2020 Supra... first thoughts

RicerX

My gripe with this is the numbers on paper are what are supposed to help drum up the interest on the car itself, especially price. When the 350Z came out, the numbers on the paper were virtually untouched by the competition when you took the whole package into consideration (mainly the price - the car was insanely competitive on all fronts at the time).

There's not a single number on paper that makes your eyes pop in 2019 if you have to consider the price that comes with it. 4.1s to 60... Camaros do that. 320hp? 370Zs have been doing that for about 35 years. $50k price tag on a sports coupe? Porsches do that... this is a Toyota (on paper).

The only thing earth-shattering about the car is the nameplate. That's a problem when the nameplate once signified one of the most iconic Japanese grand tourers to ever exist. This is almost as bad as buying a GT-R emblem from AutoZone and putting it on my Cavalier when I was in high school. IF YOU PRETEND HARD ENOUGH IT'S NOT A CAVALIER, OK?! God, high school sucked.

It's not Japanese. It's not a Toyota. It's not a Supra. It's a BMW Z4 Coupe on loan to the Toyota badge shop... on paper.

On paper, an R35 GT-R was set to scorch the earth in 2009. The performance for the dollar was unheard of. The paper stats of that car were so good, I'm not sure people would have even taken detractors seriously. Turns out the car was pretty good too, whether you like DCTs or not. It performed as advertised, and for some it surpassed even that... So much so that Porsche didn't believe anyone and bought one of their own to test.

The only thing left to figure out about this Supra is, upon driving it, does it drive like a Supra or a BMW? All signs are pointing to the latter. Some people won't care, but the overwhelming majority of their target market will. Should we expect the sales numbers to look a lot like a GT-86? I hope not, because we'll never see sports cars from Japan again if they do. I guarantee you Nissan has been watching, and it's exactly why we still have the Z34 and R35 soldiering on as intended in 2009.

If it does drive like a dream... is it worth $50k? It already seems like a tall order.

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