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Nark
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Cabramatta, NSW
Registered:
May 2002

Re: Who said Toyota Australia are boring?

Mon, 01 March 2004 10:14

Shraka wrote on Mon, 01 March 2004 02:54

Right so we have a RWD set up to start with. The car needs to be prices down near the 25,000 mark for anyone under 20 to have the money for one. So we need a nice cheap but powerful and reliable engine. How about a 3S-GE? I know it's old, but it's been proven to be good and it's cheap! Lets see if we can't get 150kw and 204nm out of that (can't be hard).
So now we have a 3S-GE RWD car. VVTL-i would bring the price up a bit, but I think it's a must. So we chuck that in to give us a bit more power to play with. A sports car of this kind wouldn't be complete without a turbocharger, but lets make that an option shall we? To make it cheaper and better for power we need to make it light weight. Some simple design in the cabin, 2+2 seating, 2-door coupe design and let's see if we can't keep it under 1,200kg. Power options should be simple and split up across three models, the basic, extras, and turbo model. As it seems to resemble one, lets call it the Sprinter.

Your logic ignores reality. There's no way they could put that much development work into a car like that and sell it for that cheap.

I think if you were to create a new car aimed at the low sports market, you'd have to start with market research.
A quick search using http://drive.com.au/ between the $25k-$30k price range brings up these competitors:
Ford Focus 2.0 Zetec: 96kW 9.6s $28,560
Holden Astra 2.2 SRi: 108kW $28,990
Honda Civic 1.7 Vi: 96kW $25,950
Mazda3 2.3 SP23: 115kW $29,990
Mazda6 2.3 Limited: 120kW $28,920
Mitsubishi Lancer 2.0 VR-X: 92kW $26,990
Peugeot 206 2.0 GTi: 100kW $29,990
Subaru Impreza 2.0 RX: 92kW $28,590
Toyota Corolla 1.8 Sportivo: 141kW $29,990

As you can see, in that segment, they already have a car that's totally kick arse.
Another thing you'll notice is that all these cars are developments of standard platforms. At this price range, you will only make money if there is very, very, very little development work involved. That means using an existing platform.
The other problem is that that don't want to steal the thunder of the Corolla Sportivo.

Considering the cheapest RWD platform they have is the IS200, I would bet that any RWD they make would probably have to slot between the Corolla Sportivo and the Celica. It also can't be too close to the $40k mark where the RWD MX-5, MR2, and XR6 Turbo live...
Plus there's also the Clio Sport and Astra Turbo to contend with.

There's also the problem of what existing non-turbo (insurance reasons) RWD engine can be slotted in cheaply?
The 1G-FE out of the IS200 is probably the most logical place to start. It can make up for the fact that it's slightly underpowered (compared to some competition) by the fact that it's a cheap RWD sportscar.
If they can make it light enough to say challenge a V6 DunnyDoor, then you may have a winner.
Considering DunnyDoors start at $31,970, I'd be aiming at that price.
Oh, and Toyota will have to be a bit more bold with their styling to catch the youth market.

Having said all of that, it's a HUGE risk because development will cost a substantial amount of money and they run the risk of eating into the sales of the Corolla Sportivo, Celica, MR2, and IS200.
If I was Toyota, I certainly wouldn't do it. Smile

It could end up a cult car, but it might also cost a lot of money for no reason.

Another possibility is a bare bones MR2 with a roof and a manual. But I can't see it dropping down much from the $50k that it currently sits on... Well not the $15k that it needs to... There's not much in an MR2 to start with...

So... We're stuck. Smile

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