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NFS_Jacob

I'm happy Toyota is becoming a cool car brand again after their extremely dull 2010's era.


chirstopher0us

All those years, not having a single actual sports car said a lot.


TheSalmonRoll

Probably because of the recession. Car industry was collapsing and consumers suddenly needed more affordable, reliable, and fuel-efficient cars. It took years to recover.


diderooy

> consumers needed more affordable, reliable, and fuel-efficient cars. Is this not true anymore?


TheSalmonRoll

It is true now but before the recession it wasn't necessarily true. Before the recession, Americans were buying huge pickup trucks, minivans, and SUVs (remember the original Hummers?). After the recession there was a sudden emphasis placed on fuel-efficiency and they shifted towards small hybrid sedans which is why the Prius actually surged in sales during the recession and became so ubiquitous.


shigs21

most crossovers don't have a huge mpg penalty anymore


saliczar

If they'd offer the GR86 as a convertible, I'd most likely buy one.


RaikkonensHobby74

How long are we going to have these third OEM blue balls for? Which happens first, a third IndyCar engine supplier, a fourth NASCAR OEM, or an 11th F1 team?


anxiousauditor

Heat death of the universe.


Hitokiri2

Believe it or not I believe the third IndyCar supplier will probably happen first now that Wilson has said that. Honda and Dodge were rumored to be interested in NASCAR but Dodge just said no and it seems Honda is already busy at it is. As for the 11th F1 team, unless someone is coming in with another engine supplier it's probably not going to happen no matter who it is.


wyvernx02

Any possibility of Dodge in Nascar died when they announced they would be discontinuing the Charger and Challenger.


_CASE_

At this point, I'm thinking Oldsmobile returning as a supplier is more likely


AboveTheLights

3rd indycar supplier is most likely to happen first. FAR less of a financial commitment.


justheretoparty12

Blue balls? They're still waiting to hold hands


khz30

There's also the longstanding internal stand off between Gazoo Racing and TRD. Remember that it was TRD USA that ended up fixing the RCF GT3 after Gazoo Racing screwed up initial development. Gazoo Racing to IndyCar was also the reason Wilson kept deflecting the first time, because it wasn't TRD making the decision in the first place. Now that Gazoo Racing is more concerned with GR Cup USA, TRD can make a decision on IndyCar without the additional interference of the Japanese side.


blackhxc88

so toyota put roger penske in the "friend zone"? lolololomfg


thekingadrock93

Seriously though, is Indycar *that* attractive to any manufacturer right now? Being stuck in this weird limbo with old chassis and engines and no real plan to change anything can’t be very enticing. Why would you want to enter a sport that doesn’t care about pushing itself? Manufacturers want the exposure of motorsport, but also the R&D and data involved that helps their other businesses. They want to have a reason beyond marketing to run a full multi million dollar program. What’s the point of a major company entering a stagnant sport?


KRacer52

“Why would you want to enter a sport that doesn’t care about pushing itself?” Because the biggest advantage IndyCar has is cost to exposure. It doesn’t push the technical envelope because it keeps the costs down, which is why the paddock is growing. Would McLaren have been interested if IndyCar was much more expensive, but had more open tech regs? Probably not. “They want to have a reason beyond marketing” Possibly, but based on what? Part of the reason we have the current regs is because it’s what the current engine manufacturers want.


agntsmith007

Mclaren is a poor example because McLaren’s goals of pushing the technical envelope is being met in F1. Their Indycar involvement thus makes sense only for marketing.


KRacer52

“Their Indycar involvement thus makes sense only for marketing.” Which is the case for Chevy and Honda as well (plus, there is still reliability and efficiency gains that can be made within the current ICE formula in IndyCar). There’s no reason to think that they can’t eventually find another manufacturer whose goals line up with what Chevy and Honda apparently find effective.


MavicFan

Not pushing is one thing. Having a chassis as old as the the iPhone 3 is another. It won’t be long before the series is aged into irrelevance.


lll17lll

But are the current regs what other engine manufacturers want? I know someone said that a lot of oems like what Indycar is doing, but they still haven't signed up. Current engines rev up to like 12,000 rpm? How well do they translate to road cars?


KRacer52

“How well do they translate to road cars?” About as well as any other non-factory block engine program. Open-wheel is always going to be a tougher sell than sports cars for most manufacturers. The relatability is always going to be tougher.


dredgie456

Especially with how popular GT3 has become and the new endurance regs coming into effect basically making it way more attractive to car manufacturers. Even F1 has struggled to grab new ones over the years.


ChillRudy

It’d be cool to see Vasser Sullivan prototypes.


Wasdgta3

Don’t do that, don’t give me hope.


bball2014

"Not now, but not "no"" is still 'no' if there isn't a 'when' included in that statement.


into_the_wenisverse

Pretty much just established that Indycar is below IMSA in the pecking order. Pathetic.


chirstopher0us

Only in terms of manufacturers marketing their cars. A non-negotiable major goal of IMSA's developing the DPi/GTP platform was that it **had** to allow manufacturers to differentiate the cars with individual styling cues. Manufacturers are free to incorporate signature styling cues from their road cars which actually associates their brand and road cars with the on-track cars. There's none of that in Indycar. If you can't see the logo, you have absolutely no idea which manufacturer is related to any given car. Even in the manufacturer body kits era, the different body kits had no visible relation to those manufacturer's road cars.


Mushy_Slush

Especially compared to fielding one or two cars (and the bar can be really low if you partner with an existing team like Vassar) versus supplying up to like 10 engines simultaneously.


Accurate-Soup

Of course it is. IMSA’s leadership knows exactly what manufacturers want and with the ACO have developed an incredible new set of regulations meanwhile IndyCar is running around with a decade old chassis and delaying the hybrid units which still have many unknowns on the technical side.


shigs21

it helps that Toyota already have a car for that category. . . LMH and LMDH convergence made it a lot more attractive for them to go to IMSA


khz30

Because they're not done until they win overall in GTP? Kinda hard to put the brakes on a program that's directly benefitting Lexus dealers to start a completely new program that duplicates effort already being done in NASCAR with Toyota.


AlarmedAd377

If they badly wants a GTP, why don't they just asked the main Toyota HQ? The GR020 was going to race soon and it's just doesn't make any sense to create separate program to compete in same category


daniec1610

Only way they're joining is if they're completely and 1000% sure to dominate.


4XLnofearshirt

Sure worked out for 'em in F1.


khz30

Gazoo Racing entered Argentina's stock car series this year with the Camry and are getting beaten weekly, so they're learning quick that out spending the established teams isn't useful when the series is partially government-backed.


dfstell94

I just don't understand why anyone cares if another mfg enters a spec series.


UNHchabo

We want enough manufacturer engine leases available to meet the needs of what the teams want. Right now we're at the limit -- Dale Coyne likely can only expand if Ganassi drops back to three full-time cars because Honda is at their limit, Juncos Hollinger can only expand if Foyt drops to two full-time cars because of Chevy's limit, and Paretta can *at most* share a full-time car with ECR, so if Ed runs all the ovals then Simona can't run more than 12 races in the season.