R&D head talks about 2019 Toyota Supra, its race car version, BMW-sourced engine

Slowly, bits and pieces about the much anticipated 2019 Supra have come out. Gerald Killmann, Vice President of Research & Development recently spoke about the much awaited revival of the sports car during his interview with AutoRAI, covering a number of topics about the Supra. Here, he revealed several interesting details about the said model.

One thing they learned is that the new Toyota Supra has been developed mostly in Japan, and that Toyota’s European R&D team had a minor contribution. Killmann added that there will be a race car version of the Supra, which is not a big surprise for many, considering the fact that we saw the Gazoo Racing branded concept recently unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.

He then said that the Supra will be sharing the same platform as the BMW Z4, though with a different interior and exterior design. But what really caught our attention during his interview was when he said that the model will be powered by a BMW-sourced engine, though he did not get into more details regarding this. He also said that rumours about a hybrid powertrain believed to be reserved for a range topping version isn’t part of their plan just yet.

When talking about pricing for the fifth generation Supra, the first thing that Toyota’s representative said to AutoRAI is that it will not be a cheap car, adding that there will be a clear difference between that and the more affordable 86. As we know, the 86 starts off at $26,255 in the United States, and it is attainable for many. Meanwhile, the Supra will be having a much higher price tag considering that it is a true performance model, and also so it matches its higher position in the hierarchy.

As a refresher, Toyota has already confirmed that the new Supra will get rid of the manual gearbox, in exchange of a dual clutch automatic. It will also feature a 50:50 weight distribution. The BMW engine will have a biturbo inline six that can carry out as much as 450 horsepower, but at this moment, that has not been confirmed just yet.

For those of you who have been waiting to see the Toyota Supra, you can expect to see the vehicle sometime this fall as it makes its debut at the Paris Motor Show that’s scheduled to take place in October. The Supra will then hit the production like, which will happen in Graz, Austria where Magna Steyr will build the coupe, side by side with the BMW Z4 soft top roadster.

Well, it looks like it won’t be too long before we’ll get a chance to get our hands on the Toyota Supra.