Toyota's new car era
 

So after watching the Mr.Tada in the video posted in the designed explained thread (http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4235) the thought dawned on me after hearing the mention that future Toyotas would be more exciting how exactly will this play out since Subaru did all the build side?

I recall that Toyota scooped up another chunk of Subaru before approaching them to do this joint venture and that has me wondering that could we be seeing more shared platforms among the two?

During a press release Mr. Toyoda had mentioned that the Subaru Toyota Alliance had 3 active projects other than the FT86 Project. Whether or not they are actual vehicles, technology, or whatever is unclear. But this is only the beginning for the two power houses.

Of course id rather not discuss my own thoughts and speculations as to what they are...only because i know its going to spawn massive giggity gooness among the members.

Next gen supra, electric turbocharger, and some kind of hybrid/electric. :thumbsup: It's all official.

The way of the world these days. Anything to cut costs, share technology. Bigger boys get bigger, the other boys will just tag along.

Where did I hear that there is 5 LCD panel producers in the world with some many different brands of tv's.

Everyone is sharing parts now.

4wd supra me thinks. Big call, sure Toyota want a mega tech supra to smash the gtr.

Well mr Toyota said it himself. We don't want to build boring cars anymore. I hope that's the case. Time to give consumers what they want.

I personally think, more vehicles should be added to Scions lineup.

Maybe if the FRS does fantastically for Scion. Than Toyota might release a Supra badged under Scion.....(it's a thought guys) Haha

i don't think so because of the cost this new supra could end up.
if anything the FR-S (and/or whatever replaces it eventually) will be the Scion branded stepping stone to the Toyota branded "supra".

Wern't they working on something with the same chassis as the Zx6's anyways?

i personally dont think making this thing a scion is a good idea. not because of the branding or that jazz but because of the fixed pricing. sport cars arent in demand all year. like the miata is crazy expensive but they discount it in the off season. not being able to adjust the price to match the seasonal demand kinda sucks

Relax i'm not trying to down play Toyota part but its been confirmed by both
companies that Subaru WA in charge of the build and Toyota the design.


I'm sure Toyota helped but in the end its all parts from Subaru which kind of makes it hard to think how Toyota plans to inject excitement inspired by the 86 when there are Subaru stamps everywhere.

Not too difficult to produce great sports cars when price is no object. Much more difficult stunt to pull off if price was kept low. I hope Toyota would keep that in mind as they move forward in the "exciting cars" idea.

Scion needs to add a smaller FJ type vehicle to the mix. Something offload, manual tranny, removable hard top, and solid front axle. Think jeep but engineered and built by the Japanese. Also being small enough that it gets decent fuel economy.

Agreed 100%

But wouldn't you agree that would take away sells from Toyota. I know Lexus and Scion are Toyota brands so they're making money no matter what. I just don't think Toyota wants their sub brands override their Main brand.

A supra for Scion would be a great idea, but now that I think about it, I don't see 45-50k car that is under Scion's motto of "highly affordable and customizable vehicles".

In America, 45k is not by any means affordable. (To most american folks)

I personally think the FRS saved Scion from being scrapped. Their sales are not exactly the most promising.

uh rav4? or 4runner type cars? or the actual FJ?

i think people are expecting too much from scion to be saying it would die without the FR-S. it wasn't introduced to be a brand that could stand on it's own like lexus.
its a low volume sub-brand within toyota dealerships to bring in younger customers, not a major money maker.

Scion needs to be the sport brand of Toyota cars. Right now it is known as cheap yet reliable cars for college kids. They totally need to redesign the brand to be the fun, sporty side of Toyota, it is too bland right now.

Scion needs to have the FRS, a new supra, a small Tacoma like truck, a jeep like vehicle, an IQ, and a sporty prius type sedan. All focused around sporty ness, if that makes sense.

Leave Toyota to be the brand of reliable sedans, larger SUVs and trucks. Lexus will be the luxury brand as it is, and scion the sporty arm of Toyota.

Why do you take offense to what is true? No one is saying that Toyota can't build sports cars.

Something more focused around what the vehicle intends to do. The rav4 and 4runner try to do too many things. They are not focused around one principle like the frs is, which is fun driving. It needs to be, off roading.

Take the FRS, it's a fun vehicle to drive, it's not a passenger carrier or something you want in the snow etc, it's focused around one main idea, having fun driving the thing.

They need to do the same thing with a truck, focused around off road capabilities. That will create the same hype the FRS does. Not everyone will drive the FRS to its limits, same thing with the truck, but knowing it can will give the brand the same hype in a totally different community of auto enthusiast is exactly what's scion needs to be successful.

that is an idea.
but i agree with what you said that they would need to shift the point of the brand to do that, which would be a lot of $$ to pull off because it would NEED its own dealership network, piggybacking all of that onto toyota dealerships would overload them.

Why? The scion I invision would have the same number of vehicles on the line. I would take away the XB and XD, those cars are ruining the brand. The IQ must stay but add a manual transmission :D

small lightweight economical truck made by the Japanese with a performance offroad version on the market.

that sort of vehicle is a sure seller in my book.

One of those and an FRS would make the perfect garage.

Hell yes. I don't ever need to tow more than a car or a horse, so I don't really need a full size pickup.

The transmission, limited slip differential, electric power steering, traction/stability control, and direct injection system are all Toyota sourced. And lets not forget that Toyota owns a large part of Subaru, Denso, Aisin, and JTEKT which makes up this car.

Any source regarding the electric power steering be Toyota sourced?



Whose car is the chassis based off of?
Who did the prototype testing?
Which engine is the FA20 based off of?
Whose part bin is the suspension from?
Whose part bin are the brakes from?
Whose parts bin are the hubs based from?
Whose factory are the productions cars being built in?
Whose color palate are they using for the paint?

do people argue whether the mother or the father has more of their genes in their child then the other?

... wait ....

No matter how you cut it, this car would not exist without both. 1% of the American population has a significant influence on making America America but America wouldn't exist without the 99%. Even if Subaru did 99% of the car, it wouldn't exist without that other 1%. An exaggeration but it sings the same song.

So something below the Tacoma for the Scion Brand or what? I mean the standard Tacoma cost about $16k base price so that would be hard to do, unless they discontinued the Tacoma, and made the successor a Scion

:threadjacked:

:word:

For christ's sake, guys... Take the fanboi bickering outside.



A true modern-day FJ40 would be great, but there's no way Toyota would put a solid front axle on it. I could definitely see something with IFS, based on a shortened Tacoma chassis and running gear. Minimal overhangs, barebones/waterproof interior, factory rollbar, removable roof and fold-down windshield. Toyota could probably get the price down into the $18K range, which is pretty comfortably in Scion territory.

Does anyone think they're building an enthusiast car that is more entry level than the 86? And any of the Lexus concepts or MR2 Hybrid concept are not part of this joint venture, right?

I think the 86 is as entry level as it gets.

There was some talk from Tada-san about a ~100 hp, ~2000lb two seater. They even had a concept out, about a year before the FT86 MkI. The weird styling is a Yotahachi tribute.

http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/gal...G_0381_001.JPG

a "miata fighter?!" I'll take 2!

Not a thread jack at all. Just stating the obvious in response to Bristecom's post. Subaru took care of the majority of the engineering aspect and Toyota took care of the majority of the exterior design. None of that is fanboyism. Just stating the truth. Only Toyota fanboys who can't handle it get all upset by those simple facts. Facts that can be verified by looking at the actual parts and where they come from.

I have yet to hear a Subaru fan complain that Toyota designed the exterior. All of us know Subaru would have made it ugly if they did it themselves. But mention that Subaru did most of the chassis, engine, suspension design on their own and the Toyota guys come out of nowhere and get all upset and have to defend Tadasan's character for some reason. Double standard if you ask me.

indeed

I don't care either way pop the hood on both, and you see

Toyota
D4S
BOXER
Subaru

That's all I need to know, it's a joint venture, who cares who did what?

Exactly. You know it's going to stir up trouble, so by continuing to rehash it you are consciously and willing causing the thread to be hijacked. Stop.

I agree that it was a joint venture and the final product will speak for itself. You should care about who did what for the design just as much as you care Tadasan was involved in the project. It gives further testament and information regarding the car you want to buy.

I couldn't care less about who actually did what with the BRZ/86/FR-S.

in the brand idea you have made up they do ruin the idea of sport enthusiast, but they don't ruin the brand as it actually is.
IMO they did take a big step down with the 2nd gen xB and more of a lateral move with the xD, but they would never give up the xB, they will most likely always have their quirky 4 door.