Toyota confirms FT-86 details

Japanese automaker confirms a 2.0 liter Boxer engine from Subaru will power the FT-86

According to our colleagues over at Motorward.com, Toyota has confirmed certain details on the upcoming FT-86.

The report states that the FT-86 production version will feature a 2.0 liter Boxer engine from Subaru and a D-4S injection system from Toyota.

Transmission options will be a six-speed manual or six-speed sequential gearbox with paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel.

The car will be a rear-wheel drive with a limited-slip differential.

The FT-86 has been a long time in development and we expect more details soon as the model is gearing up for its official introduction.

Source;
http://www.worldcarfans.com/111050233033/toyota-confirms-ft-86-details---report#ixzz1LIe1jCyQ

Woody's Car Site: Toyota FT-86 Speculation

Not sure where he dug this up, but Woody's thinking that this could be the Hybrid version.... Interesting, good find!
Source;
http://www.woodyscarsite.com/2011/04/toyota-ft-86-hybrid-speculation.html

Official FT-86 II Concept Press Release, Press Photos

All I can say is.... wow.... what a beautiful car.... C'mon Honda, Prelude II!
FT-86 II concept – Embodies Toyota’s Reborn Passion for Sports Car Driving
— Toyota has been creating exciting sports cars for over 50 years
— 2000 GT established Toyota’s global reputation for sports car manufacturing
— Corolla Coupe, Celica, Supra and MR2 consistently popular on the global market
— FT-86 II concept previews the next generation of Toyota sports car
— Entirely driver-focused concept designed to capture the intrinsic joy of driving
— Boxer engine for light weight, low centre of gravity and optimum power-to-weight ratio

Heritage – Half a Century of Passion for Sporting Performance
‘When the Toyota 2000 GT was built, I was eleven years old – and I loved it. I said: “I want to drive something like this when I grow up”. My dream came true when I drove a 2000 GT in a vintage car rally. That was a really great experience.

I want young people to feel those same desires when they see a new Toyota sports car. I want to transfer the thrill of the race track to our vehicles, and make driving fun and exciting for our customers.’

Akio Toyoda – President, Toyota Motor Corporation

Since Toyota began the development of its 2-cylinder boxer engined Sports 800 in 1962, the company has maintained a long history of creating exciting, driver-focused sports cars that have proved as popular with the public as they have been successful in competition.

The beautiful 2000 GT, first displayed at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show, helped establish the company’s global reputation as a sports car manufacturer. This 2.0 litre straight-six-powered coupe finished third in the 1966 Japanese GP and went on to establish three world endurance records, including the fastest average speed continuously over 16,000 kilometres – 207km/h.

A convertible 2000 GT appeared in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. Sadly – created as a movie one-off merely because the film’s star, Sean Connery, could not fit comfortably in the standard coupe – it was never made commercially available.

In the US, former Le Mans winner Carroll Shelby entered the 2000 GT in the 1968 Sports Car Club of America’s C-Production category. Despite little development, the lead car notched up four wins against the hitherto dominant Porsche 911.

In response to the focus of the annual Japanese Grand Prix on sports racing cars with larger engines, Toyota launched its first purpose-built racer in 1968, the Toyota 7, which featured a mid-mounted, 3.0 litre V8 subsequently upgraded to 5.0 litres. The 1970 Toyota 7 Turbo was the world’s first turbo-engined racing car.

Before its launch in 1984, Toyota appointed legendary US racing driver Dan Gurney for the testing and development of the MR2. Toyota has always understood the value of motorsport and a racing driver’s analytically skills for improving its road-going models. And the MR2 gained a well-deserved reputation as one of the best handling sports cars of all time.

Seven generations of the Celica were sold throughout the world for 36 years between 1970 and 2006. The first Celicas incorporated rear-wheel drive powertrains, and were praised by sports car enthusiasts for their agility. The Celica GT, introduced in Europe in 1974, featured a five-speed transmission and wider tyres.

Appealing strongly to the European market, the redesigned Celica of 1985 featured front-wheel drive and the powerful, 2.0 litre 3S-GE engine.

The Celica also achieved considerable success in competition. The Celica Twin-Cam Turbo achieved three consecutive Safari Rally wins between 1984 and 1986. Taking its first World Rally Championship win in Australia in 1989, the all-wheel drive Celica GT-Four went on to record back-to-back WRC driver’s and manufacturer’s titles in 1993 and 1994. The GT-Four was the first Japanese car to win both driver’s and manufacturer’s WRC titles.

Toyota’s Supra was launched in 1979. The first two generations of the car were based on the Celica, the Supra only becoming a model in its own right with the third generation car of 1986. Its roots may be traced back to the 2000 GT, all four generations boasting straight-six engines and rear-wheel drive.

Engine cubic capacity rose with each generation from 2.5 litres to 2.7 and then 3.0 litres, culminating in the 1993 model year. VI Supra’s 320 hp engine with sequential turbocharging, which gave the car a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of just 5.2 seconds, and a governed maximum speed of 250km/h.

With its reputation for delivering pure excitement and embodying the fundamental joy of driving, the Corolla Levin AE86 is the inspiration behind Toyota’s latest sports car concept, the Future Toyota-86 II.

The Corolla Levin AE86’s front engine, rear-wheel drive powertrain, compact dimensions, light weight, impeccable balance and superior power-to-weight ratio made it the must-have choice for rallying and circuit driving throughout its 1983-1987 production life. Even today, the AE86 is still a popular choice with private rallying teams.

Sharing its predecessor’s front engine, rear-wheel drive credentials, the FT-86 II concept introduces a new generation of sports car which perfectly recaptures the exhilarating spirit of the last Corolla Levin AE 86.

Passion is Back: FT-86 II concept Gives Form to the Intrinsic Joy of DrivingWith the proportions of its long, low bonnet, high wings and rear-set cabin paying homage to Toyota’s illustrious sports car history, the dynamic power of the FT-86 II concept gives the clearest indication yet as to the final design of Toyota’s next sports car.

The FT-86 II is an entirely driver-oriented concept, designed to give form to the intrinsic joy of driving through precise, instantaneous responses to even the smallest throttle or steering input, for those who regard driving as a passion rather than a necessity.

Under a design concept that Toyota’s European Design Development centre, ED2, has dubbed ‘Functional Beauty’, its bold, sweeping form has been generated entirely through the constraints of function, and aerodynamics developed from F1 technology.

Its low, highly aerodynamic bodyshell stretched tight over the engineering hard points, the FT-86 II concept’s muscular body work has been made as compact as possible. Featuring a long, 2,570mm wheelbase, the concept is 4,235mm long, 1,795mm wide and just 1,270mm high.

Rather than relying on a heavy, large displacement powertrain for its performance, the FT-86 II returns to Toyota’s sporting roots by combining a free-revving boxer petrol engine and a 6-speed manual transmission with compact dimensions, light weight and a low centre of gravity for the best possible power-to-weight ratio.

Both powertrain and driving position have been set as low and as far back as possible to optimise balance for maximum poise, high speed stability and dynamic agility. Allied to a front engine, rear-wheel drive format, this awards the FT-86 II lively, accessible performance, highly engaging, readily-exploitable dynamic abilities and maximum driving pleasure.

The FT-86 II concept is the result of an August 2009 announcement that Toyota and Fuji Heavy Industries will launch a jointly developed compact rear-wheel drive sports car. European sales of Toyota’s new sports car will begin in 2012.

Source;

Toyota

Subaru confirms coupe launch

Subaru’s version of the Toyota FT-86 concept will make its public debut at the Geneva motor show, the firm has announced.

The ‘Toyobaru’ was previewed as the FT-86 as long ago as 2009, but has been delayed by at least a year. In particular, engineers and designers are said to have been struggling to implement the car’s particularly low bonnet line in production form, due to pedestrian impact regulations.

In a press release, Subaru said that its Geneva show stand is to include the Impreza Concept (unveiled at the LA show last year), the Trezia small MPV and a “Rear-wheel-drive Sports Car Technology Concept”. The firm also confirmed that the sports car would use a horizontally opposed ‘boxer’ engine.

It’s thought that both cars will use the same basic powerplant, a 2.5-litre unit, but that the Subaru version will feature turbocharging to increase its output to around 260bhp.

Source;
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/254892/

Toyota Evokes James Bond in New Push for Sports Cars

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Maurizio Raffone bought a Toyota Motor Corp. Prius hybrid for its top-of-the-line fuel efficiency. In his current search for a new sportscar, he said the Japanese carmaker hadn’t sprung to mind.

“Would I consider buying a Toyota high-end sports car?” said Raffone, a London-based director at Commerzbank AG. “I might think about it, but ultimately I’d choose something with a trident, a prancing horse or a bull on its hood,” he said, referring to cars made by Fiat SpA’s Maserati and Ferrari marques, and Volkswagen AG’s Lamborghini.

As the world’s largest carmaker tries to rebuild its reputation for quality following record recalls, President Akio Toyoda, a racing fan, has said he wants to add more fun to his cars. Under Toyoda, who became president in June 2009, the company has taken orders for the Lexus LFA $375,000 supercar, is readying an “affordable” rear-wheel drive coupe and may even add a sporty version of the Prius.

“Cars like the LFA are brand-builders in the overall product portfolio,” said Ashvin Chotai, London-based managing director of Intelligence Automotive Asia Ltd., an industry consultant. These cars, at the periphery of Toyota’s business model, “are less about volume and more about excitement.”

The projects fall under a new Sports Vehicle Management Division set up in January, a month before Toyoda flew to Washington to face congressional questioning on the company’s recalls for problems related to unintended acceleration.

The unit expands a similar group spearheaded by Toyoda in 2007 and aims to “reinforce sports vehicle product planning,” according to a company statement.

‘Affordable’ Sports Car

The “affordable” sports car, known as the FT-86, is being developed with affiliate Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.’s Subaru unit. Toyota plans to introduce the model by the end of 2011.

Toyoda touts the role of racing in car development and started participating in a 24-hour endurance race in 2007 in Nurburgring, Germany, where various versions of the LFA were tested.

His fervor for racing is reflected on his business card, where a cartoon image of Morizo, his race-car driver alter ego, flashes a peace sign with one hand and cradles a helmet in the other.

The carmaker has firm orders for all 500 units of the limited-production LFA, according to the company. The car will enter production in December.

Toyota gained 1.8 percent to close at 3,085 yen in Tokyo.

‘Technologically Brilliant’

“The LFA is technologically brilliant, but completely overpriced” at almost triple the price of Porsche SE’s 911 Turbo, said Mark Sweeting, an investment banker in London who has owned numerous sporty European cars.

Toyota’s sports cars no longer in production include the Supra, built between 1986 and 2002 and featured in the 2001 racing movie “The Fast and the Furious,” the MR-S roadster that ended production in 2007, and the Celica, made between 1970 and 2006. The company’s first supercar was the 2000GT, which was featured in the 1967 James Bond movie, “You Only Live Twice,” starring Sean Connery.

“Toyota used to have cool sports cars like the Supra and Corolla Levin,” said Kosuke Kakizawa, a sports car fan in Tokyo who owned a Toyota Cynos coupe in the mid-1990s. “Now, when you think of sports cars, you think of the foreign brands,” he said. Kakizawa now owns an Audi TT coupe.

Raffone, the Prius owner, agreed.

“Toyota should really focus on its cutting edge eco- friendly technology and leave the sports cars to the niche manufacturers,” he said.

Lowered Suspension

Last month, Toyota held a test-drive event for its new “G Sports” versions of the Noah and Voxy minivans, which were developed and tuned with the help of race-car drivers and have lowered suspensions, more responsive steering and high- performance brakes.

“These are cars that are sporty without being hardcore sports cars,” to be enjoyed by drivers with families, said Tadashi Yamashina, a senior managing director in charge of the company’s development of sports cars in an interview at the event in Yamanashi prefecture, northwest of Tokyo.

Sports models contribute little to sales volume and profit, Intelligence Automotive’s Chotai said. Toyota sold 1,300 units of the MR-S in Japan in 2006, the last full year it was offered. That compares with 2.27 million cars sold domestically in the fiscal year ended March 2007.

Japanese rival Honda Motor Co. also cut back on sporty cars over the last decade, axing plans for a revamped NSX supercar and ending production of the S2000 roadster in 2009. Instead, Honda introduced the sporty hybrid CR-Z in February.

Toyota displayed a concept hybrid sports car, the FT-HS, at the 2007 Detroit auto show.

Flagship GT-R

Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-largest automaker, came out with a more powerful version of its flagship GT-R sports car in 2007.

“The sporty push is understandable since the whole industry is so fixated on improving vehicle fuel economy, which leaves something to be desired” for enthusiasts, said Koji Endo, an auto analyst at Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo.

More sports models may also raise morale inside the company. “Sports cars keep the engineers motivated,” said Edwin Merner, president of Atlantis Investment Research Corp. in Tokyo.

“They are worth doing on a limited scale.”

Source;
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-08-19/toyota-evokes-james-bond-in-new-push-for-sports-cars.html?chan=autos_autos+--+lifestyle+subindex+page_top+stories

You Asked For It, You Got It: Toyota Secures New Trademark on Supra Name

Wow, Toyota's getting serious about this sportscar stuff....shame, no S2000, no Prelude, sure we are getting a new hybrid version of a CRX....
Toyota has applied to trademark the iconic Supra name, according to documents it filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on July 16. The company’s previous trademark on the model name expired in 2006, and for the past four years Toyota didn’t bother to renew it.

This may be more than just business as usual. Only four days earlier, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda told journalists in Japan that he wants “to see the next Supra tested in the near future”, although he qualified that by adding “even if one president [Toyoda himself] says that we want to have a Supra again, the whole company is not going to be responding to that request.”

We spoke with Toyota’s vice president of external communications, Mike Michels, this afternoon for more info. Toyota, like many other carmakers, categorically won’t comment on future product plans except when, you know, they will. This was a case when they wouldn’t—Michels told us that Toyota likely just registered the name “provisionally” to “make sure we have a lot of latitude to use names in the future.” This is true, and it happens often. But the trademark system is really designed around use (or honest plans to use the trademark for a product), and, generally speaking, a company would have three years to use the name until it’s considered abandoned.

Of course, Toyota hasn’t revealed what it will be calling the on-again, off-again production version of the FT86 concept, which is a joint project with Subaru. Could it be called Supra? There’s also the possibility that the Supra name could be attached to a second, completely different model, leaving the FT86 to adopt the Celica badge. In any event, Toyota filing a trademark for the Supra name—especially when taken with Mr. Toyoda’s comments—is telling, but it’s still too early to bet the mortgage money on any one scenario. Until Toyota finally rolls out a new Supra and puts the speculation to rest—and gives enthusiasts a reason to look at the company again—you can at least enjoy a vintage one.

Source;
http://blog.caranddriver.com/you-asked-for-it-you-got-it-toyota-secures-new-trademark-on-supra-name/

Toyota FT-86 debut to be made in 2013! Hybrid version planned!

It appears that the same thing that happened with the Lexus LFA Supercar will happen with the new Toyota FT-86. For those who don’t know, the Lexus LFA was first unveiled in a concept form back in 2005 at the Detroit Auto Show.

The production version was launched last year at the Tokyo Motor Show. The new Toyota FT-86 will likely have the same faith and people will get tired of waiting it! According to the latest reports from Japan’s Best Car magazine, the Toyota FT-86 will make its debut in 2013. The reasons for the delay would be the changing of the design but also the fact that a 2011 release may be premature…What?!?!?!?! Anyway, there is also a good news: Toyota will take a closer look to Honda’s CR-Z hybrid sports coupe and may consider a hybrid version of the FT-86!

Source;
http://www.4wheelsnews.com/toyota-ft-86-debut-to-be-made-in-2013-hybrid-version-planned/

FT-86 Price and Range Out Of Control?

According to sources,”…ballooning development costs will result in a more expensive Toyota FT-86 when it arrives late next year…”

This is without mentioning the disputes over the origin of the power plants…

According to Toyota, the boxer engine is ill-favored, saying, “The Subaru boxer engine planned for the car is not considered to be that clean or fuel-efficient.”

…and that prices with the boxer in tow, could top,”…the Japanese price up to around £15,000 ( $23,000 ), with the range-topper costing £17,000 ( $26,000 ).”

Quite the hike in cost, wouldn’t you agree?

The FT86 is one of the biggest cars to come out in decades and already it is marred in controversy with very little to show for its actual form.

One key element is the internal shift for Toyota: significant where Tetsuya Tada spoke of his team increasing the target age group for the FT-86 by 10 years, from the 30s to 40s, after market research showed that fewer younger buyers would opt for the sleeker coupé than first thought.

7tune is here to make sure things are told as they are.

Source;
http://www.7tune.com/ft-86-price-and-range-out-of-control/

Toyota FT-86 concept gets a family-style welcome

Wow, does this ever look hot! C'mon Honda, respond with the next Prelude!

Toyota Motor Co. president Akio Toyoda has stressed that his family's company must work to create more emotionally engaging products as part of its bid to reinvent its now-battered image. Central to that effort will be the production version of its well-received FT-86 Sports Concept, the two-door rear-driver that made its European debut at this week's Geneva Motor Show, where it drew quite a crowd.

Toyota now appears to be pushing its brand's enthusiast heritage, something it hasn't truly done with fresh products in some time – at least not outside of its Lexus brand. In any case, the Japanese automaker has just released a series of new photos, including a family portrait of sorts that places the FT-86 in the context of the Corolla AE86 (its most obvious spiritual predecessor) as well as the Celica and Supra. Although the press release available after the jump pays lip service to the MR2, none is pictured.

While there is no substantive new information about a production timetable for the comely coupe, Toyota has released a series of images of the FT-86 that are certainly worth perusing. You can check them out below while you're waiting for more info about the car's future.

Source;

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/05/toyota-ft-86-concept-gets-a-family-style-welcome/