Toyota GR Supra First Drive Review: Worthy of the Name

[McLaren]

They could have called it anything, but it is not a Supra.

They should've stuck to FT-1

It's about as close to a new Supra as you're going to get. Toyota is focusing attention mainly away from sports cars and is looking to introduce more hybrids/electric vehicles into their current lineup, in the next decade. As of right now, all performance cars are being channeled into Lexus as I believe after the Supra, the next sports cars in the pipeline are the LC Conv., LC-F, and mounting rumors of the return of the IS-F in for that model's next gen. A better GS-F has been touched on, but that car's fate lies with whether or not the GS lineup makes it to a new generation.

 

[guywithanAE86]

It's not a Supra though. Its a glorified BMW posing as a Supra. I just don't see any Toyota in this car at all. It's frustrating how every Toyota sports car lost LFA is gonna be collaborated since Toyota is so petrified of the thought of losing money. I think it looks great and I'm sure it drives well too. But I don't want to bomb 100k on a BMW that's gonna have it's engine explode or something outrageously expensive happen every other oil change. I want a Supra.

 

[ZedNinetySix]

So then, what is a Supra to you?

Because if the other times that this point has been made is any indication (and I have a nagging suspicion that I am probably correct) then chances are, you believe that the Supra is just the A80. To that, you do realize that there were other generations of Supra and that those were pretty fluid, correct?

Thats a pretty arrogant statement to make, I actually grew up with the Mk3, and the Mk2 Celica/Supra more than any other, granted they have their history with their partnership with Lotus in developing their suspension geometry, but they always had Toyota engines, until now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I dont remember a sports production Toyota not having a Toyota engine before, and it's Toyota's engine's that are some of the more redeeming factors of their sports cars.

 

[UltimateYosh]

Thats a pretty arrogant statement to make, I actually grew up with the Mk3, and the Mk2 Celica/Supra more than any other, granted they have their history with their partnership with Lotus in developing their suspension geometry, but they always had Toyota engines, until now. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I dont remember a sports production Toyota not having a Toyota engine before, and it's Toyota's engine's that are some of the more redeeming factors of their sports cars.

What do you mean a "sports production Toyota"?
Because if you mean a Toyota-badged sports car, I can think of one of those that Toyota builds currently that doesn't have a Toyota engine.

And no, I'm not talking about the Supra.

 

[ZedNinetySix]

What do you mean a "sports production Toyota"?
Because if you mean a Toyota-badged sports car, I can think of one of those that Toyota builds currently that doesn't have a Toyota engine.

And no, I'm not talking about the Supra.

I did say correct me if I'm wrong

 

[UltimateYosh]

I did say correct me if I'm wrong

The 86.

 

[homeforsummer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I dont remember a sports production Toyota not having a Toyota engine before, and it's Toyota's engine's that are some of the more redeeming factors of their sports cars.

The 2000GT had an engine developed by Yamaha, and if you extend Toyota to include Lexus, so did the LF-A, while Yamaha also developed the head for the 4A-GE, 3S-GTE and the V8 used in all Lexus since the IS-F. The Toyota 86, as stated above, has a Subaru engine (with Toyota-developed direct injection).

None of those are quite as far off-piste as the BMW engine, admittedly (all are still Japanese, for a start) but Toyota has run the engine through its quality control processes, and I believe it uses different mapping and has one or two detail changes from BMW's own applications.

However... purely subjectively it does feel a little too much like a BMW engine still to me. On the other hand, if the engine was always one of the Supra's stronger suits, then that's not really changed in this iteration - it's already seen to develop more power than quoted, the car is still very quick, and importantly it does still sound like an inline-six.