Toyota ponders new supercar

One of most impressive Japanese sports cars ever created has to be the Toyota Supra. With it's twin-turbocharged, 3.0-litre, 6-cylinder inline engine, it's sleek lines, it's wide, road hugging body and massive rear wing, the Supra is an impressive car.

Though never released in Australia, you will see a few driving around the major capitals, the Supra retains Toyota's reliability and creature comforts, without sacrificing performance - how does 0-100km/h from standstill in 5.1 seconds sound?

Despite Toyota's reluctance to bring the sportscar to local Australian markets, the Supra hasn't had a major update since 1992. Sure, they've added new xenon headlights, a new spoiler and variable valve timing, but the car hasn't changed dramatically for almost a decade.

When we caught sight of Toyota's latest prototype, codenamed the FXS (Future Experimental Sports), naturally we we're quite excited.

The rumour is that this could be the platform for the next-generation Supra, but this we doubt.

More likely is this scenario: Next year Toyota enters Formula One racing with its own 3.0-litre, V10 car, plus Mika Salo and Allan McNish behind the wheel. With the advent of its entry and, hopefully some podium finishes, Toyota will more likely release a new road-going sportscar to celebrate its F1 triumphs.

Now, the FXS could be such a car, or at least the early signs that Toyota is considering such a move. But enough speculation, let's look at the Future Experimental Sports.

The two-seater sports a truly curvaceous body, with large 18-inch alloys, tucked neatly into the spacious wheel arches. The tail-light is a bit Knight-Rider-ish, but that's offset by the lovely chrome twin exhaust system.

The front-end doesn't have quite the same impact as the rest of the car, with its rather odd nose and conceptual pin-stripe headlights. With leather seats and surrounds complemented by plenty of chrome, the interior is lit up with lots of blue back-lights, giving the cockpit a modernistic look and feel.

The FXS is an open-top sportscar at this stage, but a hardtop version is almost guaranteed. The rear-wheel drive, low-slung sportster will is using a similar powerplant to the Lexus SC430 (aka Toyota Soarer in Asia), but this could change for the final specification.

The naturally aspirated 4.3-litre V8 (believed to be quad-cam) is one of Toyota's biggest engines and it certainly packs a punch. It is expected to endow the FXS with a fairly impressive 230kW, or about 310 old-school ponies (bhp). Maximum kilowattage is attained at just under 8000rpm, testament to Toyota's engineering prowess. Such revolutions in a V8 engine are almost unheard of. The V8 engine will see the FXS accelerate to 100km/h in roughly 4.8 seconds and top is rated at just under 300km/h.

For now, this car is purely a prototype, but if Toyota's first F1 season is a success, you can expect limited editions of the new sportster to be released. We wouldn't like to put a price on the car, suffice to say it would fetch six figures.

It will be an interesting Formula One season in 2002, for numerous reasons. Toyota fans should keep a close eye on the Panasonic Toyota F1 car in 2002 and it's great to see Toyota going for something a little left-of-centre. Japan's #1 carmaker considering introducing newer, more powerful models is a positive sign. The new FXS test bed is a solid indication of things to come and - who knows? - maybe we'll even see a new FXS-inspired Supra over here in a few years.