Mk IV Supra vs. GR86: Old-School 2JZ Is K.O. After Quarter-Mile Clash With Modernity

That “I’m-faster-than-you” attitude comes out occasionally, especially around decommissioned airfield landing strips that now serve a 1,320-foot purpose. One such case of “sudden drag race” syndrome was recorded – on camera! – by a very piston-centered YouTuber, Mat Watson from carwow.

Indeed, a drag race implies (at least) two participants – otherwise, it’s just a straight-line time attack – and the GR86 got challenged by a superstar of petrolheaded occult societies: the Supra Mk IV. The 2JZ engine is a staple of Toyota’s in-house engineering mastery, a monument of horsepower, and a shrine for outrageous aftermarket tuning.

To keep things evenly balanced, both contenders come in bone stock form, just as they rolled off the assembly lines. However, the old Supra has a former tamed racing driver behind the wheel. Some say his first name is Ben; he used to wear white overalls and wasn’t much of a words guy. All we know is that he’s not called the Stig anymore, and he’s going up against a car vlogger.

The dueling drivers have picked their weapons of choice. Mat Watson is all in on the new-school, samurai sword-precise GR86. The Subaru badge-engineered two-seater brings a four-cylinder-caliber powerplant. To keep a low profile, the pistons are horizontally-opposed boxer punchers, imbued with Toyota’s injection (port and direct).

A free-breather that extracts 234 hp and 184 lb-ft (237 PS / 250 Nm) from 2.4 liters of “bore times stroke” capacity. Six speeds in the manual gearbox put the power to the rear wheels, and the 1,237-kg (2,727-lb) bodyweight solves the power-to-weight ratio equation with a 189 hp/ton (192 PS/ton).

Not necessarily despicable numbers, but the Supra beats every single one of those specs: 326 hp (330 PS), and 320 lb-ft (434 Nm), according to the car’s driver for the race. Three liters, six cylinders, neatly aligned (in good old-fashioned JDM high-output tradition), a pair of sequential turbines to compress air into the combustion chambers, and 1,490 kg (3,285 lb).

The Supra clearly outguns the GR86 in the absolute power-to-body mass index: 222 PS/ton (219 hp/ton). The only parity is reached in the drivetrain architecture – six speeds, a clutch pedal, a stick, and two hard-work-doing wheels (behind the driver).

Aerodynamics is crucial in any speed-oriented challenge, but the race has one added variable: weather conditions. Being England and winter, it’s a rainy day, and the track is wet, which is not a great argument in favor of performance.

But it is a critical factor as far as technology is concerned – and in the past two decades, automobiles have come a long way in mastering the elements. (Proof of how much different new and old cars are is evident in another mono-brand battle between two Nissans).

“There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing,” say the Scandinavians. This wisdom has yet to see exemption in the automotive universe. Too much power, too sudden, too early – here’s what not to do when drag racing in the rain.

And that’s precisely what the former anonymous car show TV star Ben Collins did (according to his plea of “guilty as charged”). The Supra turned out to be a nuclear blast-sized deception for the car’s ultra-fundamentalists. It lost the standing quarter-mile sprint and did so without even putting up a fight.

Half a second (14.8 seconds vs. 15.3 seconds) behind a car with 30 less hp-per-ton is quite an eyebrow (and questions) raiser of a 440-yard-sprint performance from the Supra. Although the details are not revealed, it might be possible that the tires have completely different wet road behavior, which could explain the wheel spins on the old Toyota.

The roll race is somewhat different, and the Supra has the upper hand, thanks to its pair of turbos that kick in at the right moment – instead of overdosing the tires with outbursts of power and nullifying grip at the start.

The allegedly more forceful and powerful three-decades-old Toyota loses by a hair in the first race (quarter mile, start in first gear) and wins in style in the second roll race round (30 mph / 48 kph, over half a mile – 804 meters, start in second gear).

One last run (for the history books) concludes with an epic Supra show-off – the massive turbo-power reserve at the top end mercilessly pushes the emblematic JDM ahead of its younger relative. From 50 mph/80 kph (in third gear), the turbo spool is instantaneous (metaphorically speaking). The knight of the order of the 2JZ shoots off and pulls away right from the start, restoring its honor to the hordes of its adulators.

Earlier in this story, I brought into discussion the tires on the cars – for a simple reason. The last stage of this show-down is a 100-o mph (160-0 kph) braking test, and the GR86 – lighter and newer – stops way before the Mk IV Supra (refer to the gallery for a visual cue). Even with advanced stopping power and performance aids, the difference is too big not to consider the rubber element.

All emotional and rational things considered, which would be the car of choice for you? The $72.5K Toyota Supra Mk IV or the $36K, three-decades-newer, technologically superior, Subaru-powered Toyota GR86?