Supra: What's in a Name?

Gaz

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See the blog feature on this - Supra.

The first time I heard that iconic name, I immediately thought of the word 'Super'. I was an unapologetic comic book fan from a young age (still am) so superheroes were already seared into my consciousness, and the connotations were obvious.



A little later in life, I was lucky enoug Read the Full Article Here



Read the Entire Article Here
 

Cooper

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Incredible writing. About time you made a grand return to the RMS blog @Gaz!

And you’re right. Naming by spreadsheet sucks, except when they begin with M. The connection with names is personal and emotional, even though now when I think about it Skyline sounds a bit daft and it was interesting Nissan dropped that well known nomenclature for the big 3 letters.

Exige got a nod, good work!
 
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Woodcutter

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Superb bit of editorial, Gaz.

I've never been a Jap fan like you are, but I have always loved the Supra for some reason, so I really enjoyed that.
 

Gaz

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Thanks chaps. We tend to take car names for granted and never really dwell on them much but it was the recent Supra release that got me thinking about them, and how the name itself - particularly in a long running model - carries a huge amount of weight.
 

Paddy_R

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Incredible writing. About time you made a grand return to the RMS blog @Gaz!

And you’re right. Naming by spreadsheet sucks, except when they begin with M. The connection with names is personal and emotional, even though now when I think about it Skyline sounds a bit daft and it was interesting Nissan dropped that well known nomenclature for the big 3 letters.

Exige got a nod, good work!

Nissan have brought back the Skyline name and you will be disappointed.....

190716-01_inline01.jpg
 

Gaz

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Well slap my thigh and call me Infiniti.

How much damage I wonder have Toyota done to the Supra 'halo' with their BMW one? Maybe it doesn't matter to anyone but us old fogie petrolheads.

It's interesting to note that there has been virtually no negativity from BMW Z4 owners who are pissed off that their Z4 shares components with the new Supra.

It's one-way traffic.

Perhaps because, unlike a similar scenario like the GT86/BRZ, the Supra appears to be using the Z4 very much as the base so it's not a wholly 50-50 split. The GT86 and BRZ also had much less in the way of expectation.
 

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It's interesting to note that there has been virtually no negativity from BMW Z4 owners who are pissed off that their Z4 shares components with the new Supra.

It's one-way traffic.

Perhaps because, unlike a similar scenario like the GT86/BRZ, the Supra appears to be using the Z4 very much as the base so it's not a wholly 50-50 split. The GT86 and BRZ also had much less in the way of expectation.
I would also hazard a guess that your prospective Supra owner (old or new) is quite a different type of buyer to a Z4 owner. Of course I'm not suggesting anything about Z4 owners per se. In case they throw their handbags at me.
 

surprising_skoda

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Nissan have brought back the Skyline name and you will be disappointed.....

I think that's different to the Supra (admittedly not the point you were making, but still) in that the Prince Skyline started out as a family sedan. It never stopped being one either, it was only that we then had models like the GTR and 2000ES offered as a coupe version that the name became more iconic. So Nissan sort of have a right in a way to hold that car to it's roots. Whereas the Supra originated from a 2-door sportscar and evolved into a "supracar", and anything less is a let-down. The MkV would have been a perfectly fine successor to the MkIII. But the MkIV, nope. As @Gaz said, people have in their heads what the new car should be, up there with the GTR, not thrashing it out for sales with the Cayman, and maybe even their own GT86. The Lexus LFA was a better successor than this. A good car it may be, but the name means something. None of this furore would exist if it was called the Toyota Lefanga or the Toyota Velocia. It all stems from it being called the Supra, but not living up to the name. That surely means the name is instrumental in a successive car's success.
What's in a name? Just All the history, expectation, hope and dreams ever associated with every model with the same name since it began.
 

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Great article, I think you’ve really hit the nail right on the head ref the over the top ‘weight of expectation’ etc.

I sold Mk4’s in Neville Johnston’s as it was then, & later Hurst Toyota on Boucher, in fact I was the only “official / trained up” salesperson in NI.

My new Supra arrives in 3 wks or so & I personally couldn’t give a ‘flying fiddler’s you know what’ that it shares a platform & an engine with the Z4.

There are worse 3.0 straight six turbocharged engines & M active diffs to be involved with right?
And few, if any, better?

After all it’s just beaten the 718 Cayman & the M2 Competition in an Autocar road test - all the more remarkable when you remember that Autocar has always LOVED those 2 brands & never been too fond of either Toyota or of Lexus (LFA excluded).

I understand all the purists & dreamers wanting it to be this that & the other, but let’s remember IF it was built on its own brand new platform, had its own brand newly developed engine & diff, its own brand new interior, it wouldn’t just prob cost £80-90k (cue everyone losing their mind about how it’s way to expensive!!), the truth is it just wouldn’t exist at all.!!!!

Nor I believe (according to BMW), would the new Z4.

Accountants & bean counters run the world, & in a shrinking sports car market neither car was really viable on its own, so for me I’m just grateful we now have the new Supra at all....

Roll on Sept!
Richard, at Richard Vance Cars

P.S. I personally just wish they’d called it the new Celica, & stubbed out all the keyboard warriors around the world lol
 
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RichardVance

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Great full road test in Autocar today, 4 star review & generally very good indeed although they are saying there's definitely room for a faster one later!
Think we may see a twin turbo M3 engine get dropped in after a year or 2 of sales, which would be amazing as the chassis is definitely ready to cope well with it :grinning:
Possibly a 4 cylinder, 2.0 version too, to sell at a cheaper price 8-(
 
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acsmyth

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Should have dropped that M3 engine in from the start really, 300 odd BHP really isn't enough for a companies marquee performance car.
 

mcmurray

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Papadakis Racing did a tear down video of the B58. Aiming for 1000hp on the rebuild. With the stock crank.

 

RichardVance

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Yep, I’d have started with the fastest one, & worked down.
But again the accountants will have decided that starting with the middle one will sell the most units long term, leaving room to sell up & sell down later.
It’s a very common strategy, incl with BMW themselves, so the manufacturers must know what they’re doing.
 

Gaz

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The S58 would be a fantastic engine to drop in, particularly in 503bhp guise, and would at least place the Supra performance wise in the segment where many expected it to be first day.

However whilst BMW aren't opposed to engine and platform sharing for many of their bread & butter units, they've always been reticent about sharing the //M car units as they feel it will detract from the unique appeal it offers their own performance cars - even a very low volume and fairly bespoke partner like Morgan (which was unlikely to impinge on BMW's M-car sales or appeal) only got to use the N62 V8 in their Aero models, rather than any M3 or M5 engine. Personally I can't see the S58 ever making it into a Supra and feel that buyers will instead focus on exploiting the tuning ability of the B58 - but I hope that I stand corrected down the line.
 

RichardVance

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Yes, BMW have actually said “it’s possible, but unlikely”.
But we can always hope...
More chance that Toyota themselves will fettle a quicker version down the line.
Just pray they don’t call it a GRMN like they did with the Yaris, which (when said in full) is the cheesiest performance tag ever lol
“Gazoo Racing, Meisters of Nurburgring”🤦🏻‍♂️
 

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Yes, BMW have actually said “it’s possible, but unlikely”.
But we can always hope...
More chance that Toyota themselves will fettle a quicker version down the line.
Just pray they don’t call it a GRMN like they did with the Yaris, which (when said in full) is the cheesiest performance tag ever lol
“Gazoo Racing, Meisters of Nurburgring”🤦🏻‍♂️
'Ring Meister ? :laughing:
 
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