Toyota Supra Chief Engineer Talks About Track-Focused Version

Tetsuya Tada, the chief engineer behind the revived Toyota Supra, seems to be quite chatty after the debut of the sports car. He has already given a number of interviews to various outlets talking about the vehicle itself and in a new conversation with Top Gear he hinted what to expect from the future of the new Supra.

What everyone has been asking since the debut of the car is whether it will receive more powerful versions in the coming years. Probably with a BMW M-sourced 3.0-liter engine under the hood? "As we further develop the car I believe that deals can be made and concluded as necessary, and one iconic element of Supra is in-line cylinders and we need to cherish that," Tada vaguely told the British publication.

Another possible option would be a lightweight, track-focused version, and Tada seems to be somewhat more positive about launching a lighter Supra sometime in the future. "For GT86 we came up with 100 units of a special version, called GRMN, for Japan only. And in one day we had 3,000 orders. That kind of special version is what we have in mind also for Supra." Now we are talking.

What about a manual gearbox? BMW already has a setup with the Supra's 3.0-liter turbo engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission, but Toyota is unlikely to offer a similar layout. "The sports automatic version that [we're] coming up with now is probably very different from the sports automatic cars that customers have in mind. It's a great evolution from what they have seen in the past."

And, finally, what's Toyota opinion about an open-top Supra? "I think targa would be a higher probability or possibility than an open car version," Tada commented and, honestly, this makes a lot of sense given that BMW's new Z4 would be a direct competitor to a potential Supra roadster.