Listen up Toyota... Options

[creamed_corn]

Get up off your conservative butts and make something fun. Right now you're the only car company out there with nothing even remotely sporty in your lineup.

There's a huge HUGE gap in the fun category between the $15,000 tC and the $35,000 IS.

What they need:

-proper two door, rear wheel drive sports car
-starting around $25,500
-2GR-FE plant to the tune of 300-320 horsepower (they'll wanna stay a little bit ahead of the Z and Mustang, knowing them).
-six speed close ratio gearbox, LSD standard, TCS optional
-Keep the weight reasonable at around 3300-3400lbs.
-I'd like to see gas mileage at around 22 city/30 highway. I'm gonna have a hard enough time keeping my foot off the gas as it is.

This is well within their reach and they need to do it. I've been living off my celica for too long. Ever since I got my new job I've been saving my money, just waiting for a car like this. I just can't bring myself to defect to another company, and if this doesn't happen soon, I'm going to be picking up an MR Sypder next summer.

[uberschall]

as much as i love toyota, i can't really hand them the torch for a sportscar. the 7th gen celica was the best they've done in the US market since they axed the supra. and i hate 7th gens.

as much as i'd like to hope that they would build something like the supra concept on the link above, they'll never do it. it's far too hedonistic and expensive. toyota does not do stuff like that anymore. unlike the big three, they don't build cars as an all-or-nothing effort to save their a$$ in these tortured automotive times. (scoff...camaro? charger?) and besides, i'm not in, nor will i be in the near future, the position to buy a car that commands the price i think that car would.

IF they were to do anything...it would make the most sense to use a platform they already have...like the latest IS/altezza platform. the only reason they made THAT rwd, manual trans monstah is because they're interested in pulling sales out from under the germans. competing with ford, chevy, and chrysler is soooo low on their list...i mean, they've already proved that they build better cars. right now the japanese companies are ALL focusing on usurping the germans. and american trucks, but who cares?

anyway, i don't think they need to compete with the likes of the GT-R, either. people who know that they want that car would never buy a toyota instead anyway. that market is fickle...the $50-100K sports-coupe club is also densely poulated with cars you simply can't expect toyota to outdo, namely the porsche cayman, bmw m-coupe, and the corvette (like it or not!). they'd never take that risk.

they SHOULD tackle the sub-35k market though...which is well within their reach. take the IS platform, like i mentioned before.....and finesse it. shorter wheelbase, wider track. two doors. use the same powerplants. no sense tuning them for 10-15 more bhp to differentiate them from the sedans...anyone who wants more power is going to get it themselves anyway. keep the costs down. they could aim squarely for the entry-level sports-coupe segment, where the 350z, crossfire, tt, and 3-series hang out. they could do it.

will they?

probably not.