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Toyota and Mazda could team-up to produce new front-engined, rear-drive sports cars powered by inline six-cylinder petrol engines.
Mazda will build a new sports car powered by its new inline six-cylinder petrol engine, if a new overseas report is to be believed.
According to Japan’s Best Car, who does not name its source, the uncovered information points to Mazda ditching a rotary powertrain for its new flagship sports car, and instead opting for what is expected to be a version of the 3.3-litre turbo-petrol straight six already found in models like the CX-60.
Under the bonnet of the CX-60, as well as the platform-sharing CX-70, CX-80, and CX-90, the engine produces 209kW/450Nm, which is sent to all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.
For reference, Mazda’s last sports car hero model, the RX-8 discontinued in 2012, produced 170kW/211Nm from its 1.3-litre rotary engine, while the older RX-7 made use for a twin-turbocharged engine to produce up to 195kW/294Nm in factory form.
Mazda RX-7 Spirit R.
Best Car states the new Mazda sports car will retain the front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout as its RX predecessors, but why is the Japanese brand suddenly gung-ho about a new performance hero?
In fact, the two brands share a production facility Alabama, US that produces the Toyota Corolla Cross and Mazda CX-50.
Toyota’s current, fifth-generation Supra – which shares its engine, platform, gearbox, key interior components, and production line with the BMW Z4 – is in its last year of production with a Final Edition variant to see the model out.
And while global executives have remained tight-lipped on the Supra’s future, Toyota Australia sales and marketing boss Sean Hanley let slip that a new-generation version is coming and likely already under development.
“Let me tell you: Supra as a model, that is not stopping,” Hanley said late last year.
“People always say ‘when’s the new model?’ but the day we launch a new model we start to think about the next one – you’ll have to wait and see when the new one’s coming.
“But I’m tell you now – Supra keeps going.”
2015 Mazda RX-Vision concept
A new Supra – which, currently, in production form is also a front-engined, rear-drive coupe powered by an inline six-cylinder engine – dovetails neatly with the Japanese report about a new Mazda sports car.
With Toyota, the world’s largest car maker by volume, not able to justify the resurrection of its hallowed Supra nameplate without help from BMW, it would make sense for the brand to team up again to amortise the high cost (and low volume potential) of another sports car.
And with Mazda long flirting with the idea of another RX halo, as evidenced by the 2015 RX-Vision concept, the timing seems right for both brands to introduce new sports cars.
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
