The car of the moment, the Toyota GR Supra, is barely a year old, and already the sports car is receiving some upgrades – at least in the United States. There, it’s getting a significant power hike, a new four-cylinder engine option, some chassis tweaks, extra equipment and a new special edition model.
Of course, the B58 3.0 litre turbocharged straight-six remains the most powerful engine, and for the new model year it’s been made considerably more potent. Power has gone up by 47 hp to 382 hp, now made higher up the rev range from 5,800 to 6,500 rpm, representing a 14% increase. Torque has also increased marginally to 499 Nm from 1,800 to 5,000 rpm. This finally puts it on par with its sibling, the BMW Z4 M40i.
These numbers come as a result of an new dual-branch exhaust manifold and in spite of a reduced compression ratio of 10.2:1 instead of 11:1, the latter due to a new piston design. The ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox remains, and all-in-all, Toyota expects the zero to 60 mph (96 km/h) sprint time to be slashed from 4.1 seconds to 3.9.
Exclusive to the larger-engined variant are a number of revisions to the suspension, including new aluminium front bracing to increase lateral rigidity, uprated front and rear bump stops and retuned dampers. The electric power steering, adaptive damper system, stability control and active rear differential have also been reprogrammed in concert with the hardware changes, making the car more stable through quick transitions.
Providing a new entry point into Supra ownership is the B48 2.0 litre turbo four-pot formerly reserved for the Japanese market, making 255 hp from 5,000 to 6,500 rpm and 400 Nm between 1,550 and 4,400 rpm – the same tune you’d find in the 330i.
It gets the same eight-speeder (sorry, manual faithful) and is tipped to get from zero to 96 km/h in 5.0 seconds, making it the second quickest car in Toyota’s US lineup. The company also promises lower fuel consumption than the 3.0 litre model, as well as a weight reduction of more than 90 kg thanks to smaller brakes, the deletion of the active diff and adaptive dampers, four speakers (instead of 10) and manual seats.
Elsewhere, the changes mostly concern the kit list, which has now been expanded to include the optional Safety and Technology Package. This entails the addition of all-speed adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, parking sensors with emergency braking, navigation, a 12-speaker JBL sound system, wireless Apple CarPlay and remote connectivity and emergency services. All models now also get the larger 8.8-inch centre display, ditching the previous standard-fit 6.5-inch item.
Also new for the 2021 model year is the A91 Edition, limited to just 1,000 units. Available in either Nocturnal (black) or the exclusive Refraction (blue) hues, it gets lashings of carbon fibre on the wing mirror caps and the new rear bootlid lip spoiler, plus matte black wheels and C-pillar stripes. Inside, there is black Alcantara upholstery with contrasting highlights, and all A91s get a key pouch and boot mat.
The A91 Edition also comes with Toyota Supra branding on the red front brake callipers, which has also been extended to the range-topping 3.0 Premium model.
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Supra 3.9s to 100km/h
Z4 M40i 4.3s to 100km/h
M2 comp 4.2s to 100km/h
M3 4.1s to 100km/h
Variables mainly due to weight distribution, aerodynamics, drag and down force, emission restrictions and air restrictions tuning
Speed limit in Japan: 110km/h
Speed limit in the USA: 88km/h
Speed limit in Germany: No limit
Of course the Supra is tuned for a very low top speed while BMWs are tuned for 250km/h.
Since the engine and gearbox is from BMW so the car is 99% BMW, according to basher logic. So all praises should go to BMW since the car doesn’t belong to Toyota.
Congrats to Supra (oppps, actually BMW) for the launch at US of A.