Toyota/Subaru RWD

[Craig Naylor]

Tom, thanks for the side by side. I kinda like the looks of the one on the right better.

[Dan Shaw]

the car isn't that cool unless it has popup headlamps. I still think someone ought to come up with a way to make that legit again. That was one of the cars coolest things and really lended to it's demeanor. This new car looks too cutesy/IS350(Altezza) like. Just doesn't seem to carry the same presence as the original (granted unless it was the initial d car the base GTS/Sprinter Trueno was no looker either).

[Dan Shaw]

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak ... 0034_n.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Mako Koiwai]

car isn't that cool unless it has popup headlamps.

Yuck!

[Michael Smith]

I do love the AE86 Levin headlights.

[Tom Denham]

Toyota FT-86 coming to North American market! Confirmed by President & COO of Toyota Motor Sales USA
Posted by admin

As discussed HERE, Jim Lentz, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota Motor Sales USA was recently interviewed regarding the return of a Toyota sports car to the North American market. In the interview, Mr. Lentz is asked “It has been years since Toyota had a sports car (Supra) available for sale in North America. Are there any plans to bring back the Supra or come out with a new affordable sports car?”

The answer Mr. Lentz provides is that the Supra will not be coming back (so we now know the FT-86 won’t be called the “Supra”), but the FT-86 will be coming to market sometime in the near future (including in North America since the question was asked regarding the N. American market)! See the clip below and share comments

[Bob Beamesderfer]

Uh, Tom, what clip?

[Randy Chase]

http://www.ft86club.com/?p=112" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jeff Shyu]

Uh, Tom, what clip?

the clip was probably recalled due to technical errors.

i crack myself up sometimes.

[Tom Denham]

http://www.ft86club.com/?p=112

OPPS Thanks Randy

[Randy Chase]

It is a pretty interesting interview regarding other Toyota things too.

[Michael Smith]

Tuesday February 9, 2010
Report: Toyota chooses alternative Toyota FT-86 design!

[Craig Naylor]

To bad, I like the look of the Show car. That specific artists rendering is butt ugly.

[Tom Denham]

Quote:
The Toyota FT-86 concept will be a production reality by 2012, arriving in the UK with a target price of less than £20,000 for the entry level model.

To find out more about the car, which rumours suggest will be formally confirmed for production at the upcoming Geneva motor show, Autocar sent Steve Sutcliffe to meet its designer, Jaromir Cech.


In the metal, says Sutcliffe, the charm of the FT-86 is achingly apparent. For starters, it's no more than two-thirds of the size you'd expect it to be. The Audi TT - not a big car - dwarfs it.

Beyond that, the most striking aspect of the car is how low the bonnet line is and how snugly the whole car seems to hug the ground as a result. This is because the engine is derived from Subaru's famous flat-four 2.0-litre 'boxer' unit.

Senior Toyota designer Cech estimates than the bonnet is around 100mm lower than it would be with a conventional four-cylinder engine in place, but cautions: "It won't be quite as low for the production car. Unfortunately, we have to raise it maybe 50mm to meet pedestrian crash protection legislation."

Mechanically, the car is fairly conventional. Suspension is probably wishbones at the front and almost certainly multi-link at the rear, transmission a six-speed manual and the chassis conventional rear-wheel drive.
What will make it special, claims Toyota, is the ultra-light kerb weight, which may be as low as 1250kg in production trim, its purity of response, its handling agility and the fact it will have a proper limited slip differential.

Another distinguishing feature will be its interior, and in particular its dashboard, which may even include software that provides data acquisition for a host of circuits.

Sutcliffe concludes that the FT-86 is a deadly serious attempt to take a slice of the lucrative affordable coupe market , as well as recapture and repackage the DNA that made Toyota's cars so popular in the past. "The sooner it goes into production, the better," he says.

For http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArtic ... 247568/the" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; full Toyota FT-86 story, buy this week's Autocar magazine, on sale now.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsAr...llCars/247566/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Tom Denham]

Tuesday February 9, 2010
Report: Toyota chooses alternative Toyota FT-86 design!

Doesn't look like they are going with that design.

[Tom Denham]

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.

PRESS RELEASE
FT-86 Sports Concept captures the spirit of celebrated Corolla AE-86

KEY POINTS

* FT-86 Sports Concept, Toyota's vision for a future sports car
* European debut at Geneva motor show
* Designed and engineered to capture the spirit of the renowned Corolla AE86 of the 1980s
* Front-engine, rear-wheel drive format
* Lightweight, compact and aerodynamically efficient body

Celica, MR2, Supra, Corolla AE86: Toyota's great driver-focused sports cars of the past have inspired its vision for a future-generation concept model that makes its European debut at the Geneva motor show.

In creating the FT-86 (Future Toyota-86) Sports Concept, Toyota has directly referenced the excitement and fundamental fun-to-drive quality that characterised the Corolla AE-86. In its day the AE86 became a must-have model for rallying and circuit racing, with its front-engine, rear-wheel drive powertrain, compact dimensions, light weight, impeccable balance and strong power to weight ratio. Even more than 20 years on from the end of production, it remains a popular choice with privateer rally teams.

The FT-86 Sports Concept previews a new-generation Toyota sports car, designed to recapture the spirit of the AE86, sharing its front-engine, rear-wheel drive credentials.

Driver-oriented concept

The FT-86 is designed to deliver simple, dynamic power with environmental responsibility. It is an entirely driver-orientated car, engineered to capture the intrinsic joy of driving through precise, instantaneous responses to even the smallest throttle and steering inputs.

Rather than use a heavy, large displacement engine for performance, it is equipped with a free-revving 2.0-litre petrol unit with a six-speed manual gearbox with compact dimensions, light weight and a low centre gravity. Deployed in a front-engine, rear-wheel drive format, this powertrain delivers lively, accessible performance with engaging dynamic abilities and maximum driving pleasure.

Functional Beauty

Toyota's ED2 European design and development centre dubs the styling of the FT-86 "Functional Beauty", the classic sports car form having been generated entirely within the constraints of aerodynamics and function.

The low, highly aerodynamic bodyshell is stretched tight over the engineering hard points, and, measuring 4,160mm long overall, the bodywork has been rendered as compact as possible.

The cockpit is purely functional and ergonomically efficient, with widespread use of sporting, ultra-lightweight components and finishes that support the car's balanced weight distribution and power to weight ratio.

Rather than treating the 2+2 interior design as a stylised addition to the cabin framework, a thin, tight-fitting skin has been applied to the essential cockpit components, as can be seen in the treatment of the dashboard and seat upholstery

The FT-86 measures 4,160mm long, 1,760mm wide and 1,260mm tall, with a 2,570mm wheelbase. It rides on 19-inch wheels shod with 225/40R19 tyres.

Ouch 19 inch rims

[Michael Smith]

Subaru testing its version of FT-86 "Toyobaru" coupe:

[Kristoffer Gjevre]

Scion reveals rear-wheel-drive FR-S concept
http://www.autoweek.com/article/2011042 ... /110429985" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Kristoffer Gjevre]

Also from a while ago:

Subaru sports-car concept for Geneva gets a bit more exposed
http://www.autoweek.com/article/2011022 ... /110229986" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



Flat-four engine is the heart of Subaru, Toyota sports coupes
http://www.autoweek.com/article/2011030 ... /110309977" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Michael Palero]

http://speedhunters.com/archive/2011/04 ... ncept.aspx

[John Stimson]

Tuesday February 9, 2010
Report: Toyota chooses alternative Toyota FT-86 design!

Looks like 7Tune is 0 for 2. The Subaru is RWD according to Subaru's literature, and the Toyota is being shown and looks nothing like that.

[Mihail Milkov]

If Subari is RWD, then why is the engine sitting so far forward? The see-through model for the Geneva auto show shows that the entire engine is in front of the front axle. I assumed this is in order to route power to the front wheels from the transaxle. Surely a boxer engine in a RWD car can be pushed further back in the engine bay for better weight distribution.

[Ken Motonishi]

That's not the greatest angle to judge by. However, perhaps a cylinder and a half may sit at the front imaginary axle centerline and/or forward. And the engine was pushed back compared to the AWD system in the current Subaru models- a significant improvement. Still, it's no front-mid engine design as you can see. Perhaps due to parts sharing, there's only so much that could have been done in the attempt to achieve this magical 50/50 weight distribution. Instead the suspension tuning will be made so that the car feels magical dynamically, eg. in motion. You can bet race teams will be pushing this engine futher back as we can all invision.

Take a look at a 4 cylinder Genesis coupe engine. There a huge gap behind cylinder #4 and the firewall. Really makes you wish you could squeeze that sucker back closer to the firewall. The front cylinder and a half probably sits on/ahead of the front center hubs. Again this is probably due to a compromise in terms of parts (V6 has to fit in there too).

Best placement I've seen is a rotary Mazda engine. Way back, and way low. So nice. A rotary powered FR-S would be sweet. Lol.

[Tom Denham]

[Kurt Rahn]

Is that the Subie version? It looks a lot less blingy than the last version of the Toyota I saw.