2009 Toyota Supra

The concept was pretty awesome- though that's not the most flattering picture, I do want it to come back, and look like the FT-HS.

One thing I'm getting tired of is the hybrid, though... over at Toyota, it seems to be a bit of a cliché...

There is no even one Hybrid Sports Car out there yet, then you are tired of hybrid already (long before the first German hybrid will be born)?

Well, there's "hybrid" this, "hybrid" that, everywhere. Why do you take such offense? My opinions aren't facts, they're my opinions.

And would you really want a hybrid sports car? That would be a bit disgraceful to the Supra. I hope they have an internal combustion engine as an option, at least.

I agree with you, S4. Hybrids are overrated. That's one thing I don't like about Toyota/Lexus...they make everything into a hybrid. The only advantage of a hybrid is the extra power, so hopefully, that's what the Supra will have if it does have a hybrid version.

The Germans have had hybrids since 1906.

Hybrids make sense. On the highways petrol engines do the least damage to the environment. Electric engine makes sense for stop and go driving as there is no emissions. By now we should all know that the electric engine function is not used when traveling at highway speeds. From a performance perspective..the gasoline engine is available when sporty driving is desired. Most of us prefer the petrol engine when it comes to performance anyway. Nothing worse than a car with performance and none of the visceral feedback!.

Knowing people on this site I should elaborate further on my post above. Hybrids make sense for mass produced vehicles as these are the largest contributors to C02 emissions. It would blasphemous I think to put a Hybrid engine in say a Ferrari or Lamborghini or any other car of this caliber as these cars are, I feel, are exceptions. I would never hope for the complete extinction of petrol engines as they provide much more of the visceral feedback that I mentioned. To prove a point. Run an Enzo on a 1/4 mile track and run a car that is totally electric. It's very possible the electric car may match or beat the Enzo...but realistically...which is more exciting to drive. If you've never sat in a Ferrari and listen to the howl behind your ears you could never honestly answer that question. I'm sure there are those out there that would'nt mind a car that can run 0-60 in 3.5s while sounding like...well...nothing!

You can still hear beautiful sounds of v6 or v8 when you gun it, but you won't wake up your family and your neighbors at midnights when coming home.

I agree with Gogo.

German fans will stick this "hybrids=devil" thing out until the day they die huh? Either that day or the day Car and Driver praises a hybrid from Germany...

"The concept was pretty awesome- though that's not the most flattering picture, I do want it to come back, and look like the FT-HS."

Those are MY words. Why is it that, if I say anything derogatory about Toyota or something relating to the brand, the part of my post that you'd probably agree with suddenly fades away?

"German fans will stick this "hybrids=devil" thing out until the day they die huh? Either that day or the day Car and Driver praises a hybrid from Germany..."

These were MY words, and I'm sticking by them regardless of what your paranoid, self-centered mind wants to believe.

I personally would fear the day BMW offers all their higher performance models as hybrids, but I know they wouldn't do that.

I feel Toyota & especially Lexus should only offer an optional hybrid with their sedans & trucks. The IS350 is my favourite Lexus because it's got the best engine in their line-up, a screaming V6 that's powerful on it's own.

It's in my head I know, but others do have this issue, the fact it's hard to wrap you're mind around a performance hybrid like it is a straight petrol engine. If my 650i were a hybrid, I wouldn't be driving it, remember sports cars & GT's are the opposite of econo-cars.

So hybrids are great in luxury car's, they're quiet & smooth which complements the RX-H, GS-H, & the LS-H wonderfully. However when it comes to sports cars, Toyota/Lexus needs to take more of an IS350 approach, raw power & a soundtrack to complement a SPORTS CAR.

If this was predicted by AutoExpress, then forget about it. For the past 4 years they have been predicting a Supra.

Also, I hope the bumpers are remodeled. and it's built on the IS platform.

Obviously the Toyota guys don't agree with a word I said because Toyota apparently never does any wrong.

So let me get this straight Toyota fans...You'd prefer Toyota/Lexus to focus more on the fuel economy of their future sport cars as opposed to the performance? Is that correct? Should they not keep hybrids out of their true sport cars like the IS-F?

A ground-breaking sports car should have both fuel-economy and performance.
Hence the hybrid-system....

And oh, the IS-F is NOT a sports car. It's a sporty sedan to compete against C-AMG and RS4.

Of course the RS4 & the IS-F are sports cars, the RS4 only comes with a manual transmission & it outpreforms a hand-full of other sport cars on the road. Just because it has 4 door's doesn't mean it isn't a sports car.

That said a ground breaking sports car should be ground-breaking in performance & design, & not compromise performance for fuel economy. There is no arguing the fact that a hybrid adds weight & isn't the most practical set-up for a sports car.

I'm not bashing Lexus or Toyota at all here, but do you not agree that they should keep there hybrid technology for their vehicles that best suit it? I'd like to see them do it, I'm just discussing cars here, why does everything on this site have to be taken as a flame war.

Well Rob, the IS-F with an automatic is only a 'sporty' car. Not a real sprots car. Look at an RX-7 and you'll see what I mean.

Yes, agreed that hybrid does sacrifice performance a bit, but Toyota's point was to do something differently from the others. The hybrid will ensure that.

"I'm just discussing cars here, why does everything on this site have to be taken as a flame war. "

My sincerest appologies. Next time I will try not to bash fellow auto-enthusiasts.

drop in the tundra 5.7 v8, which toyota is doing to many models, and you've got a darn good supra descendent. keep the hybrid drive train and you've got a sporty 2 door prius varient. just like someone here suggested, have one as an option and toy can keep its green credentials.

Hybrids are the future, even for performance cars. If you can "buffer", like a capacitor, the output of an otherwise smaller engine, you can store enough for bursts to accellerate you at blistering speeds without having nearly as much engine requirements, or transmission problems. This means far better gas mileage, but extremely fast 0-60 times.

This is like winding up a wind up toy slowly with a small engine, then all at once sling shotting you. While you slow down or coast, the spring gets wound again slowly, building a reserve up for the next blast off. May not work so well on a track which needs more power more often, but for the street ride, all that's needed.

the last generation supra is still one of the most beautiful cars on the road possibly even rivaling the design of pinanfarina including the stallion & bull. with the minor mods to the body kit and its a monster. art on wheels.

hope toyota will be able to surpass that masterpiece.

...

if the Tesla can perform as claimed with just an electric motor, why should a hybrid with powerful electric motors AND a potent gas engine not be viable?

people are denigrating this just because they love to bash toyotas, and especially hybrids. even more so, when the product promises SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE along with superior fuel efficiency.

SuprNeverBack: "You can still hear beautiful sounds of v6 or v8 when you gun it, but you won't wake up your family and your neighbors at midnights when coming home."


precisely.

with the QUIET POWER possible and widely available these days, i get ESPECIALLY ANNOYED by LOUD exhausts, whether from a modified car or pickup or a harley.

MY bike is faster than ANY STOCK (and many a modified) harley, and yet is FAR quieter. it's quiet enuff that bystanders actually hear it a little more than i do; yet when i bring the revs up (rarely more than necessary) i can enjoy the v4 music too.

to all the drivers of LOUD vehicles: i hope you enjoy your hearing loss, even when you're still a young geezer!

what type of bike do u have with a v4? the only v4s im aware of are the motogp honda rc212v in addition to the vf line (older gen) & a couple of older gen cruisers. they are of a limited application.

if u mean ducati, they are v-twin which is far different than a v4.

it's a 1995 honda magna v4.

yep, it's "just" a cruiser, but so are most harleys. mine just happens to be a FASTER cruiser, with a far more sophisticated engine.

i have a sportbike too, but that's OVERKILL. in my dotage, i'm satisfied just trundling along on a cruiser which is STILL FAST (except on turns).