SPORTS CAR IS FUN, BUT MORE BMW THAN TOYOTA
Do you know how to launch a space shuttle? Because if you do, you have a pretty good chance of figuring out launch control in most modern cars. But if you're like me and have no background in rocket science, it can be tricky — to say the least.
Luckily for anyone stopped at a red light — on a closed course, of course — in a Toyota Supra, the launch sequence is simple. With the car in drive, all you have to do is select Sport mode, click (don't hold) the traction-control button, fully press the brakes with your left foot, and then fully depress the throttle with your right. When you release your left foot, you'll be rewarded with a 3.9-second blast to 100 km/ h.
Keep your right foot in it, and the Supra will arrive at 160 km/ h in nine seconds, and cross the quarter-mile traps in 12.8. It never gets old.
The reborn Supra is finally here. It's real, and it's fantastic.
After a 12-year development period that included two different Supra concepts and a bizarre “camouflaged debut” at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Supra is finally in dealers as a car you can buy.
It's also about as Japanese as schnitzel: it's assembled in Austria by BMW. The engine, transmission and steering column are from BMW. In fact, the Supra shares all its major mechanicals and its chassis with the BMW Z4. Despite Toyota making much fanfare about “separate development,” the only hardware pieces on the Supra that don't have a BMW part number are slightly longer A-arms in the front suspension to increase negative camber. That's it. The Supra is a BMW Z4 wearing an oddly styled hat.
On the road, the Supra is a wonderful sports car. It's agile, nimble, fast and fun. Steering feel is quite good, which is surprising considering the column is sourced from a BMW X3. It's a car that just makes you want to downshift coming into any curve, carve through and power out. The engine note is also very pleasing, but I suspect there's some digital trickery behind the acoustics. The Supra only has two drive modes: Sport and not sport. For most driving, I kept it in Sport because it did a better job of keeping the revs up.
It's a good thing that the Supra is fun to drive, because sitting inside isn't much fun at all. The dramatically swooping roof and odd shape of the door opening means it takes a major duck to squeeze into it. I stand a towering five-foot-nine and I'm not very used to ducking under things, so I clocked my head on the edge of the roof multiple times.
The cabin is also very small, and that feeling isn't helped by this tester's all-black interior.
Luckily a red interior, as well as a black one with blue accents, are available. Also not quite sterling is the 12-speaker JBL sound system. Among the “designer” stereos offered in 2020, this may be one of the least impressive. And the dramatic styling of the Supra means the rear cargo opening is small and oddly shaped. Its capacity is workable but make sure to bring soft bags.
There are two models of Supra available: the base four-cylinder 2.0 and the six-cylinder 3.0. The four-cylinder starts at $56,390 and nets you 255 horsepower and 18-inch wheels. The extra two cylinders found in the 3.0 will run you $67,690, but you get more than just a 382-hp engine: you also get 19-inch wheels, larger Brembo brakes and the JBL sound system. It's a big price bump, but the 3.0 is really the Supra you want.
What competes with the Supra? For about $10,000 extra, you can buy its alfresco sibling, the BMW Z4. Having driven the Z4 last year, the BMW is more refined, quieter, and a little less hard-edged than the Supra. The difference between the two in how they drive is surprisingly large considering how many parts are shared. But more likely to be cross shopped against the Supra is the latest C8 Corvette. In Canada, the base Corvette starts within $150 of the Supra 3.0, runs from rest to 100 km/ h nearly a full second faster than the Toyota, has two extra cylinders, at least 100 more horsepower, more passenger space, and more luggage space.
It also weighs within 100 kilograms of the Supra.
The Supra is a fine sports car, but it isn't a home run and it isn't much of a Toyota. From what I can tell, Toyota's largest contribution was designing the outlandish bodywork, which results in some awful blind spots and a few ergonomic struggles.
If you can get past this, the Supra is rewarding to drive, incredibly fun on the back roads, and legitimately fast. I just wish Toyota designers had worked harder to make it their own.