Why Does Everyone Want Toyota to Call Their Z4 Coupe a "Supra?"

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind) 09/24/2016 at 15:56 • Filed to: toyota supra

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I’m just curious, has Toyota confirmed that they have any intentions of calling their BMW-based car a “Supra?” Why would you even want Toyota to call this a Supra? Wouldn’t the initial receptions of the R35 and the new NSX be a hint that perhaps calling this BMW joint project a Supra could be a pretty horrific and lavishly stupid idea?

Is the car even in a high enough class to be called a Supra anymore? I mean the GT-R had the performance to back up the legacy but I remember a lot of reservations towards placing it firmly into the lineage. The NSX is a phenomenal performance car for a 2012 model but really would have been better off with any name other than NSX.

I’m just saying, looking at the LC500, I feel like Toyota could use that platform to make a supercar in league with the next GT-R and whatever Acura does to salvage the NSX mess. Let’s face it, Supra is no longer a Z car competitor. It’s the name of the top performance Toyota.

Whatever this...project is it needs a different name. SF-R, the 98, Craig! Im fine with anything but Supra for a little touring car. My goodness would Celica be amazing! But I’m weird like that. Don’t you dare say “Celica Supra” or I’ll track you down and hit you with a bag of oranges.

Do you all really want a Z4/Supra successor? Does that sound right to you knowing that this car was developed as a convertible turned coupe? That Toyota would be introducing a new engine that you know will be the turbo V6 Lexus ends up using in the IS/RX/GS/RC and any hybrids? Ya’ll kewl wit all dat?!!

Honeybunchesofgoats > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 16:04

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They should just call it “Car that isn’t priced at $20k, so no one on the Jalopnik FP is going to buy it, but everyone will bitch that it’s too expensive ‘unlike the original,’ even though the original was also expensive and HoneyBunchesofGoats is going to have to endure this boring argument every single time the car is mentioned.”

bob and john > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 16:10

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the supra was originally a touring car too though. more of a GT then a track rat.

Wobbles the Mind > Honeybunchesofgoats 09/24/2016 at 16:14

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In the mid 90s the average new car purchase was like $16,000. If I remember correctly the 300ZX was in the $30k range, Supra was in the $40k range, and the NSX was nearly $70k. Average new car purchase is around $32,000 now so double all those ranges and add the inflation adjustment. Everything is as expensive as they always have been.

Wobbles the Mind > bob and john 09/24/2016 at 16:21

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It was a touring car much the way a current GT350 is a touring car though. I should have said a “tourist” car.

bob and john > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 16:25

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The Toyota Supra is a sports car / grand tourer that was produced by Toyota Motor Corporation from 1978 to 2002.

taken straight from the wiki page

LongbowMkII > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 16:26

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The supra is nothing like the GT350.

At all.

LongbowMkII > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 16:27

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The 370Z is still 30k.

Wobbles the Mind > bob and john 09/24/2016 at 16:33

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Is the current Mustang not a sports car/grand tourer? The Supra has to weigh the same thing as the current Camaro and Mustang variants. Or am I just remembering the car differently? That grey area between sports car and grand touring car which is pretty much pony car now, no?

MultiplaOrgasms > LongbowMkII 09/24/2016 at 16:37

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Relative to the Z32 TT the Z34 is comparatively low-tech.

Wobbles the Mind > LongbowMkII 09/24/2016 at 16:38

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Really, because it seems like the GT350 or, even more so, the current Camaro is pretty much the same market and hype as the Supra was in the 90s. Someone give me dimensions between the current Camaro and a Supra because I swear my memory says the Supra was right on the current pony cars. But I’m going off nostalgic feels, not facts.

Wobbles the Mind > MultiplaOrgasms 09/24/2016 at 16:39

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Way lower tech, a Dodge Stealth looks like a current 911 by comparison.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 16:43

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The supra started out as an upgraded celica it wasn’t always a monster

Wobbles the Mind > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 09/24/2016 at 16:45

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Which is why I say call it Celica since it obviously won’t be the monster we keep saying we want to return.

DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 16:49

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I think the Supra name would still be a good choice. From what I’ve heard the mk 3 was a luxury/performance car not all out performance. IIRC the mk 4 was priced higher than a Corvette, or similar. So a premium car developed with BMW would seem pretty fitting to me.

Edit: Don’t forget they still have the GT-86/FR-S to be the poor mans sports car.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 16:50

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No rename the FRS the Celica

Wobbles the Mind > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 09/24/2016 at 16:53

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I thought they already named it after a Corolla though?

jimz > LongbowMkII 09/24/2016 at 16:53

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the 370z is also no longer the performance car the 90s 300ZX was. in 1990, the twin turbo 300ZX blew the doors off of anything Detroit had save maybe the Corvette. the 2016 Z is basically in V6 Mustang territory.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 16:55

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In Japan yes the GT86 here it has a stupid name and the GT86 was called the Corrolla it wasn’t referred to as the GT86 until the drifting JDM scene started in the mid 90s.

bob and john > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 18:14

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nope. mustang is a muscle car.

pony car is weak muscle car.

Birddog > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 18:33

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Except median houshold income hasn’t doubled since then.

Conan > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 20:48

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Nostalgia, the Fast and the Furious, their normally terrible other model names.

TheHondaBro > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 09/24/2016 at 21:03

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It’s going to be called 86 here. The GT86/86 name refers to the AE86 Corolla that gained popularity with the tuner/drifter crowd. Toyota’s goal was to then build a car that’s easy to slide and give it a name with 86 in it. The GT86 isn’t the Celica. If you want to be depressed, the Scion tC is the Celica.

TheHondaBro > bob and john 09/24/2016 at 21:05

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1964: Ford introduces the Mustang at the New York World’s Fair. It becomes an instant hit and an icon that alters the automotive landscape, giving rise to one of the most successful — and most uniquely American — automobile genres: the pony car.

...

The pony car is easy to define. It was small by Detroit standards, with sporty styling. It had a back seat for your kids and a usable trunk for your stuff. And the rear wheels were driven by an engine —ideally a big V-8 — mounted up front where God and Henry Ford intended.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140101072225/http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2009/04/dayintech_0417

TheHondaBro > Honeybunchesofgoats 09/24/2016 at 21:06

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But how much will the “Car that isn’t priced at $20k, so no one on the Jalopnik FP is going to buy it, but everyone will bitch that it’s too expensive ‘unlike the original,’ even though the original was also expensive and HoneyBunchesofGoats is going to have to endure this boring argument every single time the car is mentioned GT ” be?

NJAnon > Wobbles the Mind 09/24/2016 at 21:19

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If people have started calling their Z4's Supra’s instead, then they have some strong mental psychological & mental issues they need to resolve. :P

(They are either referencing a car that BMW has nothing to do with, or referencing a car that we don’t even know what the end result will be)

wafflesnfalafel > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 09/24/2016 at 22:27

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or call it the SRS, or maybe CRS, since they seem to like three letter names currently...

6Cylinder > Wobbles the Mind 09/25/2016 at 01:45

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Toyota needs to fuck off with this BMW partnership. What does BMW have to offer Toyota that they don’t already have?

Where is the pride Toyota, where is the pride?!

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > My X-type is too a real Jaguar 09/25/2016 at 10:00

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Punctuation; It helps. Also I don’t think the GT86 was called a Corolla anywhere.

LongbowMkII > Wobbles the Mind 09/25/2016 at 10:03

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The supra has always been the softest of the Japanese GT cars.

LongbowMkII > 6Cylinder 09/25/2016 at 10:08

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Toyota nor BMW want to risk the whole development cost for a project like this. There’s a very good chance the Z5/Supra will bomb.

Roadster Man > Wobbles the Mind 09/25/2016 at 11:44

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Certainly in spirit with the “86"

Milky > 6Cylinder 09/25/2016 at 15:57

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Rear wheel drive is what BMW has to offer.

samssun > Wobbles the Mind 09/25/2016 at 19:20

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The guys with old Supras want the new car called Supra so their cars double in value. The guys without Supras want the new car called Supra so they can talk about how much they prefer the E30 Supra because it’s so pure and analog and [insert cliche].

A few old Supra owners will trade up, but most of the new buyers won’t care what it’s called.

Charles Spratlin > 6Cylinder 09/25/2016 at 21:32

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a longer and more storied performance car heritage without any gaps in performance production?

Toyota has abandoned the Enthusiast, let them die. buy american

Charles Spratlin > DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time 09/25/2016 at 21:33

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IIRC the mk 4 was priced higher than a Corvette, or similar.
its part of what killed off the Supra in the states, it got way too damned expensive.

Nauraushaun > Wobbles the Mind 09/26/2016 at 07:57

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They could call it what they like. If it came back as a similar car to the old Supra and only a little bit faster, I’d be very happy. So long as it was priced accordingly.

I think we need to get past the idea of “this sports car hasn’t evolved into a proper supercar, it may as well not exist”