BMW M Division president Markus Flasch says an M3-powered Toyota Supra is highly unlikely but the company won't close the door on the idea.
The German and Japanese automakers reportedly agreed to go their own way - where the development of sportscars are concerned - after resurrecting the Supra but there is talk of the GR Supra eventually getting fitted with the next M3's engine.
Autocar had a chat with Flasch recently and asked him whether or not the new twin-turbo 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine, which will be going in the new M3, could also make it under the Supra's hood.
“We’ve certainly made no offer to supply the engine to Toyota - and no request has been made, as far as I know,” he replied. “But it’s an interesting idea, if unlikely for now. It would be a lot for us to give away, you might say. But I’d never say never.”
the X3 M and X4 M both boast the S58 engine and a Supra toting the near-500 horsepower device would certainly be something to talk about. However, it's unlikely to happen, especially while the aforementioned vehicles are in their early years.
BMW and Toyota worked together on the GR Supra and the S58 was developed from its B58 3.0-liter straight six engine. However, only 10% of the parts are the same.
Toyota has been criticized over their car's lack of power yet fitting it with the S58 BMW M engine would allow Toyota to take the horsepower close to 500 and possibly even higher.
“As a rule, we don’t offer BMW M engines to third parties because we consider them such a strength of our cars,” Flasch added. “I think it would be a hard decision for a lot of the team to accept - particularly with the S58 being so new. Why would we sell it before we had a chance to use it ourselves in all the places we plan to?”