GAZOO RACING TO UP ANTE FOR FLAGSHIP SUPRA
The range-topping version of the new Toyota Supra will run a tuned version of its BMW partner’s turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder engine delivering up to 400hp, sources close to the firm’s Gazoo Racing performance arm have revealed.
The new Supra is set to make its debut in production-ready form at the Detroit motor show in January 2019, five years after the unveiling of the FT-1 concept that heralded the return of the model.
The new two-seat Toyota coupe has been developed in a joint engineering programme with the fourth-generation BMW Z4 roadster. The latter is tentatively planned to be revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the US in August.
However, before the production version of the new Supra arrives, Toyota will preview its new coupe in concept car form at the Geneva motor show next month.
Although it has yet to be made official, it is understood the standard version of the new Supra is to share the same engine as the Z4 sDrive40i. In the new coupe and roadster pairing, the front-mounted turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-six engine, codenamed B58, is planned to deliver 340hp.
Drive is channelled through an eightspeed torque-converter automatic gearbox that features steering wheel-mounted shift paddles.
However, in line with recent initiatives taken with other models, Toyota is also planning a hotter version of the new Supra from its Gazoo Racing division. Set to be positioned as the flagship in the new range, it is being developed in close association with an M Performance version of the new Z4 from BMW’s M division. The Supra GR (for Gazoo Racing) will follow the standard version of the new Supra into showrooms in 2020.
The hot Supra is in line to receive a more powerful version of BMW’s turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-six engine, although it is unclear whether it’s a further developed version of the B58 or the more advanced S55 unit from BMW’s M division.
Gazoo Racing officials indicate the BMWdeveloped engine will deliver up to 400hp, suggesting the Supra could receive the S55, which is the same engine earmarked to power a facelifted version of the M2 Competition, planned for introduction later this year.
Production of the MY2019 Supra is planned to take place alongside the Z4 at production specialist Magna in Austria.