AQA101

No, the Volta looks clearly different:



What I'm wondering is: Why would Toyota would test a car in Germany (the plates on the car are german)?

Ike

Nuburgring, the proving ground for just about every great car in the world...

m477

It looks like an FR car (as opposed to the rumored Mid-engined supercar) so I'm guessing this is the 350Z/Boxster fighter? (ie MKV Supra)

m477

Wow, Supraforms has become THE hangout for the 15-year-old Fast 'n Furious types. I'm sorry but it just cracks me up to hear someone repeat a rumor that was in Road & Track last year preceded by "My inside sources in Japan and elsewhere tell me..."

T.T.

Maybe they're planning to battle against the new Skyline coming here....

Rxdriftingaction

who will buy a 6sig figs j-car?! 100,000?! obviously not j-car.. no ..never!!

Hanzo

Take a closer look at the rear deck, it's a mid-engined car. The rear has vents for heat extraction.

m477

Yeah, I noticed that when I first saw the pics. Also, there is a hole in the masking behind that makes it look like it could be for an air intake if the car was mid-engined.



However, looking at the profile, the proportions of the car make it impossible for it to be mid-engined. Look how little room there is between the door and a rear axle -- there's simply no room to put an engine there, especially since the mid-engined supercar is supposed to have a V-10. (well, maybe they could fit a V-2 into that space. LOL) The only way to have the engine behind the driver would be a rear engine setup, but I don't see any reason for Toyota to make an RR car, and there's that long hood up front, so I'm sticking with FR as the most logical explanation.

GiN

That looks like a viable successor to the Supra. That picture might cause the car to look a bit shorter than it really is. I don't think it's impossible to have that car in MR V10 trim. Ferraris do it all the time, don't they? Anyone else notice the gnarly-lookin exhaust?

cgrx

New Supra ?

m477

Your pictures are only proving my point. The two cars are at about the same angle, but with the Ferrari there is a lot of space bewteen the passenger compartment and the rear axle; in the Toyota that space is tiny.

Feras

iTrader: (1)

frankly i think you can see the engine in the rear window there... that front is pretty big, but look at a porsche 911, they have big fronts too.

AbusiveWombat

I think m477 is right. You would need a bit more room between the passenger space and rear axle for a mid engine sports car. I think what you're seeing in the rear window could be test/monitoring equipment.

My prediction is that this is the next Supra. For some reason I don't think Toyota would build a 6 figure car when the current 30k sports car segment seems pretty hot. In the past Toyota has always followed which isn't a bad idea when commiting millions of dollars a new segment. This way the competition takes the risk of testing the market. It also give Toyota insight into what it will be needed to trump the competition.

wakeech

there's absolutely no way in hell there's an engine in the back.

6 figures is too much for any sports car these days unless you're buying it for the name (911, Ferrari, etc). somewhere between $40-50 k, 'cause i expect Toyota won't dick around and is really gonna have an *** whooper in whatever they decide to call this.

Outlaws eXtreme

It's not entirely impossible for Toyota to release this as a 100k car though... considering the Honda NSX is going to reach about that...90-100k. Watch Subaru put out a 100k, Suzuki with 100k, Kia with a 100k, (Ok, maybe not the last two...)

But for 100k+, I'd rather spend it on US Muscle cars (Viper, Ford GT, etc) or Euro (Porsche, Ferrari) like wakeech said.

Feras

iTrader: (1)

id call a viper a muscle car, but a ford GT is a bonafide out of the box racing car....obviously a viper GTS is also of racecar caliber.

Feras

iTrader: (1)

why oh why doesnt anyone bring an infrared camera with them to spy on cars with!!!

Ike

If it outperforms other cars in its class I don't really care who makes it, save for maybe Kia and Suzuki

Hanzo

Trust me, it's a mid engine car. You will see when it's released. Toyota stated that after an F1 success they would bring out a super car "Not a Supra". They are going to bring back the supra but whether or not it's going to be called a supra it's a different story.

The engine could be longitudinal mounted, who said it has to point to the rear like a F50?

GiN

From the pictures it looks like the motor would extend past the rear axle. Perhaps they're using a really compact sequential shift gearbox with a v-drive heading out to the rear and coming back to the diff?

AbusiveWombat

The problem with bringing a super car ($100k+) is that there's no market. How many of us can really buy a 100k sports car. You might sell 1000 if you're lucky. Now you look at the current $30k sports car market and it seems to be booming: 350z, G35, RX8, EVO, STi, S2000, VW R32, GTO. There's only one major manufacturer missing: Toyota. Toyota is a smart company and it would be a better move for them to develope a 350z fighter than a 100k sports car. A 30k sports car might sell between 10-20 times more vehicles than a 100k exotic.