Why, toyota, why?

[7thousandpiecesMGTE]

Can anyone tell me why toyota went from having the likes of the MKIV supra, and Mr2 turbo, to having NO real performance machines? I realize their target is the general public but I've pondered why they do not have a single high performance car in their lineup?! Every other car manufacturer, save Kia/hyundai, has a high performance car![/QUOTE]

hyundai does has a performance car (Tiburon) and their new Genesis looks interesting, with a turbo option. Although clearly the modeling is a knock off...


And as far as toyota making a statement..... the only statement they are concerned with is the one sent from the bank, and it is probably not too shabby:sarcasm:

 

[Keros]

And as far as toyota making a statement..... the only statement they are concerned with is the one sent from the bank, and it is probably not too shabby:sarcasm:

I see where you're going... but I think that Toyota is just aware that the reason it dances all the way to the bank is because of their reputation for rediculous, ludicrous, and unreasonably high reliability in a vast majority of their vehicles.

Cheap cars that drive forever and ever and ever.

They recognize that it costs less money to design it right to last long, than to fix it later after someone's bought it.

It's possible that they recognize that keeping this reputation is more important than making the next Supra.

How would other companies have reacted to the 99-05 tacoma frame rust issue? I think Toyota did something completely satisfactory about the problem, and in my opinion, gave their product 105% backing in doing so. I'll stand by a company who does that long before I stand next to a company that can make a fast car. It's been said before that cleetus and his camero can make a pretty fast car...

The Tiberon is a peice of shit anyway. They look not bad, I'll give them that. But I wouldn't give a dime for one, or any other hayundia for that matter.

To gauge the quality of the cars coming from makers, check out the front/side government crash test ratings. It's a fairly good indication of the amount of design and engineering going into the car.

 

[7thousandpiecesMGTE]

Hey Hyundai has come a long way though. Still not in the top tier but not total pieces of shit anymore, I considered the new Sonata... My brother actually bought one and has not had any issues with it yet @ 30k+.

I also think KIA will be headed in a better direction as well after being bought by Hyundai, but time will tell. Maybe they can stop importing them with spare trannies in the trunk?

 

[NgoFcukinWay]

Win the lottery and import them

Don't think I'm not trying. lol

 

[Sil]

The Ford Mustang comes with a V6 for a reason.

There currently is little money to be made by RnDing a true rear drive front engine sports car from Toyota in the 25-35k market right now. The truth of the matter is that to beat an SRT-4 with a rear wheel drive car will cost alot more than $35000 to roll out of the factory.

The 50-70k market is where the real performance sits... and not many people are spending that much money to buy that kind of car. They want economy, luxury, ect. Going too fast around corners is not high on the list of the wants of 85% of new buyers.

Half the reason Ford can build the Mustang in such high volumes, and sell the sportier v8 model in about the same numbers is in the car. The Mustang itself is a very simple car, straight axle rwd, and to be honest, no matter what you domestic haters say is damn good bang for the buck. For 26k brand new you get 300hp out of the box, and if you're really want to hang with the big dogs, companies like Steeda, Roush, Saleen, etc build cars with any imaginable configurations, including IRS'ed stangs. This includes full factory warranty on all of these configurations.

Its standards in the market like this that would make Toyota's entry into this segment an unnecessary risk. All the technology that Toyota would bring to their car in this segment would be great, but it would add unnecessary costs to the platform, something Joe Schmo wants a weekend sports car cruiser isn't looking for. The sports car market isn't big enough for Toyota to be hurting from not getting your 30k you spent on a 350z/Stang/S2k/Rx-8/etc, and unless priorities change and gas goes way down, this isn't going to change in the foreseeable future.