Jeez, we’ve been waiting for what feels like forever to see the new Toyota Supra. The 2018 Geneva Motor Show finally gave us our first look at what the next-gen sports car will look like thanks to the Gazoo Racing Supra Racing Concept.
Unfortunately, Autoblog has some bad information to share about the vehicle.
The outlet sat down with Toyota engineer Tetsuya Tada, the brand’s chief engineer behind the Toyota 86 and the man who reportedly wanted the Supra name to be revived, at a roundtable at the motor show. Tada didn’t have good news to share with the outlet.
The Supra, sticking to its humble roots, will feature a turbocharged inline-six engine. Specifics for the engine are still up in the air, but that’s good news. Now onto the bad stuff.
The outlet claims that Tada has already ruled the possibility of a manual transmission out for the vehicle. Unfortunately, if you want a Supra, you won’t be able to depress a pedal and push a lever yourself.
The reasoning behind not offering a manual transmission, according to the outlet is because, “Tada said that Supra fans don’t think it’s a huge requirement…” We don’t agree with Tada on that point, but can see his logic.
With Toyota’s partnership with BMW, the upcoming Supra won’t be cheap. While pricing is still up in the air, individuals that can afford to buy the vehicle probably don’t want to shift gears themselves. And before you go harping on whether that’s true or not, the Chevrolet SS was reasonably priced and had a manual gearbox and no one bought those.
Other noteworthy news includes a 50:50 weight distribution and a lower center-of-gravity than the sportier, smaller, and more nimble 86. The engine – and tuners will love this – according to Tada will be easy to tune.
Last August, we heard that Toyota would offer the Supra with a manual gearbox. But with Autoblog and Road & Track now sitting down with Tada and holding a face-to-face conversation with the man behind the sports car, it doesn’t look like a manual transmission will happen.
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