Toyota S-FR Concept!!

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by venturaII

I'm gonna bump this again, just because I haven't given up hope... Maybe if Toyota sees that there's still positive chatter, they might reconsider...?

Originally Posted by funwheeldrive

Curse you. I saw this thread bumped and got excited that something got leaked.

Curse you both. I saw this thread bumped and got excited that something got leaked.
Coincidentally, I was looking at SF-R pics earlier today.

[gymratter]

It would slot below the 86

The chief engineer Tetsuya Tada on the Toyota Supra project has been a wealth of information as we impatiently wait for Toyota to fully reveal the sports car. But the latest Toyota sports car tidbits from the engineer don't have to do with the Supra, but rather something unannounced. Tada was asked in a Toyota-conducted interview, "Were you trying to create a big brother for the GT86?"

Tada replied, "Akio [Toyoda] has always said that as a company he would like to have Three Brothers, with the GT86 in the middle and Supra as the big brother." Basically, Toyota is interested in having three sports cars, and a third one would actually probably be slower but more affordable than the 86.

This isn't completely new information. Tada said as much way back in 2013 not long after the 86 was first launched as the GT86 in Japan and Scion FR-S here in the U.S. This was also before the Supra project and name were fully confirmed. But what's interesting about Tada saying this again, now, is that Toyota has had 5 years of experience selling the 86. And despite sluggish sales, at least the company's CEO still sounds game to do yet a third sports car.

So what exactly could this sub-86 be? Well, Toyota had a little sports car concept a few years ago called the S-FR. The name had basically the same meaning as the FR-S name. The S stood for "sports," the F for "front" (as in front-engine), and the R for rear (as in rear-drive). It was a nicely proportioned car and was actually rather adorable with its scowling circular headlights. It also had a six-speed manual transmission and independent rear suspension. Basically it had all the right parts for a sports car. It also was definitely smaller and undoubtedly less potent than the 86. It would fit Tada's description perfectly.

The one thing that would be disappointing is this sub-86 sports car, particularly if it were based on the S-FR concept, is that it might actually be too small for America. The S-FR looked close to the size of a Japanese Kei car, a class of vehicle in Japan designed to fit in a small footprint and capped to 660 cc of displacement. The fact that Honda won't bring its own Kei sports car, the S660, is a sign that something S-FR sized would probably be too small. There's also the question of whether this car Toyota comes up with could actually be made cheaply enough to be sold at a price comfortably below the 86's roughly $27,000. That could be difficult without working off an existing platform to keep costs down.

Still, even if we didn't get it, we will be curious to see what a third Toyota sports car might be. And we're glad to hear that Toyota isn't put off the idea of rolling out more sporty models.

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/07/25/...-car-supra-86/

[rvoll]

Originally Posted by gymratter

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/07/25/...-car-supra-86/

Interesting in light of Tada also recently saying that Toyota has not yet decided to even do a next gen 86.... and yes, there are some comments that they are working on a next gen 86 to be introduced in 2021. I think that probably both statements are true, i.e., they are working on a next gen 86 but corporate has not yet decided to introduce it given the poor current sales.... in 2017 during the first 6 months in the U.S., the 86 sold 3736 cars while this year the sales has dropped to 2275 units. That's a drop of 39% in one year!!! And yes, the MX5 is also seeing a drop, but that's after the big bump they got last couple of years with the introduction of the RF. No matter what the desires of management are, Toyota is a public company that has a responsibility to shareholders to make money and invest wisely. If you are a corporate junkie like me, you actually read the financial reports. Toyota is experiencing a significant unit sales drop and they are only making more money because of value of the yen and cost efficiencies. Their stated emphasis is on the growth new products, specifically electric vehicles. I just can't see any significant development monies going towards a lower cost traditional sports car unless a hybrid option is in the mix.

[gymratter]

this commercial is teasing a date of 20XX.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNR240ZXKgs[/ame]

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by gymratter

this commercial is teasing a date of 20XX.

Even that is two years old.

[why?]

Originally Posted by gymratter

this commercial is teasing a date of 20XX.

that means they have 80 years to get it on sale.

[Captain Snooze]

Dammit! This was not the news I was hoping for. So much anticipation, so much sad.

[SiCaln]

Surey 20XX means 2020? As X in roman numerals means 10?! Therefore 2020 would be MMXX

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Dammit! This was not the news I was hoping for. So much anticipation, so much sad.

LOL Even the forum has been abandoned for almost a year. There wasn't even enough info for the speculation to continue.


http://www.sfrforums.com/forums/foru...ral-S-FR-Forum

[Clipdat]

Why is the car driving itself in the video like tesla autopilot?

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Why is the car driving itself in the video like tesla autopilot?

Why is an old white guy in a Japanese commercial?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Why is an old white guy in a Japanese commercial?

He just wandered on site and drove away. What they don't show is the line of police cars involved in the slow speed chase.

[Psilox]

When is that commercial from? Man I'd love some real updates on the S-FR. Such a cool concept, would love to pick one up and make it a project car (if it's reasonably priced). So small, so agile!

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Psilox

When is that commercial from? Man I'd love some real updates on the S-FR. Such a cool concept, would love to pick one up and make it a project car (if it's reasonably priced). So small, so agile!

2015