No Manual Tranny For New Supra, Says Project Chief

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The upcoming Toyota Supra is one hotly anticipated car with enthusiasts eagerly lapping up every tidbit about the car that surfaces over the web. The latest byte out of the Japanese carmaker’s secret testing department says that the new Supra is not going to get a manual transmission. 

The new Toyota Supra isn’t out yet and fans and enthusiasts are already at the gates requesting the same features the Supra of old had. Chief among them is the demand for a manual transmission. Putting all speculation to rest, Supra project Chief Engineer declared that the car will send power to the wheels via a dual-clutch gearbox. At the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, Tetsuya Tada straightaway dismissed the possibility of the J29 Supra getting a good old manual tranny.

Tada-San explains that a manual isn’t any good at transferring the torque developed by the engine to the wheels, and it would make the “shifting feel worse.” It isn’t all bad news, however, as Tada-San went on to say that the J29 Supra is more of a ‘pure sports car’ compared to the co-developed BMW Z4, which is badged as a ‘luxury sports car.’ The new Supra is going to get a rear-wheel-drive setup and an inline-six engine capable of a 335-hp output, which makes it more than capable of going toe-to-toe with all the rivals out there playing in the same corner of the automotive field.

According to Tetsuya Tada, the J29 Supra is by no means a revival of the former generation. The project is something new for Toyota, a sports car “that fits the technological advancements of the modern era.” Toyota also showcased a Supra racing concept at Geneva, revealing the company’s plans to compete in the GTE class of the World Endurance Championship.

All things said and done, when is the Supra actually hitting the streets? There is no clear answer to this, but there is a thick possibility of the production car showing its face by late 2018. Perhaps the launch might coincide with the premiere of the 2019 BMW Z4 at the 2018 Paris Motor Show? Only time will tell.