Quote:
Originally Posted by 86MLR
You brought up the use of the Mini (BMW) = FWD
|
Just like Subaru = AWD. So my BRZ is AWD? Or maybe, just maybe, did Subaru depart from their standard configuration for the joint venture, just like BMW could for an SFR/Superleggera project?
And that still doesn't explain why you mentioned a FWD 86, since neither of the cars I posted have anything to do with the 86 platform.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 86MLR
If they partner with Mini, I assume they will use the Mini platform, hence, FWD.
|
Why would you assume that? Toyota didn't use a Subaru platform for the 86. The two companies developed a new platform. The Superleggera concept was originally intended to be an electric vehicle, which already departs from the current Mini configuration. Meanwhile, the SFR concept was RWD. They're both CONCEPTS, which means they don't necessarily predict what might end up in a production vehicle. Toyota already proved they don't have to just buy someone else's car and rebadge it, since that's not what they did with the 86. If there were a joint project, it would be a new platform developed together, so it wouldn't necessarily follow any of your preconceived biases against Mini.
What I find interesting about them is that they have some stylistic similarities, fit the same market niche, were both being promoted in public around the same time, both seemed like they were on their way to production and both vanished from sight around the same time, which also seems to have coincided with Toyota partnering with BMW for the Supra project. It's not inconceivable that both companies decided to put their tiny sports car projects on hold to see how the Supra venture worked out, with an eye toward birthing another joint venture made up of the best features of both of those concepts if the marriage works.