Toyota is back and it's a wonderful thing

Friday, 28 February 2020

OPINION: We live in a strange world.

Electric cars are almost certainly the future of motoring. So is autonomous driving, although we don't like to think about that. In the meantime, though, internal combustion is reigning supreme and, if you believe BMW, will continue its rule for another three decades.

Automakers now are splitting their developmental efforts between EVs and improving their existing combustion architectures, which usually translates to 'make more efficient.' As the great Tower of Power once said, there is only so much oil in the ground.

Toyota's return to the sporty world is a long awaited and much welcomed one.

Of course, there are manufacturers building faster and more powerful ICE machines despite restrictive emissions standards, like Porsche, McLaren and Aston Martin. More rounded carmakers like Ford and Mercedes-Benz also have performance arms and even the beleaguered Nissan is still pumping out the decade-old GT-R.

**READ MORE:

The screaming V10 in the LFA shows that Toyota has the ability (and cash) to create amazing engines, which begs the question: why does the Supra use BMW components, despite it being Toyota's flagship sports car?

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* Sunday drive: BMW Z4 and Toyota Supra

Many hoped the epic Lexus LFA would herald a return to form for Toyota but it took a few years longer than we all expected.

* The day I drove a Toyota Supra in the Targa Tour NZ

* What you may not know about the world's biggest car company Toyota**

Rumours have been floating of a return of the MR2 and Celica models, the former potentially coming back as an all-electric Tesla Roadster rival.

However, one manufacturer has typically been at the more conservative end of the stick. That would be Toyota, the automotive Beige Brigade but even less rowdy. Or, it was. Now it seems the Toyota of the late 20th century is making a tentative return, and I couldn't be happier.

The big push behind the revival is, of course, the new Supra. Yes, it's essentially a BMW and yes, a manufacturer with the financial girth of Toyota should have been able to use its own platform and build a new high-performance engine worthy of the Supra badge. After all, it released the Lexus LFA back in 2010, a supercar powered by a screaming 412kW 4.8-litre V10 that could hit its rev limiter from idle in 0.6 seconds.

It's not just the Supra and 86 holding the sporting banner high. Toyota has created a proper hot hatch in the form of the GR Yaris, using a boosted triple to power all four wheel.

To give you a further idea of how much cash Toyota poured into the LFA, the supercar began development in 2000. Seven years later, as the LFA was closing in on its final specification for production, someone thought it would be better if the frame was made from carbon fibre instead of aluminium and the whole thing was redeveloped. The engine weighs less than Lexus' 3.5-litre V6 and needs a digital tachometer because it revs too fast for an analogue one. Engineers who worked on it called the exhaust note 'the roar of an angel.'

By the way, the man pushing the LFA was Toyota's current CEO, Akio Toyoda. Toyoda is just about the coolest company boss around. He races GT cars at events like the 24 Hours of Nurburgring under the pseudonym Morizo Kinoshita and personally tests the sports cars in development, meaning he's the one to thank for the new Corolla being a return to fun-to-drive form, for the latest Camry making a decent step away from being the go-to accountant's car, as well as for the reborn Supra existing at all.

The GT86 was the start of Toyota's return to form. It's about to get a second generation, reportedly powered by a 2.4-litre turbocharged boxer engine.

Some will - and have - argued that the new GR Supra isn't a real Supra. It uses an engine from BMW, a platform from BMW and an interior from BMW. Sceptics call it a Zupra for its links with the latest BMW Z4 and some of these critiques aren't incorrect. Sitting in the GR Supra is strange because, essentially, it's a BMW interior with a new colour scheme and some Toyota badges. Your brain says BMW but the steering wheel says Toyota. Hit the starter button and it's the same internal conversation. The exhaust might be a bit more crackly than the Z4 but it's still unmistakably a BMW thrum from beneath the bonnet. Even to drive the two are more or less the same.

That said, Toyota has gone on the record saying it will improve the Supra going forward, offering a new version each year. That means more power and even a manual gearbox are on the cards. If there's enough ongoing interest, perhaps Toyota will eventually build a true successor to the 2JZ inline-six.

The new GR Supra might have all the oily bits of a BMW but its existence goes a lot deeper than that.

But, as Toyota fans will fondly remember, the sporty side of the brand isn't just the Supra and 86, the sporty Subaru-infused coupe from 2012. In the 1984 we were treated to the MR2, a nimble mid-engined sports car in a time where the only ways to get such a machine was to spring for a Ferrari 308/328, a Lamborghini Countach or a Lotus Esprit. Unless you lived in America or Europe, where you could also get the Pontian Fiero or Fiat X1/9.

The MR2 was initially powered by an atmospheric inline-four making as much as 96kW, while a supercharged variant came in 1986, offering 108kW. Performance was roughly what you might expect, with 0-60mph (97kmh) times in the mid-eight seconds, faster than the two aforementioned non-Italian competitors.

It spawned two sequels, the second generation donning Ferrari-esque sheetmetal and adding a turbocharged engine option with up to 180kW and the MR-S model, which looks suspiciously similar to a 986-generation Porsche Boxster and only offered a naturally aspirated four-cylinder 1.8-litre 103kW engine.

Additionally, Toyota entered the World Rally Championship with a four-wheel drive Celica, which could be bought in GT-Four guise, using the same turbocharged engine as the second-generation MR2, until its final generation.

The MR2 and Celica both saw their end in the mid-2000s but with the rebirth of the Supra, there is a quiet hope for the return of the other two Toyota Triplets.

There is certainly space for a new MR2, although recent reports are suggesting Toyota isn't focusing on it right now in favour of the second-generation 86. The model could come as a hybrid or even pure EV but don't expect it for a little while.

Circling back to that new 86, the latest intel says it will be powered by a 2.4-litre flat-four sourced from Subaru, making close to 200kW. It will also be badged GR86, the prefix possibly only for top-tier models like the GT indicator currently is. The name change brings it closer to Toyota's other performance models like GR Supra and GR Yaris.

Speaking of the Yaris, this one essentially replaces the GT-Four Celica, despite it being a hot hatch rather than a hot coupe, as it represents Toyota's efforts in the WRC. However, the big thing to remember here is that, unlike the Supra and 86, this is all Toyota. The rorty little turbo triple, the trick all-wheel drive system, the manual gearbox (the fact that it has a manual in 2020 is nigh on unbelievable), everything is born and bred in Toyota's GR skunkworks.

Interestingly, and confusingly, another Toyota GR rumour surfaced recently. It's not new but it does infringe on the current crop of sporty Toyotas. Apparently, Toyota is working on a GR Corolla, using the same powertrain as the GR Yaris. As cool as this would be, it doesn't seem likely, given it would essentially just be a rebodied Yaris.

Additionally, the 86 is named as such in a nod to one of the great Corollas, the AE86 generation. It was the last to use a front-mounted, rear-driven layout and was powered by the iconic 4A-GE engine.

It wasn't the fastest on the market but provided cheap thrills and could be turned into a wicked track car without much expense. Building a GR Corolla feels like it would step on the toes of the GR Yaris and the GR86.

Not that I'd say no, it just seems like one GR too far. I'd rather an electrified MR2, thanks.

But what all of this says, and why this opinion piece exists at all, is that Toyota is getting back to business. Who cares that the Supra is more BMW than Toyota? The mere fact it exists and can be bought right now means Toyota is building high-performance sports cars once again and that is something worth celebrating.