Earlier this year, BMW and Toyota announced they will jointly develop a midsize sports car. The move is part of the partnership initiated by the two companies in late 2011, which also includes the joint development of diesels, fuel cells and the latest lithium battery and hybrid technology.
Of course, most car enthusiasts are more interested in the sports car project, which will fill empty spaces in both Toyota’s and BMW’s ranges. For Toyota, this could mean the return of the Supra, while for BMW it could be a standalone coupe positioned in a different segment (both in terms of dimensions and concept) than the 4-Series and the upcoming i8 plug-in hybrid sports car.
According to a report from Motor Trend magazine, at the time of the announcement in January, BMW and Toyota had already conducted feasibility studies and development was well underway. “When BMW announced in December 2011 that it would supply a new clean diesel engine to Toyota, the jointly developed sports car project had already begun,” an unnamed source told the magazine.
The project was green-lighted by Toyota’s boss Akio Toyoda, who also signed off the Lexus LFA and Toyota GT86/Scion FR-S.
The report says the engineer leading the project is Tetsuya Tada, who was also chief engineer for the GT86/FR-S. He has reportedly visited BMW multiple times in the past year. The BMW-Toyota sports-car could be powered by a BMW-sourced inline-four engine and would sit on a stretched GT86/FR-S/BRZ platform, which will be modified by the German carmaker.
The magazine reported that the two automakers are considering naturally aspirated, supercharged and turbocharged version, but atmospheric induction is the most likely because it probably will be paired with electric motors.
The same source told Motor Trend that Toyota has been working on an all-wheel drive GT86 with front in-wheel motors, a setup that could make it into the new BMW-Toyota sports car. Unlike the GT86/FR-S/BRZ project, the BMW and Toyota products will have significantly different bodies. A concept previewing the sports car is expected to be shown later this year at the Tokyo Motor Show.
By Dan Mihalascu
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