[supra93]

The next-generation A90 Toyota Supra has made its dynamic debut in the UK. Here is all we know about the Japanese performance car...

The all-new Toyota Supra will be revealed early next year and as part of the build up to one of the most eagerly-anticipated performance car launches of the year, a disguised production model has been officially tested in public for the first time.

We’d previously seen the model testing while wearing detail-masking camouflage, and Auto Express reader Johnny Daly snapped photos of the fifth generation of the iconic sports car on UK soil in right-hand-drive form.

We already have a good idea of what to expect from the Porsche 718 Cayman rival; the GR Supra Racing Concept that was the star of the 2018 Geneva Motor Show gave us a thinly veiled glimpse at what to expect from the new coupe. It is being developed by Toyota’s Gazoo Racing performance division, but in partnership with BMW, which is basing the new Z4 on the same platform.

Speaking at the Geneva show, Supra Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada said a front-mounted six-cylinder turbocharged engine powering the rear wheels was the configuration favoured by owners and aficionados of previous versions of the Supra. His comments tally with information recently leaked that the car would offer up 330bhp from an in-line six.

The Supra promises to be an uncompromising road car. Tada described the Supra, which has been benchmarked against the Porsche 718 Cayman and 911, as a “pure sports car”. He believes it will be “quite different” from the forthcoming BMW Z4, with which it is related. Both cars’ original concepts were visualised separately, before the common parts were defined. He said parts shared across both models will be fewer than many people imagine, and even then, many will be calibrated differently.

While the show car features an automatic transmission, he revealed that a manual gearbox is still the subject of internal discussions. He continued: “We are aware there is a huge fanbase for the previous models around the world, so we made sure to interview them to hear their expectations and opinions before we started the project.”

As a darling of the tuner scene, Tada expects the Supra to be modified by owners to their own liking – even if those modifications aren’t sourced from Toyota, Gazoo Racing or their official partners. He went as far to say that Toyota “wouldn’t interfere” where modifications are concerned as previous experience points to the kinds “appropriate” modifications owners make to their GT86s.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/toyota/...cs-and-details