Official: Toyota FT-1 Concept / First New Supra Prototype Spotted!

[vh_supra26]

Originally Posted by trd_kid

so possibly the car that's supposed to fill the slot under the 86?

Negative, Toyota and BMW press release from last year confirms it will be a midsize sports car.

New photos from GT6?

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by Whitigir

it is shameful to benchmark german for their cars.....cmon, Toyota, you used to have your own

I read somewhere the ISF CCS-R was used as a benchmark for the RC-F and potentially next gen IS-F

[FiRStsc10n]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

I read somewhere the ISF CCS-R was used as a benchmark for the RC-F and potentially next gen IS-F

So the previous years the ISF CCS-R team has gathered knowledge, and then helped with the RC-F. So yes in a way it was a benchmark. In recent, The ISF CCS-R was secretly using the projected RC-F (IS-F modified) V8 in a couple races like the pikes peak hill climb to test it out in race settings, prior to the RC-F prototype.

It makes sense, why not benchmark your new coupe performance model with the top competitor, the M3/M4, and against your racing model the ISF CCS-R.

And actually as a nod to the ISF CCS-R (as well as the Nurburgring Edition LFA), the RC-F and F-Sport RC350 are available in a new Lexus color called "New Orange".

[vh_supra26]

Today we anticipate the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage to feature the all-new Toyota FT-1 Concept with Toyota’s Calty Design Research by the looks of the latest images on his Instagram feed. Jay Leno is sure to be an instant fan of the Toyota FT-1 as it probably remind him of the Japanese sports cars that start it all, such as the Toyota 2000GT and Supra from the brand just to name a couple.

The Toyota FT-1 has surely sparked interest in what is to come from Toyota in the form of a new sports car along with the over-all new-found inspiration in other Japanese brands to bring affordable sport to the market. We will await the Jay Leno’s Garage episode featuring the Toyota FT-1 hopefully within the next week or so. Be sure to check back for our post with the exclusive video!

http://bd.summit.net/articles/2014/0...ept/#gsc.tab=0

Live photos from another forum.

[sdlynx]

Via Autocar
by Greg Kable
24 March 2014

The first fruit of an alliance between BMW and Toyota will be a two-seat sports car that will bring performance-boosting supercapacitor technology to a series-production model for the first time.

Confirmed by BMW chairman Norbert Reithofer and Toyota boss Akio Toyoda late last year, the new sports car will sire a radically different BMW Z4 replacement, previewed here, and a spiritual successor to the Supra, at which Toyota hinted with its FT-1 concept at the Detroit motor show in January.

The new sports car will feature a front-engined layout. But unlike Toyota’s FT-1 concept, it is likely to be four-wheel drive thanks to the use of a direct-injection petrol engine and electric motors. These power sources will form part of a high-tech supercapacitor-touting hybrid system that draws on technology and expertise gained from Toyota’s Le Mans LMP1 sports car programme.

Toyota’s role in the sports car project centres around a newly developed plug-in hybrid system. It uses supercapacitors for short-term kinetic energy storage and a performance boost.

BMW and Toyota have chosen supercapacitors because they can absorb and discharge kinetic energy more rapidly than the latest generation of lithium ion batteries. They are also typically smaller and lighter than existing energy storage sources. BMW first aired the technology on the X3 EfficientDynamics concept car in 2005 and has been pushing hard to bring it to production.

Plans to put a supercapacitor hybrid system into production were previewed on the Toyota Yaris Hybrid R at last year’s Frankfurt show. It used a 300bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine to power the front wheels and a trio of 60bhp motors that powered the rear wheels and provided a boost function for added drive to the front axle. All up, the combined set-up developed 414bhp.

The system being engineered for the new sports car is described as a departure from that used by the Yaris Hybrid R, although the basics will be carried over.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/ge...rts-car-toyota

[Sasquachulator]

Where would the Supra successor slot in price wise?


Toyota's current sports/sporty coupe hierarchy looks like this:
Scion tC
Scion FRS
Lexus RC
Lexus RC-F
Lexus LFA

[FiRStsc10n]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

Where would the Supra successor slot in price wise?


Toyota's current sports/sporty coupe hierarchy looks like this:
Scion tC
Scion FRS
Lexus RC
Lexus RC-F
Lexus LFA

Hoping that the initial guesses on price are false, and that it will be in the $45-50 range. Sort of around same area as the Lexus RC base (me guessing thats where the RC will start). I think they are still able to have both these vehicles as one is more pure-sports, rather than luxury-sport, plus once you start getting into the packages Lexus does, the F-Sport, or the Technology packages it adds quite a bit.

And on another note, we cannot forget about a potential Lexus LC to add into the mix. Based on the LF-LC that is said to be in the works for 2018. I think Akio Toyoda has a solid plan for the future, and we won't have to worry about Toyota nothing have enough Sports cars.

[vh_supra26]

8 month old article but it has good info.

Key Points

• Toyota Flagship Sports Car will be RWD.
• May or may not use Supra name.
• Will not necessarily be a direct GT-R competitor.

Toyota Supra successor to remain rear-wheel drive

Toyota has announced that its long awaited successor to the iconic Supra will be rear-wheel drive, though the nameplate is yet to be locked-in.

The top-tier sports model, which will sit above the 86 in Toyota’s line-up, will share its development with the BMW i8 and may even boast a carbon fibre frame. Though just which nameplate the upcoming sports car will wear is still a bone of contention.

Speaking at a media event in Canberra last week, chief engineer of the 86, Tetsuya Tada, told motoring.com.au that ‘Supra’ was just one of the names considered for the upcoming performance flagship.

“The Supra successor is an upper-crust sportscar, and the Supra name is just one candidate for that successor,” said Tada-san.

Tada-san said the nameplate was before a committee and he could not yet say what others badges were being considered. He did, however, confirm that the model would remain rear-wheel drive and that Toyota was not seeking to chase Nurburgring lap times, a la Nissan GT-R.

“The GT-R is a car that is clearly focussed on speed, on lap times. We don’t want to chase the same direction,” explained Tada-san.

“Toyota’s philosophy is always [one of] fun. Fun is more important to the driver, and I’d prefer the driver sense that enjoyment than [focus on] lap time.”

Driver enjoyment appears to be paramount in the decision to adhere to a rear-wheel drive layout too. Tada-san, the man behind the development of the rear-wheel drive 86 said it was his belief that to enjoy the car to its fullest, that one powertrain layout was only ever under consideration.

“The idea has always been to have rear-wheel drive. It’s the most fun layout,” he laughed.

http://www.motoring.com.au/news/2013...el-drive-38128

[f0rge]

I read somewhat contradictory information, I think from C&D. It said the Toyota version will almost certainly slot under the BMW in terms of price, power and luxury.

I would be shocked if the Toyota version had anywhere near 414hp, especially when the BMW engines likely to be in the Z4 would be the current 240hp turbo 4 and the 300-325hp turbo 6 (which are basically in every car they currently make).

The cost and complexity of a hybrid 4WD system also seems out of reach for the pricepoint Toyota is likely being forced under.

Personally I'm rooting for a car some of us might actually be able to afford.

[gymratter]

I love when the media makes up crap. Tada San has already said the new Supra will be RWD and not a hybrid.

also we already have an official FT1 thread..

[regal]

Wow watching Toyota's video about the FT-1 they basically completely separate themselves from the GT-86, like its not even their sports car any more. He kind of mumbles Scion has their FRS but TOYOTA doesn't have a sports car. Really makes you think that they will be washing their hands of it soon.


It looks like the FT-1 is based of our ZN06 chassis? That would explain why Toyota forced Subaru to shelve the turbo FA20 for our twins. You want power you have to buy the expensive hybrid. No more cheap high horsepower in a sports car (OK in a Camry though.)

[vh_supra26]

No, it’s not real. Yes, it could be. Chances? No better than fifty-fifty, most likely. On the other hand, this dramatic pushmobile (it does have a little electric motor to move it onto auto-show stands) got this far because it’s a great PlayStation character, and after “driving” it, Akio Toyoda himself decreed that it should exist as a realistic concept model. That costs real money (although not nearly as much as a complete, drivable car), showing the seriousness of the concept. Toyota has a long-running and highly irregular relationship with sports cars, starting with the charming little Sports 800 back in the mid-1960s, the 2000GT, three generations of MR2s, the last near-supercar Supra, the current shared-with-Subaru sport coupe (the Scion FR-S), and some amazingly good prototypes. I cherish the memory of driving—really fast—the fully realized 4500GT concept car at the Toyota proving ground in the late ’80s. It was completely engineered, but its aerodynamically superior body shape was “too strange” for most people, and the project was dropped.

While talking with the leaders of the California-based FT-1 design team—Kevin Hunter, president of Calty Design Research in Newport Beach, and project design manager William Chergosky—at the Detroit show in January, we learned that this truly is a stylistic fantasy. The FT-1 has never been in a wind tunnel, and it doesn’t really have an engine (there is an artful cover for the imagined in-line six the team desires for its relationship to the engine in the 2000GT), nor is there an existing component set suitable for the race-car-like chassis they would like to see beneath its skin. Toyota’s performance group, TRD, was called in to have a look, and they thought the FT-1 was “pretty good” as is but would have to test it to be sure.

So, like the original Viper concept car, this “dream car” could evolve into a serious product (or, like the Dodge Copperhead, disappear forever). Let’s take a look at what’s here and imagine what could exist one day. It’s interesting that the choice was to put the engine up front, Corvette- and Viper-style, rather than expand on the mid-engine scheme of Toyota Le Mans cars and the MR2. Many engineers and designers think that a front-engine car is much easier to live with on public roads, less likely to bite an inattentive driver in “ordinary” extreme situations. It also happens to give really good proportions, with a longer hood and a shorter rear.

The best part of the car is the interior, which is seriously thought out, beautifully made, and extremely satisfying to be in once you struggle past the wide sill. I would love to see a production version of the FT-1 with the exterior toned down a bit and perfected in a wind tunnel. It’s not a complete design yet, but it’s definitely on the right path.



Front 3/4 View

• 1 The blunt center evokes thoughts of the classic Cord 810’s “coffin nose”—and the Panoz Le Mans cars from a decade or more ago.
• 2 An awful lot of scoopin’ goin’ on in this front-end design: big holes on either side of the central nacelle and good-size ones cooling the front tires, apparently.
• 3 Triple round lamps recall Jean-Paul Oyono’s Alfa Romeo design study for Zagato, later picked up by Giorgetto Giugiaro for his Alfa Romeo Brera and other Alfas.
• 4 Fake air-deflecting blades are all the rage among stylists right now, but these can’t do anything real; they’re solid to the body and just add drag.
• 5 Handsome huge wheels are not very race-car-like, generating far too much turbulence.
• 6 The door skins are exceptionally convoluted and become an impressive sculpture all by themselves if removed from the car.
• 7 So what’s behind these huge holes that needs cooling? Radiators? Then why the huge holes up front? Terrific styling, questionable design.
• 8 A particularly nice detail is the glass-to-glass joint outside the A-pillar, carrying a tint all the way around the sides.
• 9 Double-bubble roof is again a sort of must-have cliché, from Abarth to Zagato, with Corvette, Mazda, and others riding along.
• 10 Transparent covers for engine compartments are getting to be standard on high-level sports cars. Nice for bystanders, but one wonders about keeping them clean.

Rear 3/4 View

• 11 Very small outlet for so much air scooped in up front. There’s no question that hot air has to get out, and this is probably not big enough.
• 12 These ribs are pure styling, Hunter admitted, but TRD says it might help push air toward the center and the gigantic retractable wing.
• 13 Yep, have to have a fuel filler as a design element. But for Le Mans, it ought to be on the right-hand side of the car . . .
• 14 The surface between this sharp line and the backlight is a wing mounted on four struts (presumably hydraulic) that lift and tilt the panel.
• 15 These squared-up corners clash more than a little with the rounded spoiler, body, and fender cross-sections through the wheels and really don’t make sense.
• 16 Bulbous surround for the exhaust pipes evoke 1950s “jet pod” details on show cars. Exhaust tips are cut at an angle, as though pointing outward.
• 17 Another nonfunctional air-deflector blade, again glued to the surface behind it so no air can pass between it and the body. But cool looking, right?
• 18 This sow-belly sagging curve recalls some BMW concept cars and the Z3. It doesn’t appear to do anything useful, but again, it looks serious.
• 19 The moderately tight radius running from the bottom of the front outlet to the top of the rear inlet gives some definition to the body side, and, of course, the convolutions beneath it strengthen the door panel.

Interior View

• 20 The pedal assembly is a work of beauty, all precision-machined. The bottom hinging is slightly out of the past, but it worked well for many of the world’s best cars.
• 21 The feeling of a single-seat cockpit for the driver is emphasized by the metallic section that rises from the central tunnel and continues on the door.
• 22 The head-up display panel is configured like an old-time racing windscreen, a nice, rather poetic touch.
• 23 A clever and useful indicator in the steering-wheel rim tells what gear you’re in and how quickly you’re approaching the redline. Surprisingly, it’s not at all distracting.
• 24 The seats aren’t racing-car light but are very beautiful in execution.

http://www.automobilemag.com/feature...n-toyota-ft-1/

[Archer256]

Lookie at what I found just punching in random site name

http://www.ft1club.com/forums

Looks like Hachi musta just launched it and still working on it? Time to grab a low member ID. Looking forward to upgrading to the FT-1 / Supra when its released.

[vh_supra26]

This guy brings up a good point. (Weight 20% more)

Originally Posted by Dimman

FT86 in GT5 was 10% more initial hp, and I can't remember the weight (90%?).

So if we applied that to FT-1's specs from GT6, we would get a new weight of 3,492 lbs with 436hp.

FT-86 on GT5
2,200 lbs with 221hp

Scion FR-S
2,624 lbs with 200hp

FT-1 on GT6
2,910 lbs with 485hp

FT-1 proudction specs?
3,492 lbs with 436hp