The "Toyota TNGA" for Dummies Master Thread

[Gecko]

"TNGA" is an acronym that many of us have seen floating around since last year when Toyota announced it's "Toyota New Global Architecture" in April of 2015. I think we all had an idea of what it meant, but I realized that there were some things about TNGA that I did not fully understand.

• Some people were referring to it as a new manufacturing methodology - more shared and common parts across different models, i.e. steering wheels, radio controls, seats, structural components, stereos, etc.

• Other people and much of the media were referring to TNGA has a flexible platform that would underpin upcoming vehicles, similar to VWAG's MLB platform.

... As it turns out, TNGA is actually both.

I figured that I would share some of the more interesting things I came across in trying to better understand TNGA.


TNGA in Toyota's words:

TNGA boosts vehicle quality and appeal while achieving cost savings through production engineering innovations, building more models on common platforms, the intelligent use of common parts and more fully leveraging Toyota’s supply chain. And, by focusing on the joint development of vehicle powertrains and platforms, TNGA enables Toyota to produce vehicles with a lower center of gravity and lighter, more compact components, delivering to customers enhanced driving performance, greater fuel efficiency, exceptional visibility, more attractive styling and high-quality collision performance.

Back Story:

At the launch of the TNGA project at Toyota’s HQ, Kato-san added that Toyota’s system of appointing an effectively independent chief engineer to each new model project had led to a proliferation of models, platforms and engine derivatives.

I think this was familiar for many of us. Every time that a new model was released, there would be an introduction or recognition of the chief engineer. Think of how many models Toyota sells around the world, and then think of how many chief engineers that would require.

Prior to TNGA, Toyota had 100 different platforms and sub platforms, and more than 800 powertrain combinations.

I suppose that giving every chief engineer the ability to make their own tweaks to platforms, and then giving them free reign on engines, transmissions and drivetrain types would indeed end up being a very inefficient system.



This next section is from April 2015, so we have more information now - I will elaborate.

Toyota has increased the overall fuel efficiency of its powertrains by about 25 per cent and overall power output by more than 15 per cent, gains achieved by improving the thermal efficiency of its engines and the energy-relay efficiency of transmissions.

Its hybrid systems are also being improved: Toyota is targeting a 15 per cent rise in fuel efficiency thanks to a re-think of the drive unit layout and the design of smaller electric motors, inverters and batteries.Toyota will begin to introduce its new powertrains this year, while continuing to work on innovative hybrid systems, transmissions and engines.

Obvious, but I think the improvements to overall efficiency and power are due to VVT-iE/D-4S and the Otto/Atkinson cycles on engines like what we have in the new 2GR-FXE, 2GR-FKS and 2UR-GSE, plus new hybrid powertrains like in the Prius.

It will begin to roll out its new platforms with the launch of a mid-size front-wheel drive model this year, followed by specific new platforms for compact and large FWD vehicles and for rear-wheel drive cars.

That new midsize, FWD car referenced above - to be the first on the TNGA platform - obviously turned out to be the Prius. It seems to me that going forward, every single FWD Toyota product will be on TNGA, leaving only RWD/4X4 cars, trucks and SUVs on different platforms.

Most notably for us in North America, that is:
- 4Runner
- Tacoma
- Tundra
- Sequoia
- Land Cruiser
- Other global products such as Hilux, Prado and Fortuner as well.

The TNGA platform is designed to give the chief engineers of these upcoming Toyota models enough flexibility to build all kinds of these ‘new-era’ vehicles with the minimum number of different components.

To that end, for example, the TNGA kit of parts can have the front seats placed at as many as five different heights – perhaps the crucial engineering distinction between different types of vehicle – allowing cars from low-rise sporty coupes, to high-rise SUVs and crossovers to be built with the same component set.

Bingo.


Also obvious that the new TNGA methodology is forcing Toyota to restructure many of their manufacturing processes and facilities:

Once Corolla production begins in Mexico in 2019, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TMMC) will transform its Cambridge, Ontario North Plant to switch from producing Corollas to mid-sized, higher-value vehicles, marking Toyota’s first major reinvestment in the plant since it opened in 1997. Toyota will also make significant new investments over several years in TMMC’s assembly plants in Cambridge and Woodstock, Ontario to implement TNGA modifications, maintaining the facilities’ importance as a strategic manufacturing hub.

Toyota will realign production at its Cambridge and Woodstock, Ontario assembly plants; all three plants will then produce mid-sized vehicles of higher value. The TNGA adjustments at these plants will require major modifications to the two assembly plants in Cambridge and the one in Woodstock. These significant new investments will take place over the next several years.

The Woodstock plant will continue to manufacture the RAV4, a vehicle competing in a rapidly growing segment. The Cambridge South Plant will continue to build the Lexus RX 350 and 450h, the newest models of which were recently unveiled.

I feel like the above is kind of wordy, so, layman's translation:

• Woodstock produces Rav4s and will continue to do so. This plant will be renovated to produce the next gen Rav4 on TNGA.
• Cambridge North, where Corollas are currently built, will be transformed to produce a different, more expensive, midsize TNGA-based product in 2019.
• Cambridge South, where RX 350s and RX 450hs are currently built, will be updated - I assume to produce the next gen RX which will be TNGA-based.

Further:

By 2019, the Cambridge, Ontario plants will all be producing higher-value mid-sized vehicles, along with Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. (TMMK) and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc. (TMMI). The new facility in Mexico and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Mississippi, Inc. (TMMMS) will build the Corolla, consolidating compact vehicle production to the southern U.S. and Mexico. These groupings by common vehicle platform follow Toyota’s consolidated truck production at its San Antonio, Texas and Baja California, Mexico plants, which has helped streamline Tacoma and Tundra assembly while better leveraging the supply chain.

Translation: Highlander is probably moving to Cambridge.

Plant Production Plans on TNGA:
Canada: Rav4, Highlander, RX 350, RX 450h
Indiana: Sienna
Kentucky: Camry, Avalon, ES
Southern US/Mexico: Corolla


In conclusion, when you look at it from a big picture standpoint - platforms, parts, powertrains and production - TNGA is pretty much a revolution in the way that Toyota operates. We will have a fairly "New Toyota" going from 2019 into 2020 as almost all products will be on TNGA by that time... aside from maybe RX.


Sources:
TNGA Explained: Engineering for the Future
Toyota to Realign Manufacturing Operations in North America

 

[mmcartalk]

Interesting thread.

Prior to TNGA, Toyota had 100 different platforms and sub platforms, and more than 800 powertrain combinations.

And...........if the company produced traditional 3-pedal manual transmissions for everyone who wanted them, there would probably be a lot more combinations than that. Of course, that issue is compound by the fact that, compared to the past, there are many more different types of automatic and auto-manual transmissions today. So, the sheer number of different conventional CVTs, stepped-CVTs, sequential-automanuals, dual-clutch automanuals, and, of course, conventional torque-converter/planetary-gearset automatics adds to the total, even without conventional 3-pedal manuals.

Once Corolla production begins in Mexico in 2019, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. (TMMC) will transform its Cambridge, Ontario North Plant to switch from producing Corollas to mid-sized, higher-value vehicles, marking Toyota’s first major reinvestment in the plant since it opened in 1997. Toyota will also make significant new investments over several years in TMMC’s assembly plants in Cambridge and Woodstock, Ontario to implement TNGA modifications, maintaining the facilities’ importance as a strategic manufacturing hub.

Toyota will realign production at its Cambridge and Woodstock, Ontario assembly plants; all three plants will then produce mid-sized vehicles of higher value. The TNGA adjustments at these plants will require major modifications to the two assembly plants in Cambridge and the one in Woodstock. These significant new investments will take place over the next several years.

On the plant-location issues, I think we may have to wait and see how the election turns out this fall....and what the makeup of both the White House and the new Congress is. Trump, if he wins, has promised sharp tariff increases (25-35%) on merchandise (including vehicles) produced in plants outside the U.S. with foreign labor and sold here domestically. If those tariffs become law, that could (?) affect plans to relocate production out of the U.S.....or to sell products here that are made in those plants.

 

[CIF]

TNGA/GA-L is many things .

It is a new generation of modular platforms.
It is also a new and revamped way of thinking in terms of plants and production.

I could talk all day long about it, but I don't have the time .

Otherwise a great thread! Especially for those unfamiliar with it.

By the way, VVT-iE and VVT-iW are still rare and not found on most Toyota engines. Not to mention Dual VVT-iE and Dual VVT-iW have yet to appear in production. Not to mention Toyota's very long history of research into electric turbos has also yet to appear in production. Also all of the electric accessories and thermal efficiency tricks from the Prius have yet to be standard across all Toyota models, specifically models with non-hybrid engines. Adding electric A/C compressors and electric water pumps to non-hybrid Toyota engines would improve efficiency and reliability, assuming it's feasible to do so on non-hybrids.

So...still tons of improvement that can be made to regular gasoline engines. Hopefully some of these improvements will be seen on next-gen Toyota/Lexus engines.

 

[Gecko]

And...........if the company produced traditional 3-pedal manual transmissions for everyone who wanted them, there would probably be a lot more combinations than that. Of course, that issue is compound by the fact that, compared to the past, there are many more different types of automatic and auto-manual transmissions today. So, the sheer number of different conventional CVTs, stepped-CVTs, sequential-automanuals, dual-clutch automanuals, and, of course, conventional torque-converter/planetary-gearset automatics adds to the total, even without conventional 3-pedal manuals.

I think that even you have to agree that the manual is really only appropriate for a small segment of cars now a days. Something like the GT86, small econo cars, sporty cars and hardcore off roaders. The take rate even for something like an RC F or GS F would be minimal and with power increasing so rapidly, manuals can't really handle 500+hp like some of the newer automatics and manumatics can.

It's simply not worth the investment for Toyota to produce manuals.

On the plant-location issues, I think we may have to wait and see how the election turns out this fall....and what the makeup of both the White House and the new Congress is. Trump, if he wins, has promised sharp tariff increases (25-35%) on merchandise (including vehicles) produced in plants outside the U.S. with foreign labor and sold here domestically. If those tariffs become law, that could (?) affect plans to relocate production out of the U.S.....or to sell products here that are made in those plants.

This fact alone is one of my biggest concerns with Trump, but I'm not sure that he realizes such a move would be truly paralyzing for the domestic brands moreso than Toyota.

 

[Gecko]

By the way, VVT-iE and VVT-iW are still rare and not found on most Toyota engines. Not to mention Dual VVT-iE and Dual VVT-iW have yet to appear in production. Not to mention Toyota's very long history of research into electric turbos has also yet to appear in production. Also all of the electric accessories and thermal efficiency tricks from the Prius have yet to be standard across all Toyota models, specifically models with non-hybrid engines. Adding electric A/C compressors and electric water pumps to non-hybrid Toyota engines would improve efficiency and reliability, assuming it's feasible to do so on non-hybrids.

So...still tons of improvement that can be made to regular gasoline engines. Hopefully some of these improvements will be seen on next-gen Toyota/Lexus engines.

I really hope that we start to see some of the tech you mentioned above on next generation engines because Toyota has been talking about electronically assisted turbos for the better part of 12 years with no production proof. Judging by reports, Audi/VWAG is about to beat them to the punch.

VVTi-W is essentially the Otto/Atkinson cycle functionality, if I am correct? I look forward to that making it's way across the lineup.

I think Toyota's next gen 4 cylinder engine is going to be ~200hp with D-4S and VVTi-W... looking forward to that in TNGA platforms.

Valvematic also hasn't been widely introduced, and IMO, it should be!

 

[mmcartalk]

I think that even you have to agree that the manual is really only appropriate for a small segment of cars now a days. Something like the GT86, small econo cars, sporty cars and hardcore off roaders. The take rate even for something like an RC F or GS F would be minimal and with power increasing so rapidly, manuals can't really handle 500+hp like some of the newer automatics and manumatics can.

It's simply not worth the investment for Toyota to produce manuals.

Oh, yes, I agree. I was just commenting that if auto companies catered to the very small market that DID want manuals on every vehicle, the number of platforms would be higher than it is even now.

 

[CIF]

I really hope that we start to see some of the tech you mentioned above on next generation engines because Toyota has been talking about electronically assisted turbos for the better part of 12 years with no production proof. Judging by reports, Audi/VWAG is about to beat them to the punch.

VVTi-W is essentially the Otto/Atkinson cycle functionality, if I am correct? I look forward to that making it's way across the lineup.

I think Toyota's next gen 4 cylinder engine is going to be ~200hp with D-4S and VVTi-W... looking forward to that in TNGA platforms.

Valvematic also hasn't been widely introduced, and IMO, it should be!

Yeah, VVTi-W is the Otto/Atkinson cycle system. Come to think of it, Dual VVTi-W may not be needed/feasible since the system changes the combustion cycle essentially.

I totally forgot about Valvematic, you're right about that too.

 

[F1 Silver Arrows]

So, does the "Dynamic Torque Vectoring AWD system" help with acceleration for front wheel drive, increase traction off the line, resulting in lower 0-60 times?

Second question, will the RAV-4 have the V6 it desperately needs now it moved up a platform level? Has anyone heard of any rumors in regards to this?

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

So, does the "Dynamic Torque Vectoring AWD system" help with acceleration for front wheel drive, increase traction off the line, resulting in lower 0-60 times?

Probably not, or, if it does, it's maybe by a tenth of a second or so. The way I understand it, Torque Vectoring AWD systems' advantages are more in handling, quick cornering and being able to shift rear traction left-to-right (or vice versa) to gain those benefits and not so much in off-the-line acceleration.

 

[F1 Silver Arrows]

Probably not, or, if it does, it's maybe by a tenth of a second or so. The way I understand it, Torque Vectoring AWD systems' advantages are more in handling, quick cornering and being able to shift rear traction left-to-right (or vice versa) to gain those benefits and not so much in off-the-line acceleration.

So what you're saying is that we're pretty much getting the SH-AWD from Acura, but in Toyota form, right?

In regards to acceleration, shucks......

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

So what you're saying is that we're pretty much getting the SH-AWD from Acura, but in Toyota form, right?

Exactly!

 

[maiaramdan]

@Joaquin Ruhi, if this is true it will be like a game changer

Corolla will be A3 competitor with half the money

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

@Joaquin Ruhi, if this is true it will be like a game changer

Corolla will be A3 competitor with half the money

Depends.

As of this writing, the only apparent application of Dynamic Torque Vectoring AWD in the Corolla's smaller TNGA-C platform is in Chinese-market C-HR and its near-identical twin Izoa. Even the just-launched Japanese-market version of the Corolla hatchback / 3rd-generation Auris, the Corolla Sport, makes no mention in its official news release of Dynamic Torque Vectoring functionality in its AWD option on 1.2-liter turbo models.

Keep in mind that the 5th-gen RAV4 sits on the larger TNGA-K platform.

Fingers crossed that your hopes are right, though, and that DTV AWD spreads to a future warm or hot hatch version of Corolla.

 

[maiaramdan]

I thought the Corolla & Auris will share the same TNGA-K platform as they all identical in Wheelbase even for the pre TNGA current models

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

I thought the Corolla & Auris will share the same TNGA-K platform as they all identical in Wheelbase even for the pre TNGA current models

The confusion is understandable. 3rd and 4th-gen RAV4s shared the New MC platform with 10th and 11th generations of the larger "International Corolla". For its 5th generation launched at the 2018 New York Auto Show, RAV4 transitioned from being one of the larger New MC platform models to the shortest TNGA-K model. Corolla, meanwhile, transitions from New MC to TNGA-C alongside Prius4, C-HR and Lexus UX.

 

[maiaramdan]

So the CH-R will be the Corolla / Auris CUV now instead of the Rav4

Another thing, of course the next generation NX will be with the Rav4 but is there any other vehicles that will share the TNGA-K with both of them or they just make it for only 2!!!

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

So the CH-R will be the Corolla / Auris CUV now instead of the RAV4?

Correct.

Another thing, of course the next generation NX will be with the RAV4 but is there any other vehicles that will share the TNGA-K with both of them or they just make it for only 2?

NX and RAV4 will be the smaller TNGA-K crossovers and next-gen RX and Highlander will be the larger TNGA-K ones.

 

[maiaramdan]

Last question sorry
Is there any huge difference between C & K, is it just the Wheelbase lengths or there are another differences? As for me they are all universal TNGA so they all built with the same mentality and the same stiffness / rigidity

 

[ssun30]

Depends.

As of this writing, the only apparent application of Dynamic Torque Vectoring AWD in the Corolla's smaller TNGA-C platform is in Chinese-market C-HR and its near-identical twin Izoa. Even the just-launched Japanese-market version of the Corolla hatchback / 3rd-generation Auris, the Corolla Sport, makes no mention in its official news release of Dynamic Torque Vectoring functionality in its AWD option on 1.2-liter turbo models.

Keep in mind that the 5th-gen RAV4 sits on the larger TNGA-K platform.

Fingers crossed that your hopes are right, though, and that DTV AWD spreads to a future warm or hot hatch version of Corolla.

The GAC-Toyota C-HR and FAW-Toyota Izoa are FWD only. They have a brake-based rear-wheel speed vectoring system called ACA. It's not a torque vectoring system since the rear wheels are not driven, but does improve handling (mitigating understeer). If I'm not mistaken, the Corolla Hatch gets the system as well (at least true for RHD versions).

 

[Joaquin Ruhi]

Last question sorry
Is there any huge difference between C & K, is it just the Wheelbase lengths or there are another differences? As for me they are all universal TNGA so they all built with the same mentality and the same stiffness / rigidity

That is an excellent question and one whose answer I'm not totally sure of. Toyota (and, by extension, Lexus) haven't been as forthcoming as they should be about TNGA. At first, they implied that it was some sort of miracle ultra-flexible architecture adaptable to front or rear-drive and body-on-frame or unibody construction. We later realized that this was not the case, even as some journalists that should've known better (such as Laurence Iliff of Automotive News) didn't get the memo for the longest time. In that regard, VW and Ford were far clearer than Toyota when they announced their new ultra-flexible architectures.

Basically, TNGA can be divided into 3 families. The largest of these is for FWD-centric, transverse engine unibody. From smallest to largest, they are DNGA (for Daihatsu New Global Architecture), TNGA-A (these two may be one and the same, I'm not 100% sure), TNGA-B, TNGA-C and TNGA-K.

Then there are the two RWD-centric, longitudinal engine unibody architectures: TNGA-N (which we only learned about a couple of days ago) for Toyota Crown15, and GA-L, presently for Lexus LC and LS.

Finally, there is the yet-to-be released body-on-frame truck architecture, which I've seen referred to as TNGA-F.

How much or how little commonality there is among members of each TNGA family is a question for which I'd love to get some answers. Longer-term, I'd love to write about this in more detail for Kaizen Factor, but this will be a time-consuming project involving extensive research and reaching out to Toyota staffers.