You look at any racing game on the market today, and you see a collection of automobile history that stretches through the ages. After all, no contemporary racing title would be complete without a showcase of American muscle, European tuning and Japanese drifting. From Ford to Nissan, Lotus to Mitsubishi, fans expect certain brands to be present in their racing game franchise of choice.
Which is why its bloody odd that Toyota has been absent for a couple of years now from the digital scene. Having folded their arms and given a thorough nuh-uh to the idea of licensing their cars to appear in video games, Toyota’s absence has been sorely felt amidst the many many racing titles that have popped up since their exodus in 2017.
No one knows why Toyota bailed on the scene in the first place, although DriveTribe theorised that it had something to do with the company’s higher-ups believing that their actual car sales were being hammered by people who felt that the digital equivalent was better than the real thing. No, for reals. Other than a quick appearance in Gran Turismo Sport, Toyota has spent a couple of years out of the gaming spotlight, robbing fans of many a classic car to tear up a track with.
That all changes on December 12, as Forza Horizon 4 will see one of Toyota’s finest mechanical hours dropped into that homage to car culture:
It’s just a single car, but it’s hopefully also a signal that Toyota is ready to start making a proper comeback to a genre that has sorely missed it. At this rate, I’d be absolutely delighted if Need for Speed Heat could add a Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 with those signature Initial D panda stripes that would please the anime nerd inside me greatly. That, and I’ve got a dream list of other cars from the big T that I’d love to see. Give me a game that features the aforementioned AE86, 1988’s Toyota Soarer Turbo and the legendary GT-One and I’ll be able to die a very happy man.
Last Updated: November 21, 2019
Nick de Bruyne
November 21, 2019 at 11:17
This is such great news, and hopefully evidence that Toyota are gonna stop being such wet blankets. They also probably realised that hype for their new Supra is particularly lower when everyone on the planet doesn’t see it pop up in their fav racing games.
I’d heard that Toyota was also miff because people only care about their old sports cars, and not their new ones. THAT SAID – the GT86 really needs a quicker sportier model, the new Supra is also just undeniably a reskinned BMW Z4 (and too small)… I honestly think Toyota need to take another proper crack at the Supra and make it look more like the original concept car which was way bigger, sharper, crazier – then give it the full beans of old.
I’ve had the pleasure of driving the wheels off of 90’s Supra a few times in the last few years, and even though it wasn’t the turbo version – YOU CAN’T understand how wonderful that car is to drive. It feels as simple as a Toyota Tazz inside, but when you drive, it feels like you’re connected directly to the road as a driver. I’ve pelted a GT86 through the exact same roads as I did the Supra, and it has a lot of that feel, but it needs more oompfh, and that amazing sound. They need all that again. We need real Toyota back.
I guess that become a petrol-head rant. Good times, lol!
Admiral Chief
November 21, 2019 at 11:23
Not sure why you got downvote, but lemme fix that a bit
The D
November 21, 2019 at 11:28
Must be Pillowpants, the Downvote Troll.
Admiral Chief
November 21, 2019 at 11:28
Ah yes, the brother of Scattercushionskirt
Nick de Bruyne
November 21, 2019 at 13:01
Toyota’s lurking
Allykhat
November 21, 2019 at 13:25
They just need to make a new JZ model motor and get over themselves. I watched DDE do the tear down of their Supra and it is literally just a Z4 with a custom body kit and Toyota Badges.
I am, however, super happy about them coming back to Horizon (and other games). 86, Trueno… and I hope we get the Lexus LC500 too…
Nick de Bruyne
November 21, 2019 at 13:35
I have heard that the handling or suspension is pretty different between the two, but still, the interior is basically even the same
Allykhat
November 21, 2019 at 14:28
The tune and setup is a bit different because the weight sits a bit differently on the Supra apparently. Aero is also a bit better on the Supra because of the styling too, but apparently all the kits Rocketbunny and Co are making for the Supra will fit the Z4, so we will probs end up with an 86/BRZ situation again.
Fox1
November 21, 2019 at 14:09
Toyota are on a dip world-wide. They once had the finest NA engines but they’ve lacked in the design department. Even the new Corolla isn’t either here or there like the 90’s models that were a must have.
BradeLunner
November 21, 2019 at 11:17
The gt86 doesn’t get enough love
Nick de Bruyne
November 21, 2019 at 13:01
or horsepower for that matter 😛
BradeLunner
November 21, 2019 at 13:07
Oooof! Yea I had one and had to sell it, but I was really missing more power, although the mostly city roads traffic circle to traffic circle didn’t really need more power, just a better driver 😀
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
November 21, 2019 at 11:48
Lol, didn’t even realise Toyota were missing XD