’ kills the interest of the car.
I think this statement is just to make the purists happy that it’s not a rebadged Z4, although it really isn’t.
Aren’t they are seen testing out together?