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Old 08-20-2013, 06:05 AM   #31
Deslock
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The Drive article is sensationalistic. It went from:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tada
I hope to make an engine upgrade at least one time with this car
to claiming that increased performance "will definitely make it to production when the 86 receives its mid-life upgrade in 2015."

As far as the claim that Toyota might be "potentially dropping the boxer engine altogether" goes, Tada's exact quote is:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tada
The boxer [engine] has benefit for low centre of gravity, but [we will develop the] concept for the next generation car first and then we will look at best possible options to fit
At least Drive put in the word "potentially" before the word "dropping", but it's still a bit misleading.

As far as a hybrid goes, Drive somehow got from:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tada
We [have] already tried all possibilities and there are several types of 86 prototypes at the Toyota proving ground now; one is a turbocharger, one is bigger displacement and [the other is a] special hybrid system.

All possibilities are being considered.
to claiming "it is almost certain the hybrid system Toyota is currently working on will make its way into the next-generation 86".

And the best has to be Drive's claim (without any sort of supporting quote) that this supposed next generation 86 hybrid "is unlikely to be a conventional, and heavy, battery pack but rather a road-going development of the super capacitor system".

Uhuh. Super capacitors have been discussed for cars since the Honda JVX concept in the 1990s. They're still expensive, discharge quickly, and have poor energy density... it'll be a while before they filter down from Toyota's Le Mans program to a reasonably priced production car like the FT86.
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