Toyota sports car is Supra cool
The Toyota Supra is back after two decades away, and Americans are thankful.
I took Toyota’s hot rod up north for aweekend and I haven’t seen a car swarmed like it since I drove a scissor-door 2016BMWi8 aroundMotown. At a traffic light in the middle of Petoskey, Michigan, everyone stopped in their tracks to ogle the Supra.
Sure, the Skittle-yellow color had something to do with it. But the Supra is also one of the most ferociouslooking cars on the road today. Fromits long, LeMans prototype-inspired snout to its double-bubble roof to its lion haunches, Supra is a rolling biceps muscle.
“You’ve got to takeme for a ride,” said car palMary, who had been properly circumspect about drives in new cars during the COVID-19 lockdown. She had resisted the Ram Power Wagon, theMazda Miata and the Jeep Gladiator Mojave. But she couldn’t
resist a go in the Supra rocket.
After a short jaunt— the turbocharged, 3.0-liter, inline-6 cylinder howling like awolf while its 8-speed tranny cracked off quick shifts— shewas a giggling puddle in the right seat.
Yes, Supra 3.0 (for the 3.0-liter engine within) backs up its sensational lookswith outrageous driving abilities. And affordable pricing to boot.
I almost felt sorry for the $100,000-plus Lexus LC500 convertible I had tested aweek prior, which is no slouch in the sex-appeal department. Store the LC500’s hardtop in the boot with a touch of a button and you have a front-rowseat to an open-air V-8 concert. But it’s no Supra.
Indeed, for the price of the LC 500 you could buy two ofmy $57,000 Supras.
Which is actually two BMWs. Because, truth be told, the secret of the Supra’s success is it shares its boneswith BMW’s fabulous Z4 Roadster.
Given the high regulatory costs of developing lowvolume sports cars these days, Toyota teamed up with its Bavarian counterpart. Toyota got a heckuva deal. Toyota tookBMW’s chassis, engine and interior tech, wrapped it in a yowza Supra shell, and tuned the suspension for its natural Fast ’n’ Furious clientele.
“You know, the old Supra was a good-looking car,” said amiddle-aged gent circling the Supra in a grocery store parking lot. “And this thing looks cool, too.”
Also cool? My Supra 3.0 is five-grand cheaper than the four-cylinder, 255-horsepowerBMWZ4 I brought up north last year to explore the same roads. New for 2021 is an even more affordable $47,000 Supra 2.0 equipped with the same BMWturbo-4.
But if you can spare the extra coin, go Supra 3.0.
Its full name is ToyotaGR Supra 3.0— after Toyota’s racing arm Gazoo Racing— and the little sports car comes with a Sport mode that really turns up the wick. Tap the console button and the exhaust baritone drops an octave. The suspension tightens like a cheetah in tall grass. I put the eight-speed automatic in manual mode. POUNCE!
Shifting at the 7,000-rpm redline, the sound is addictive. Hard on the red Brembo brakes, the engine breathes out, the dual rear pipes farting and popping. It’s obnoxious in town, irresistible on the open road.
But when the road flattens out, theBMW-crafted interior pays dividends. I mean, think about it— it’s a Toyota with a BMW interior.