Photo: Litchfield
Codenamed A90, the fifth generation of the Supra is more of a miss rather than a hit for Toyota. The BMW Z4 in disguise isn’t even made by Toyota, but by Magna Steyr in Austria with Bavarian underpinnings and an eight-speed automatic transmission from ZF Friedrichshafen.
Remember when Tetsuya Tada said that a six-speed manual would be developed if demand would be overwhelming? In a recent interview with Autoblog.com, the chief engineer made it clear “there will be no manual transmission. Customers who want a manual should choose the Toyota 86.”
Hear that? The chief engineer doesn’t care about what the enthusiasts and prospective owners want. But then again, what did you expect from the man who couldn’t explain why every vent on the GR Supra is fake? On the upside, Tada-san did promise “more performance with each additional version.”
A 50-horsepower bump for the inline-six turbo would be a sure bet, more so if you remember the Z4 M40i is more powerful than today’s GR Supra with all the bells and whistles. Performance upgrades will also include carbon-ceramic brakes, which should fool the customer into thinking this car can be tracked.
For all intents and purposes, the 86 seems like a better deal from a financial standpoint. The $49,990 sticker price of the entry-level model in the United States of America is a few dollars more than the Chevrolet Camaro in 2SS flavor, coupe, and with the 1LE Track Performance Package, and don’t you dare ask about the equivalent variant of the Ford Mustang.
Dealers are slapping $100,000 stickers on these things like there’s no tomorrow, and to make matters worse, the first 1,500 examples of the breed will be Launch Edition models. These usually retail at $56,180 as opposed to $50,920 before options for the bog-standard GR Supra.
If you find a GR Supra at the dealerships with the “market adjustment” sticker on it, it’d be best to either wait out for the hype to drown or look elsewhere. One of the best alternatives out there would be the BMW M2 Competition, which retails at $58,900 excluding destination charge.
Hear that? The chief engineer doesn’t care about what the enthusiasts and prospective owners want. But then again, what did you expect from the man who couldn’t explain why every vent on the GR Supra is fake? On the upside, Tada-san did promise “more performance with each additional version.”
A 50-horsepower bump for the inline-six turbo would be a sure bet, more so if you remember the Z4 M40i is more powerful than today’s GR Supra with all the bells and whistles. Performance upgrades will also include carbon-ceramic brakes, which should fool the customer into thinking this car can be tracked.
For all intents and purposes, the 86 seems like a better deal from a financial standpoint. The $49,990 sticker price of the entry-level model in the United States of America is a few dollars more than the Chevrolet Camaro in 2SS flavor, coupe, and with the 1LE Track Performance Package, and don’t you dare ask about the equivalent variant of the Ford Mustang.
Dealers are slapping $100,000 stickers on these things like there’s no tomorrow, and to make matters worse, the first 1,500 examples of the breed will be Launch Edition models. These usually retail at $56,180 as opposed to $50,920 before options for the bog-standard GR Supra.
If you find a GR Supra at the dealerships with the “market adjustment” sticker on it, it’d be best to either wait out for the hype to drown or look elsewhere. One of the best alternatives out there would be the BMW M2 Competition, which retails at $58,900 excluding destination charge.
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