Toyota GR Supra 2.0
Lighter and better riding than the 3-litre, but not short of punch, is the 2.0 the sweeter Supra?
THIS LATEST VERSION OF THE SUPRA IS QUITE THE departure, being the first four-cylinder version in the model’s five-generation, five-decade life. But, of course, the GR Supra is already like no Supra that has come before, with significant chunks sourced from BMW, including the turbocharged 3-litre straight-six and now the turbocharged 2-litre four.
There’s a hefty cost saving by dropping two cylinders and one litre: almost £8500, for a list price of £45,995. The main things you expect to sacrifice are a charismatic soundtrack and lots of ready torque. The 3-litre Supra is more subtle than you might expect but its straight-six suffuses the snug cockpit with a quietly confident burr, and even a modest throttle squeeze delivers a rich swell of torque. As it turns out, the 2.0 is missing less of these elements than expected and in some respects delivers an enhanced driving experience. It doesn’t look as good, though. The key visual identifier of the 2-litre Supra – the only one, in fact – is its 18in alloys. They’re only an inch smaller, but with plumper sidewalled tyres for the same rolling radius and gearing, they look a bit weedy, the curvy bodywork sitting heavy on their taller shoulders. They are, however, an important contributor to the 2.0’s dynamic character, and so too is the weight saving of 100kg that comes mostly off the front axle and improves the weight distribution to the sought-after 50:50.
You’d be hard pressed to spot any difference on the inside apart from manual instead of electric seat adjustment, but the driver’s seat welcomes you with the same satisfying embrace. Prod the starter button and the engine note that follows isn’t obviously a four-cylinder. This Supra uses the car’s speakers to augment the engine note and it muddies the audible waters, confecting an
ambiguous, muffled sound that’s neither four nor six cylinders, and that ambiguity continues as the engine climbs through the revs on a light throttle. It’s no exaggeration to say that a Ferrari flat-plane-crank V8 sounds more like a four-cylinder than the Supra’s 2-litre.
There’s plenty of pick-up when you put your foot down and a look at the stats reveals why. The 1998cc ‘four’ might be a whole litre smaller in capacity and develop 254bhp and 295lb ft versus the six’s 335bhp and 369lb ft, but the gap is not so big when the weight difference is factored in and, anyhow, 295lb ft is a good amount. In short, it’s responsive enough to feel sporty, helped along by the quick-reacting eight-speed auto gearbox that shuffles the gears smoothly. In terms of performance, Toyota’s figures say the 2-litre Supra is almost a second slower to 62mph – 5.2 versus 4.3sec – but makes the same limited 155mph top speed.
The big difference, though, is the feel. The 3-litre Supra takes a bit of getting to know, a bit of warming to; its ride can be a bit sharp edged at low speed, especially at the rear axle, which you feel you’re almost sitting on top of, and in the wet or cold it can seem rather traction limited and a bit snappy. Add in steering that’s very quick, very alert off centre, and you have a coupe that feels like it might be a bit of a handful. However, pick up the pace and the ride gets more rounded and the traction seems to improve too. Quite against expectation, on a demanding B-road with a slick surface, when you turn off stability control you find that the fat rear Michelins break away very smoothly and that the steering feels well weighted and just as fast as you need it to be to catch and play out a slide with the consistent response of the turbocharged six.
The 2-litre Supra has retuned springs and dampers to match
the new weight and distribution, but what’s immediately apparent is that all the low-speed edginess and sharpness of the 3-litre is gone. It rolls over broken surfaces much more sweetly, which must be partly thanks to the cushioning of to the taller-sidewalled 18-inch tyres. They probably also help to slow down the steering response – another positive – though there’s still not much feel coming through the wheel.
The smaller-engined Supra picks up pace well, the in-line four’s peak torque spread from 1550 to 4400rpm, and the engine only starts to run out of puff as the 6500rpm red line approaches. All the while it sounds muffled, slightly distant, so any harshness is filtered. There’s no ambiguity about which wheels are driven though, the four-cylinder Supra’s rear tyres being just as bothered by its torque as the six-cylinder’s are, only the breakaway is less snappy. It flows along a B-road with a useful suppleness but it’s not especially sharp, a sensation heightened by the lack of meaningful feedback through the wheel.
Help is at hand. The Sport button on the centre console doesn’t seem to do much on the 3-litre but in the 2-litre its influence can be felt in all quarters. It peps up the engine sound
and its response, sharpens the gearshifts, firms up the steering and tightens the damping too. Altogether, this makes for a more positive car, bringing some bite to the steering and keeping the body in tighter check, so the car stays flatter to the road and you feel more confident about leaning on the front grip on turn-in. Best of all, you can pick from a pop-up menu which of these elements shift from Normal to Sport when you press the button.
The extra steering weight doesn’t bring any more feel and this makes the Supra less positive in the wet than it could be. You don’t know how hard you’re leaning on the grip, but you quickly learn that if you think the torque might be a bit too much for the modest rear grip, you’re probably right. If you fancy testing your oppositelock moves, the stability control switches off in two stages, a single push backing it off enough for you to have to intervene with a twist of counter-steer in an inviting wet corner. You could treat this as the training mode.
A longer press turns off VSC and leaves you, the active rear differential and the 275-section Michelins totally in charge. Like the 3-litre, when you’re carrying a bit of pace the 2-litre is a well-balanced, well-poised rear-drive coupe, the tail slipping wide under power progressively, the steering fast and accurate and the engine responsive enough to allow modulation to hold or play the angle. With the auto ’box in Sport the shifts are quick and intuitive, but for complete control you need to use the ‘manual’ options and nudge the lever or use the small paddles.
The smaller-engined Supra has smaller brakes, and while they work just fine in general driving there’s a suggestion they might struggle with a trackday. They didn’t fade on us at any point but they don’t start with the most solid pedal and once you start properly stretching and exploring the dynamics the whole car can feel rather elastic. In feel, it’s rather like an MX-5. The gains it makes over the 3-litre model at low speed thanks mostly to its softer-riding tyres come with a price at higher speed, when you’d appreciate a bit more bite and control. Maybe the 2.0 with 19-inch wheels is the sweet spot?
However, the question probably isn’t this or the six-cylinder Supra. Really, it’s this or the Alpine A110 (£48k, similar horsepower) or the base Porsche Cayman 718 (£44k and almost 300bhp). These are two formidable rivals: the Alpine is still something very special and unique, dynamically, while the Porsche is something of a dynamic over-achiever, though at this entry level it comes with the widely unloved flat-four.
There is another coupe that is Japanese, has six cylinders, almost as much power as the Supra 3.0 and will cost you around £30k if you snap up one of the few remaining examples with delivery miles. It’s the Nissan 370Z, something of a throwback these days, with a manual gearbox, naturally aspirated V6 and a gruff, rough-hewn character. The new Supra 2.0 is nothing like the steel-jawed Nissan; it’s refined, undemanding, fast and quite frugal too. But sometimes you do find yourself hankering after a bit more grit, a bit more feel and raw character.