The king is back and good enough to chase the Porsche

In terms of structure and engine, it's essentially a BMW. The chassis, the 3.0-liter turbo six-cylinder and the eight-speed automatic transmission are all from Munich. Toyota claims that for the Supra, the engine software is an exclusive Japanese software and that the Tada engineering team speaks openly about a BMW engine.

I suppose, as they certainly feel, that there is no shame in that. I wondered if reliability was a concern – it's not unfair to wonder if a BMW engine will be as bulletproof as a Toyota engine – but it was answered that it was covered by Toyota's usual warranty. that there have been "long discussions" with the warranty department about this).

This is a very compact two-seater coupe, with a well-designed bodywork, a double bubble roof to free helmet space for anyone the size of Dan Gurney, and what we can see under the band, the style of the FT-1 concept car.

Of course, it's rear-wheel drive that uses a double-wishbone suspension at the front and a multi-armed rear end. There is no transaxle (too much weight, says Tada), but there are optional adaptive dampers, constant-speed steering, and a simple, straightforward, sporty electronic setup.

In the interior

You fall into the cockpit through shallow gates, but the entrances and exits are not exceptionally difficult. This is not a Lotus Exige. The cabin is comfortable, but spacious enough in its two-seat configuration for two large passengers. Unlike in the past, Supras is a pure sports car without a rear seat. I am a hair more than six feet tall and I put myself very comfortably in place, bar the bucket seat that is a little more comfortable than the padded back.

Much of the interior seems to be a straight line of the BMW Z4, although Toyota says the cabin is unique to the Supra. I am not convinced yet. As our test cars were engineering prototypes, all the most vital buttons and dials were covered with heavy felt boards – a fun thing to watch as you walked down a runway – but public relations observers were not watching showed a lot of BMW style switches, buttons and even the iDrive rotary controller.

The steering wheel and shift paddles for the eight-speed automobile feel very BMW, and even digital displays speak to you in German. The main visual difference between this cabin and the Z4 is that Toyota's main instrument and central infotainment display are separate units, instead of being joined as in the Bimmer.

I'm not sure what I feel about it. Clearly, partsharing is cost-effective and reducing costs on the front door means that we are getting the new Supra rather than not buying it, so that's a good thing. But I can not get the impression that it's a bit of the thing of the Mazda MX-5 / Fiat 124 Spider, too close to a copy inside. In all fairness, it is not quite finished, but if they leave it as it is, it will seem too BMW and not enough Toyota inside.

We will see when the finished interior will be unveiled, because Toyota certainly still has time to change things.

Placing a silver button behind the wheel brings the six-year-old to the discrete life. We start in Normal mode, so no artificial revolve at startup here. Early in the morning, running in your Supra will not disturb the neighbors.

Out On The Street, good noise and maneuverability at the Porsche

For an engineering prototype, our Supra has felt remarkably well finished. Some of the plastics in the cabin (well, the ones we could see) were clearly not yet signed, but there were no squeaks or clicks, the engine had no lint or stumbling, and driving was above all else beautifully controlled.

Toyota says that 90% of Supra's development work has been on public roads, rather than race tracks, and that the boy is showing the quality of his career. The Supra rolls with serene precision, dampers and springs eliminate violent shocks, quick bumps, potholes, but without a flop or a roll.

On the roads around Madrid, generally smooth, occasionally marked and wavy, she felt extremely well controlled. Comfortable, but with a hint of underlying strength. Just as you want it, really.

The driving sensation is a bit more debating. There is, yes. Some comments A bit of communication from the Michelins, but it's largely like most electric power steering settings – well-weighted, but lacking brilliance. In fact, it looks like the configuration you had on a Le Mans runner. Enough to keep you feeling confident, not too much, not too much, to make you feel tired. In fact, given the light steering, comfortable driving and reasonably spacious cabin, the Supra is starting to look more like a sporty sports car than a sharp-edged sports car.

Wait, though. It's coming to you You just have to give him some time and find the right path. Unlike the old A80, which still felt like a big car, this A90 Supra has been compared to the Porsche Cayman and is the same size. It weighs about 3,284 lbs (50/50 front – rear – remember it's a BMW below) and, despite the height of this six-cylinder in-line engine, its center of gravity is lower than that of the GT86 flat motor. So, it's agile, and stupidly.

Click on the center console button for Sport mode, and the Supra does not seem to change its attitude, but it's a bit more realistic. Certainly, the engine does it. Where there used to be a creamy sweetness, there's now a stentorian roar, not quite different from an old-six-plate Porsche when you've spent 5,000 rpm.

And there is a good push. The Supra is not breathtaking in its acceleration – I guess a time of 0 to 60 mph at 4.5 seconds or so – but it has deep power reserves.

About 340 HP is my guess, and the more you press, the more the Supra stacks on speed. We learned today that the US team's Z4 will receive 382 HP and a torque of 369 lb-ft. Take it as you want here.

Toyota did not make any hardware changes to the engine, only software. Engineers say the approval is not over yet.

About two thirds of our test course, the road became narrow, winding and mountainous. It's a road used to rally things, according to my goalkeeper Toyota, and I believe that. Here, the Supra goes from GT fast to a suitable canyon sculptor. The steering never excites the sensations, even in Sport mode, but it's still reliable, always ready to slip that needle nose into a corner.

A well-deserved track car

During development, Toyota engineers actually softened the action of the front anti-roll bar, eliminating stiffness in the search for better grip at the front and a more progressive feel. They also added an active rear differential, which again does not mean drifting and slipping, but reducing power and looking for sharper precision in the front.

They certainly have found – even if you greatly overestimate your speed of entry, the Supra seems to find some traction in the front, finds a stop point and finds itself at the top, or at least close enough.

Hammer the throttle and wake up the rear, but it's not an aggressive drifting machine like a Mustang V8. It's more like a half-step between a Cayman and a 911, and it seems like a good place to be.

The muscle performance and feeling of stability of the 911, combined with the agility of the Cayman. Plus a soundtrack that you really want to listen to.

Let's face it: in a pre-production prototype like this, you probably should not be on the right track trying to reach Gilles Villeneuve's winning times in 1981, so I did not do it. What I can say is that the sound of this engine never gets old, even if you hit the speed limiter several times during the descent between Ascari and Portago.

The Supra implies very slightly at the limit of membership, but never seems to lack options, it never seems to stop to take care of yourself even if you are disconcerted; and that for a comfortable GT car, it's easy to eat a Grand Prix circuit.

My only complaint about the dynamic front is that, in Sport mode, rippled road surfaces can induce a jump and jump in the front suspension, as the mass of the engine and the elasticity of the dampers begin to fight. it's not an overwhelming feeling, but enough for you to recoil a little, or return to normal, where the softer settings of the dampers delay the start.

What else do we know up to now? Well, there will almost certainly be more engine options. Four-cylinder turbo versions have been confirmed and rumors have circulated about the hybrid models, and although Toyota does not want to say anything specific, a senior engineer told us: "Later, there could be news about the development Tada said: "The launch of a sports car is one of the great benefits of developing the original model and updating it on a regular basis."

Early verdict

Will any of these updates be a manual gearbox? Do not hold your breath. "Although we know that a manual gives you more joy while driving," said Tada, it's not that simple. The motor has a high torque and a manual to handle this problem means a higher quality of work, which Tada does not want.

Generating the type of manual that could cope with the couple, but evolve like a Miata, would be expensive. Tada says that he wants to make the Supra "accessible to fans, to keep it affordable," so an extra budget for a textbook could distort this equation.

How many? My enlightened guess is still around $ 65,000. I've heard about $ 40,000 as a possible price, but that does not seem right to me. The current range of Z4 exceeds $ 70,000 and the new Z4 M40i is expected to exceed $ 60,000. So I think the price of the Supra will be high enough, because neither company will want to be much more undermined by the other. The basic four-cylinder models will probably be a bit cheaper, but they are still far away.

A lot of green for a car with a Toyota badge, of course, but the Supra was officially developed as a "Porsche killer" and you could see it as a deal.

So, the new Supra is a car that behaves like a Cayman, which behaves like a V8 Mustang, looks like a 911 and should …should– have the reliability of a Camry. We still need to see the final result, the car to be certain, and to see the complete technical specifications, but finally, the new Supra looks to wait.