Toyota Supra (A90)

  • Thread starter RocZX
  • 2,733 comments
  • 271,457 views
Funny thing, this Supra reminds me of the F-Type. In pictures and videos, they both look small and somewhat badly proportioned, but when I saw an F-Type up close IRL I was in awe and understood instantly why so many people say it's gorgeous. Maybe it'll happen again with the Supra; I certainly hope so.

I do wish the FT-1 was the new Supra, though. I love that one.
 
If they would have based it on a version of the LC's platform (TNGA-L), then they could have made it look a lot closer to the proportions of the FT-1 concept and thus look a bit better I think.

And then the car would also have weighed 3800lbs+.

Sometimes you have to make compromises. This, is a decent one. I kind of wish they would have made another concept then: one closer to the proportions they had decided to use (how many 86 Concepts did they make? At least 3?). I will wait to see how this looks in person before I make any final judgements on the styling. I am glad though that they went the sporty direction rather than the purely aesthetic one.
 
Last edited:
I can relate to many of the gripes with this car, but the size is surely not one of them. How is it a bad thing that it has become smaller than its predecessor? It's a friggin sports car that is supposed to handle like one. Would people rather have some bloated luxury coupe that doesn't handle all that great? That's what Lexus sports cars are for.
 
homeforsummer
Still don't get the love for the A80 though. Timeless certainly isn't a word I'd use - the slightly blobby styling could only have been a product of the 1990s, and it was later rendered less unique by the 6th-gen Celica using very similar form language, particularly in the roofline and the rear haunches
Click to expand...
As you know, I'm a huge fan of the A80, and a good chunk of that is the looks (I even like the interior; not for the materials, which are cacktacular, but for the driver-centric design).

It's a remarkably cohesive design. Aside from the EU-spec hood scoop, which is horribly incongruous, every detail is part of the whole car. No line, no curve and no hole is out of place - and this is something so many of the aftermarket styling kits screw up so badly. The square wing doesn't even work on the race cars, but they're there because they have a job to do and rules to stick to, unlike all the modded ones.

Yes, overall there's a bit of a bulbous appearance to it, but really it's the Japanese version of a muscle car ("280hp" in the nose, rear-wheel drive, not really the finest cornering machine [as evidenced by the "in memoriam" page of any Supra/Japanese car OC], inevitably destined for a drag strip]), and the styling is a terribly literal version of that: it looks like muscles.

The rear wing is bloody stupid, but it fits the styling (unlike on the T200 GT-Four, although I appreciate that for different reasons). I love the rear light clusters - literally my favourite light clusters of any car, although the original NSX is close too, and they only work because of how well they fit with the rest of the styling. And yes, it's very much a product of its time, but I liked that time :D
 
The GR livery looks odd on the GT500 Supra. The black part under the side windows gives the illusion of a bizarre shape. It kinda reminds me of the black rear bumper on the BMW M8 GTE, leaving the unecessary impression of a gigantic diffuser.
 
4ff072f9-2020-toyota-supra-gr-4.jpg
ef26860f-2020-toyota-supra-gr-155.jpg
307fc717-2020-toyota-supra-gr-2.jpg
 
ProjectWHaT
The RC series platform is definitely not a sporty platform. It's a mishmash of 3 different cars, the front end of the current GS, the mid section of a last gen IS convertible, and the rear of the current gen IS. Would this frankenstein contraption be suitable for a Supra? Image the outcry from that.
Click to expand...
I suppose you could be right about there being an outcry. Though to be fair, I'm not sure it wouldn't be anymore crazy than the reactions from people over the Supra sharing platforms with the BMW Z4. I could be wrong of course as I don't know the Toyota fanbase that well.

homeforsummer
I drove the latest Lexus RC the other day (and have previously spent good time in the pre-facelift RC F) and while it has the right basic ingredients and is undoubtedly a good car in its own right, I'm not sure it'd work as a Supra. It's very heavy for its size (not far different to the bigger Lexus GS) and while the chassis is nice enough it doesn't really feel like a sports car. I don't doubt that the shared platform with the Z4 is a better starting point - and from what I understand, people are still massively overplaying the "it's a BMW thing" anyway - they use the same basic architecture and the same basic engine, but Toyota has very much gone its own route with actually developing the car.

I suppose it depends on your point of view though. The previous Supra was overweight and not as sharp as its rivals either, so maybe the RC would be perfect.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your explanation so far, it's cleared up some of the ideas flowing in my head.

However, that just leads to one more curious thought I have. Knowing the RC's platform would lead to a heavier car, would that be completely bad? I mean, what about the other cars in a similar weight class to the RC such as the Mercedes-AMG, Ford Mustang GT, and BMW M4? From what I've heard from people, the Supra was always more of a GT car than a sports car anyway; so wouldn't that mean it would be more faithful if Toyota took that approach? I'm sorry if it seems like I'm pressing on this too long, this is just something that's been on my mind lately.
 
I do think it looks absolutely magnificent in that grey colour, though...
I'd have that colour, tan interior, and carbon finished interior.

Too bad there's no spoiler, that would've looked pretty sick.
 
GTFan24
>Nissan completely redesigns the GT-R

>No one complains
Click to expand...
That's not even remotely close to accurate. I know you were only 7 years old when it debuted, but there was a lot of hand wringing on the R35 when it debuted from it's strong deviation from what the car had been in the 1990s. Too heavy. To lifeless. Too gimmicky. Too presumptuous/expensive. Playstation car.
Certainly it was something Nissan cultivated in a somewhat ill-advised move (promoting PD's help on the UI, talking up the launch control and performance numbers and laptimes, bragging about nitrogen tires, clean room engines), but it had a response at times bordering on 996 vs 993 levels. I own a book that lovingly chronicles the GT-R's entire life all the way down to those color dumb variations that PD padded GT games with; speaking with even the most subtle improvements like changes of intercooler plumbing with awe at Nissan's dedication despite the company hemorrhaging money.


The chapter on the R35 (which at that point was a little over a year old) was written in a way that could be plainly summed up as "Nissan can get bent. #notmygtr"
 
Last edited:
I really wish I could understand why Toyota decided that the Beluga nose was going to be their signature design element. Did focus groups respond well to it? Did they figure that everyone else is worrying about tying up brand identity into grills and they wanted to do something else? Was it a marketing decision that the designers are being forced to implement? Is it some rogue designer in a position of authority asserting his ego? It's certainly different, and you know it's a Toyota when you see it, I'll give them that. They do seem to be second guessing it as the new Corolla and Camry don't feature it very much. The 86 was probably the worst victim.
 
I'd like to see the production car in white as soon as possible. I think it may hide some of the subtle design flaws better, but then again... How is this a Toyota other than wearing the badge?
 
Maybe because I'm not too picky on looks per say but what exactly is it that everyone hates about the A90 and love about the FT-1 Concept.. I personally like the final version a bit better. And the Super GT version is :drool:

Idk, I may be a bit biased towards Toyota cause those are my second favorite cars behind Honda/Acura. :lol:
 
Given what's revealed, I'm back towards liking it. But, I think I'll wait a couple years and see how well the market accepts it after the initial 1st MY hype has gone down. Will new sales be fine? Or will residuals take a hit and leave it best to buy second hand? What will the final performance figures be? Will those figures justify the price?

$55,000 is literally sitting in Corvette territory. But, if it has around 400Hp & has surprises of its own, it could be a great alternative to those who don't want a Corvette.
RandomCarGuy17
Yeah, I got that, but wouldn't a hypotheical RC platform Supra be able to do something about the weight problem? I was under the assumption that some of the RC's weight was down to Luxury things. or was the RC-F the lightest that platform could be?
Click to expand...
It wouldn't be able to overcome the IS Conv. mid-frame which is where all the weight comes from.

TonyJZX
Also might come down to cost and the cost to re-engineer an RC chassis cheap and light enough for a Supra.
Click to expand...
This is likely it. The RC just went through a small facelift which means the next gen. one is a ways out. Wouldn't make sense to re-engineer the RC chassis for the Supra (basically replace that IS-C mid-frame), and then re-engineer it again down the line. They could adopt that Supra's chassis into the next RC, but several factors would come into play such as how that chassis would affect the intended goal for the next gen. RC.
GTFan24
>Nissan completely redesigns the GT-R

>No one complains
Click to expand...
Probably due to the fact the old GT-Rs were all built upon the Skyline family cars where as the R35 separated and became its own model instead of being built upon this:
2003-infiniti-g35-coupe-photo-3520-s-original.jpg
 
Last edited:
Nielsen
I'd like to see the production car in white as soon as possible. I think it may hide some of the subtle design flaws better, but then again... How is this a Toyota other than wearing the badge?
Click to expand...
Toyota design, Toyota suspension, Toyota ECU programming, Toyota active rear differential, Toyota dampers, Toyota cross bar, so lots of stuff actually.
 
fortbo
Toyota design, Toyota suspension, Toyota ECU programming, Toyota active rear differential, Toyota dampers, Toyota cross bar, so lots of stuff actually.
Click to expand...
One could argue that's just Toyota swapping parts to a Z4 chassis to make it drive the way they would like it to.

That may be what Nielsen is getting at; it's so heavily developed by BMW, what input did Toyota have knowing the car would be shared?
 

Similar threads

Turbo
2019 Ford Explorer ST: Over 400 Horsepower and Rear-Wheel Drive
Replies
6
Views
2K
CodeRedR51
C
Cristobal1234
Toyota GR010 Hybrid LMH 2021
Replies
2
Views
5K
Cristobal1234
Cristobal1234
BJahalt88
Toyota GR Super Sport Concept 2018
Replies
2
Views
930
Epic B
Epic B
BJahalt88
Toyota Yaris (XP130) GRMN 2018
Replies
1
Views
1K
JKgo
JKgo
Nascarboy119
Toyota FT-HS Concept 2007
Replies
3
Views
902
Nascarboy119
Nascarboy119

Latest Posts

Back