JonBoy

RWD + similar power to a Civic Si + similar price = winner for anyone wanting to even moderately mod their car. I hadn't thought of it killing the Civic but I think you make a great point, namely, that the tuner crowd will take this car over a Civic every time, especially if it's boosted. I can't see myself buying the Civic either, especially with a Toyota name attached to this (should help resale and should also mean reliability and longevity).

That said, the Genesis Coupe 2.0T is priced close to a Civic Si and I haven't seen the Si killed yet. We'll have to see how it holds up over time.

hondaBeater

THIS is the Subaruyota



that we all heard about earlier this year. If it can get good gas mileage it has a good chance.

rnye

exb00st

^Was thinking the same thing, but more imbalanced/tail bulbous.

stevoe88

Looks great, but with a 101 wheelbase, That's pretty tiny for a 2 door coupe ... That's about 6inches longer than an S2000. I thought my IS250 was small in terms of wheelbase for a sedan but damn lol. The Hyundai Genesis (which I would think would be ones of its closest rivals) is 111 inches which is 4 inches longer than my 4 door sedan. Hopefully all those numbers are just mere speculation, and I am just making assumptions.

Vik2000

looks promising

urbanglowcam

True but even the Integras/RSX and Celica looked slimmer.

urbanglowcam

You're right. That concept does look like a Mazda. This is why I'm waiting to see what they have in store too. If they decide to use that rotary engine, hopefully the reliability/efficiency will be higher.

xmatt

I agree with you in general (that cars are getting bulky and bulbous), I actually think that car looks pretty damn good side by side with an S2000 considering that it's a 2+2 hatch.

Look at the low-sloping hood -- that's very S2000-like, and I'm sure the Toyota doesn't have the luxury of putting the engine so far back like ours is. I think this is one of the advantages of the Subie boxer engine -- it's pretty flat so you can get a low hood and a low CG.

Then I think the rest of the bulk vs. the S2000 is just the fact that it's a 2+2 hatchback (roofline sweeps all the way to the back and has to stay a bit high for the back seat passengers). I'd like to see a to-scale comparison of the Toyota next to, say, a Genesis coupe. I bet it will make the Hyundai look like a whale.

If they get the price point right and it's around 2800 pounds, this will be the next autocross track star after the Miata and S2000. Compact, low-CG, RWD, and with an engine with huge potential.

liquid_helix136

The MR2 Spyder was a car that could have been a monstrous hit, unfortunately, whoever designed it had no idea what the hell a sports car was supposed to be
The BAD:
A) Ugly
B) Slow
C) Mid engined

This meant, no one wanted it as a sports car because it was ugly and slow, and since it was mid-engined, it has next to zero space for anything, therefore it was very unpractical
The GOOD:
A) RWD
B) Light
C) Mid engined

Now if your gonna make sports car, which they obviously decided to do, making it mid-engined, you need to be smart about it, you dont commit it to a sports car by making it mid engined, and then make it slow and ugly, why on EARTH they put the 1ZZ engine in it is beyond me, they could have slapped the 2ZZ engine in it, just like an Elise, and had a winner (maybe)
If they had redid the front end, and made it attractive, and put the 2ZZ in it, we would have had a winner, a good looking mid engined, 190hp car that weighs under 2200lbs.. not to mention its convertible.. sound like fun anyone? Thats like a sensible Elise, I would have bought one for damn sure..

Now if toyota makes this around 2600lbs, and puts the engine from a WRX or possibly an STI in this baby.. 2.0 turbo flat 4 with RWD AND practicality.. game over.