Toyota Supra 2019: Australian conditions key for global suspension tune

Toyota's hotly anticipated new-generation Supra has recently received key input from its Australian division, but will not receive a bespoke tune for any market.

The Supra prototype pictured here has recently spent a week with Toyota’s local evaluation team, with the Australian operation focusing on suspension dynamics. 

There will be no specific states of tune for any market. Tetsuya Tada says to think of the Supra as a

Tetsuya Tada, the Supra's cheif engineer, told CarsGuide this week that Australian evaluation is important because our roads offer “80 per cent” of the driving conditions the world over and Toyota’s Australian tuning operation is “regarded among the best in the world” for suspension and dynamics.

Despite this, Tada confirmed that there will not be a specific Australian version, with new Supras globally sharing a single state of suspension and performance tuning, albeit with input from Toyota’s major divisions all over the world.

This backs up Tada-san’s answer to our question about online fan criticism that the Supra is just a European car with a Toyota badge – saying that the car should instead be thought of as a “global” model, and has not been developed for any specific domestic market. 

The previous-generation 'A80' Supra was discontinued in 2002 and was never officially sold in Australia. A handful made their way down-under via 'grey' importation.

The 2019 'A90' Supra has been co-developed alongside the new BMW Z4 with which it will share a chassis and turbocharged straight-six engine.

The Supra is smaller than it looks, with a shorter wheelbase than the 86.

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Badge-work lays hidden under camouflage stickers.

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There are some seemingly superficial plastic 'vents' strewn in places.

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There's a slick double-bubble roof that's hard to make out from most camo pictures.

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These wing-mirrors are seemingly a BMW part.

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A duck-tailed boot lid acts as the car's rear spoiler.

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Tada has (of course) driven both, but was tight-lipped on how they compare although he did let slip that there's still the possibility of a manual Supra in the future.

The Supra has had a drawn-out development and pre-release period, with Toyota first stirring speculation in 2007 with the Toyota FT-HS concept. 

It will finally shed its camouflage in January at the Detroit motor show.

Are you excited to finally see the Supra without camo? Tell us what you think in the comments below.