I know this thread has gone around lots of times and in countless different directions but the game just needs Toyota. I know there will be lots who disagree with me and who’ll say the game is fine without the but, for me and for those who love the Supra, Celica, MR2, Soara, Corolla etc, they are what make the game fun.
It’s been getting progressively harder for me to go on the game because I can’t enjoy the Supra in it. Leisurely driving the car around a track was nice to do in between career races; and being able to watch the replies and admire my favourite car was nice to do.
The alleged reason for Toyota not wanting their cars in the game - they don’t want them modified - is weirdly ironic considering the cars they have let us use in the game ARE modified cars, albeit race-spec and non road legal. But the Camry and the Hilux in the game are variations of street cars.
If it wasn’t for NFSU and The Fast and the Furious I wouldn’t know of the Supra. It was the advertisement of the car in that modified - and stock - form that got me hooked on it. So what if Toyota hasn’t really released anything that’s performance based in a while. The GT86 - and the BRZ - is favoured by many and it’s popular. But ultimately the Supra, Celica and MR2 are what gave Toyota Their street race status and in turn their performance benchmark. Even today you can get the rare sight of a Supra driving past and I get nostalgic when I do.
The other possible part of the reason is not wanting the younger audience to be associated with cars that are 20 years old. What’s the problem with that? Take Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge for example. The Mustangs, Chargers and Chevelles are most famous for their iconic 60s and 70s models. That’s 40/50 years ago! They’re undying classics. The 90s were made with Supras, Skylines, RX7s, NSXs etc. The timeless shape of those cars, their potential and the nostalgia they bring to so many are why we like racing them in games. Even if we can’t have one in reality, the next best thing is driving them at silly mph and beating friends with them.
Toyota can’t undo the fact that they’re the biggest manufacturer of cars on the planet and they can’t undo the fact that, like Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Subaru, they made street racing and modifying cars big - and with cars that, regardless as to what they say, people will love for what they were and will modify them because of their pedigree! It’s like Ferrari saying they don’t want their cars in the game because they don’t want people to drive them fast. It’s going to happen and without it, something iconic and the one thing that made them what they are is missing!