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Toyota's chief engineer wants the Supra name back

There's no guarantee that Toyota's forthcoming sports car will revive the Supra name. For all we know, it could be some senseless alphanumeric. But there's at least one powerful voice among Toyota's developers pushing for a new Supra – Global Chief Designer Tetsuya Tada. Tada-san, a died-in-the-wool sportscar enthusiast known as the father of the Toyota 86, is fighting for the iconic nameplate. He told Australia's CarAdvice, "I love the Supra and I love the Supra name. It's historically important to Toyota. We're pushing for the name Supra for the new car we are developing with BMW." This is a good thing. There are too many brands willing to throw away prestigious vehicle names in favor of trendy but less endearing alphanumerics. We hope Toyota follows Tada-san's advice and brings the Supra name back. Besides sending enthusiasts around the globe into a fit of chop licking by merely mentioning the Supra name, Tada-san also gave a few insights about how work on the car, which Toyota is developing alongside BMW, is going. "I'd say the partnership is going well, very smooth," Tada-san told CarAdvice. But despite the cooperation between the two very different brands, the resulting vehicles should be unique, which is something Toyota's engineering boss supports. CarAdvice sees this as further support for rumors that Toyota's variant of the jointly developed car will lean more towards performance, potentially with a twin-turbocharged Lexus V6. The BMW version, supposedly called the Z5, will hew more towards a grand tourer's roll, succeeding the current Z4 and combatting the new Audi TT and Mercedes-Benz SLC. CarAdvice expects the Z5 to debut first, likely later next year, while the Supra probably won't show up until 2018. Related Video: News Source: CarAdvice BMW Toyota Coupe Performance bmw z5 tetsuya tada

Toyota takes i-Road tests to the streets of Tokyo

OK, here's where we think those road tests will start to get a little scary. Those super-narrow all-electric three-wheeled Toyota i-Road vehicles may have looked great sashaying through the towns of the French Riviera. But now? They're being tested in Tokyo. Hoo boy. The Japanese automaker says it'll start testing the i-Roads in the country's largest city on March 24 and will do so through early June. And while there will be some industry experts among the 20 participants, there will also be some regular folks who we hope won't find out the hard way how well those 660-pound, one-yard-wide vehicles perform in crash tests. In the meantime, we'll cross our fingers. The cool thing is that the i-Road now comes in five colors: blue, green, white, yellow and what looks like a magenta-fuchsia-type hue. Earlier this month, Toyota said it started testing the vehicles in Toyota City, Japan, as part of a broader program called "Ha:mo" where people link shared vehicles with public transportation systems (it stands for "Harmonious Mobility Network"). The three-wheeler was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show early last year before getting the star treatment in a French Riviera-locale video. Check out Toyota's press release below and read our impressions of driving the i-Road here.

2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata battles Toyota GT86 on track

It's got two doors and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine up front, driving the rear wheels. It's made in Japan, and as far as bang-for-your-buck goes, it's a downright bargain. So which are we talking about, the Mazda MX-5 Miata, or the Toyobaru coupe known alternately as the Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S, or Toyota GT-86? The answer is "yes," and it just goes to show, roofs notwithstanding, how close these two vehicles really are to one another. Which one is your favorite may come down to a matter of personal taste, but for its latest video, Auto Express set out to find out which laps faster around the track. On paper at least, the Toyota's 200 horsepower will trump the Mazda's 155 any day of the week, and twice on Sunday. Then again, the Miata does weigh a good 400 pounds less, even with the 2.0-liter engine and despite its convertible bodystyle – but is that enough to make up the difference? You're going to have to just watch the video for yourself to find out. All we'll tell you is that the match is pretty darn close – what you might call a photo finish, if they were actually racing each other at the same time as opposed to each racing the clock separately. So watch the video above and voice your support for your favorite little Japanese sports car in the Comments section. Related Video: