After what feels like an eternity in the making, the brand new Toyota Supra is finally being sampled. Production is about 3/4 of a year away, but the company has allowed some people to sample it on a track.
As you sports car fanatics may already know, the Supra has been co-developed with the BMW Z4. The platform is the same, and the 3-liter turbo under the hood of this prototype is of Bavarian making as well.
No specs have been released, but we still believe this version of the car has 340 HP with a GRMN hardcore version expected to develop more. Toyota will also sell a 2-liter turbo model with 265 HP. In all cases, the ZF 8-speed auto takes care of shifting the gears.
It's quite interesting to draw a parallel to Toyota's other sports car. The wheelbase is shorter than the 86, even though it looks like a bigger car. Also, the center of gravity is even lower on the Supra, despite the advantages of the Subaru boxer engine.
There's no hybrid trickery here, and despite only using steel and aluminum, body rigidity is as high as the carbon-tubbed Lexus LFA. The brakes are good and the steering responsive, so it's shaping up to be a good machine.
With a price tag of around $60,000 for the 3-liter model, the Supra isn't cheap. It takes on rivals such as the Porsche Cayman and Alpine's new sports car, the A110. Autocar's video review claims the Supra is not as agile as those two.
It's an everyday driver that can be playful on the track. But when you take a corner ham-fisted, it will understeer on you. This configuration is intentional, as the Supra is all about being used every day, not kept in the garage for most of the week. But we're sure more agile versions will come along too.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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