I am sure that your engineering expertise is valuable to the project.

Hey man, if you're well versed at handling turds, more power to you

"The first SUV with a straight 6 unit" Hmm. FJ40/60/80? Jeep XJ/TJ/LJ?

Click-bait for sure.

Not even the first Toyota SUV with one. IIRC the FJ40 had straight six

That article was 100% bs . Toyota is not and does not have to go to BMW for input on an SUV. Yes they did need go to bmw for a sport car motor and transmission. Toyota had not had a modern sport in years and it made perfect sense to partner up with BMW instead of spending tons of r & d to develop it 100% internally. Toyota has tons of options for their 6th gen 4 runner and they are all platforms that exist currently within the Toyota corporation. They have been running a 4 cylinder turbo hybrid platform on several of their lexus SUVs. These configurations will allow them to meet any Federal EPA and European emissions for the next 10 years minimum. Toyota like most manufacturers are building hybrid platforms not big v6 or flat 6 platforms. Even the Tundra will be hybrid. I easily can see the next 4 runner and Tundra getting 30+ mpg with the right configuration.

There is a persistent rumor that BMW will sell a re-badged LC300 because BMW has no off-road capable SUVs and wants a model to sell in the middle east and north Asia (Russia). But all of the rumors that have any credibility I've seen all suggest it'll be purely a re-badged Toyota with the possibility of some minor BMW body and interior changes. Basically the reverse of the Supra. But I'm still very skeptical that even those rumors are true. My guess is that if there is any truth in the rumor - it's not the LC300, but the next Prado that might be sold do BMW as a sister model. That would be more realistic. It isn't Toyota's flagship and BMW could at least have one vehicle in the lineup that could go off road.

This whole partnership seems pointless.

Has anyone bought the Supra?

And who in their right mind would buy a badge engineered Prado BMW and think it's a BMW?

What do they even know about BOF 4x4s that they could add to the party and differentiate the Bimmer model from the Toyota?

I'm with you. Just what I've seen in some rumors over the last few years. Neither makes any sense to me.

Why didn't toyota just build a Coupe version of the lexus IS with Toyota's own 3.5L turbo? It's significantly more powerful than BMW's I6. And the platform is already there and ready to go. And it's basically all parts-bin stuff. Should be pretty damn quick as a successor to the Supra name and all Toyota. Follow up in 1-2 years with an awd hybrid with 550 combined hp and ultra quick 0-60. If toyota can't take a $40k IS350 and turn it into a $60k Coupe - then maybe they need to re-evaluate the point of the shared platforms idea.

I think the Supra is outselling the BMW version. Go figure. A real Toyota version would likely sell a lot better. As it stands - I'd be down buying a C8 corvette without thinking twice compared to the new Supra.

Same with BMW. Why wouldn't you buy the Prado? I have no idea. Maybe the BMW dealers are demanding something more capable and it doesn't make sense to build their own, so if they can add something to placate the dealers, then it solves the problem? Just spit balling here as far as coming up with some reason it would make some sort sense.

Or... just taking another shot at an idea - Toyota is going to buy BMW? This is kinda how the Subaru thing started and now a few years later Subaru is officially a sub-brand.

World is changing every day whether we like it or not. Manufacturers are in business to earn profits and will do whatever makes sense to them to earn more profits. As long as Toyota doesn't do anything stupid to mess up their product line the consumers will continue to buy them. There are groups of 'loyalists' like us 4Runner people but our input seems limited on Toyota marketing decisions. Toyota might buy a IL-6 long block from BMW and bring it in house and Toyota-ize it to their needs, who knows?
It costs a ton of $$$ to design a new engine and emission certify it for the world market and if someone else has something close to what you are thinking about, then let's make a deal. Especially if that engine will not be used in the highest selling model(s).
We'll see soon enough what Toyota does, but they're not stupid!

Been going downhill for years now. There's tons of examples. Root cause of most of it is the reigns being handed over to Toyota USA. I don't trust anything coming through the works at this point very much.

Sent from my JSN-L23 using Tapatalk

If said before, then flame away...

but...why cant toyota simply make more, and use the 3.5L V6's that are in the Lexus (and Avalon) vehicles...it makes about 302hp already, it a tried and true engine for them, and its...wait for it...THIERS?!?!?!? Adjust the stroke for a little more torque down long, it may drop to 300 or so hp, and go from there.

BMW...why use them. is the largest earth-bound automaker tired of making autos, and engines, and such?

Transverse mount engine.

Sorry, I'm calling BS on this one. What is the source of the grammatically (horribly) incorrect JPG posted in the supra forums? It looks like it was auto translated from Bulgarian or something?

Pure garbage. No self respecting journalist would publish this nonsensical gibberish.

Toyota uses the 4.0 litre motor because it's inexpensive and reliable. If they cared about performance (which the don't) they would not have detuned it.

The 3.5 in most of the Lexus models that use it is a longitudinal mount