Interesting article.
Toyota And Mazda Team Up To Develop New MX-5 And GR86 Toyota And Mazda Team Up To Develop New MX-5 And GR86
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There isn’t a good track record here; the Toyota-Subaru partnership ultimately fizzled. And BMW-Toyota Z4/Supra was basically invisible.
For the original GT-86, Subaru did all the important stuff, namely the chassis and powerplant, and Subaru built it. Toyota did the styling and interior. In the second gen, Subaru was pushed into staying on board, and the car was even more Subaru.
While the car sold decently, it never met the hype. Similarly the Z4/Supra.
Given recent Mazda-Toyota collaboration and their 2017 MOU, I’d expect the MX-5 to be substantially Toyota based, rather than the Toyota being Mazda based. And Toyota apparently want to revive their S-FR concept.
The S-FR is distinctly smaller than the MX-5. A Mazda-Toyota collaboration would make sense if Mazda, which it has said before, wants to push the MX-5 more up market (more expensive).
The source of this rumour
This was a strange thing, at a show a few years back, a 2008 MX-5 restyled to look like a S-FR
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A great result if true. That there will be another generation of the MX-5 and the 86 is pretty amazing in the current climate.
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This collab sounds good. I’ve had a few Corolla GT’s, GT4’s and MR2’s they are great cars. It will be interesting to see what materialises..
Had a gt86 for 4 years lovely car to drive, shame the Subaru engine was like chocolate. Hopefully Mazda influences the engine.
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The rx8 was basically a stretched NC chassis, maybe Toyota will do something similar for the NE generation?
Reminds me of another time Mazda collaborated with the MX-5, and how very very well that went.
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And Toyota influences the gearbox and hub carrier bushings!
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Good point. As is the rest of your post 
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“Look out for the new MX-5 and GR86 in mid-2028.”
Can’t wait! 
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Interesting to see how this plays out as Ast says. But perhaps on the Subaru Toyota collab, Toyota were clearly the bigger name, owned 20% of Subaru and were getting a car they wanted. While you feel Subaru just got to slap a change of badge on the car and a slight tweak to roll bars. This time Mazda might be coming from a position of strength based on the MX-5 and its highly developed brand compared to the more niche GT86?
But the models don’t seem like perfect bed fellows to me, as you can’t just switch a badge and call it a Mazda or Toyota, and if its massively different cars will the MX-5 need to get too heavy and comprised, or will the GT86 end up being a bit smaller and compromised?
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the gt86 wasn’t a chonker at 1250kg and is a 2+2 format. Mazda might see this as a way into making a couple rather than a roadster.
Exactly, the Z4 and Supra proved you can share bones but make very different cars.
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I agree you can say that 2 cars of the same size and layout can be built on the same production line and within reason they both work, but the Z4 was always going to be made with or without Toyota, but the Toyota Supra probably wasn’t going to be made if it didn’t have BMW to do it all. The Supra previously sat with its head held high next to skylines of a different era, but what we ended up with was an Austrian Magna Styre built hard top Z4 with last gen BMW parts bin equipment. Its not really a good example in my eyes, I just hope both sides make a great car for themselves and neither gets compromised.
Perhaps I just had high expectations after the Toyota FT1 and thought it was going to be a Porsche Killer.
The GT86 was a great car, I had 2!!
Engine was gruff but loved the rest.
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Bring it on! Can’t wait … but I suspect it’ll be much heavier than an ND
Evo mag take on it
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Shared technology, shared platforms, shared expertise, shared buying power and more to the point the ability to soak up the emission quota over dual brand production as applied under the ZEV mandate…
Toyota have a rich and authentic pedigree in making engaging and exciting cars built for driving and made to last. Toyota and Mazda already shared the Yaris and RAV4 platforms/variants
It’s exciting times and if there’s an option to drop in a non intrusive mild hybrid power train at some point in the future then we’ll enjoy 25yrs of electrified expertise alongside economy/performance and longevity.
Remember this one? Of course you do…. We’ll be in safe hands..
I can see what Evo are saying, but I’m surprised they’re worried that different feel can’t be engineered into cars derived from the same platform, given it’s been happening successfully for half a century. The NC and the RX8 don’t feel the same, but are derived from the same platform. I think they need to give the engineers a bit more credit.