A couple notable publications haven recently entered the never ending Toyota Supra speculation game, and this time both are saying the car is a go for 2009. We wish it was true, but the fact is the Supra is no closer to production that it was three years ago when all the rumors started.

Sure, there are people within Toyota who would like to see a Supra revival, but it currently sits at the bottom of their priority lists. The performance coupe segment is stagnant with little chance for growth and there’s no way Toyota is about to commit engineering resources to a small volume car with minimal margins. So feel free to speculate, but don’t start saving your money just yet ’cause this coupe isn’t happening

Rumors of the new Supra from Toyota have been circulating from mounths. With the Lexus GT 450 serving as the company’s halo sports car, Toyota would benefit by having a sports car that’s a bit more affordable. Wtih two performance machines in its stable, Toyota would no longer be viewed as simply a producer of reliable and green transportations appliance.

There will be both coupe and convertible version of the car, probably introduced at the same time. The convertible is reported to have a folding hard top and is intented to be more of a boutique car than a serious sport car. The coupe, however, will be just that, eqquiped with a 5 liter V8 engine producing 450 hp and 383 lbs-ft of torque. This engine will not be available in the open-air model because of rigidity issues. It is said that when Toyota started development of the Supra, it was only a convertible hard-top form with 4.3 liter V8. Later in the process, Toyota opted to go with a more powerful engine. But with the additional came extra loads that the convertible couldn’t stand, so the company was forced to create a fixed-roof version of the car.

The Supra’s suspension is one befitting that of a true sport car: upper ad lower A-arms up front and a multilink setup at the rear. No doubt the tuning of the shocks and springs will be different in the V8 and V6 models, but expect both version to be relatively firm.

It is expected the V8 Supra to be priced about 50000$. The more affordable Toyota Supra (40000$) will come with a 3.5 liter V6, the same powerplant used in the Lexus IS 350 and GS 350, but tuned to produce more power: 350 hp and 275 lbs-ft of torque.

Toyota will have a car that’ll eclipse the performance of the Nissan 350Z, Mazda RX-8 and Honda S2000. Look for the Supra to make appearance in October of 2007

there’s no way Toyota is about to commit engineering resources to a small volume car with minimal margins.