The fourth-gen Supra wasn’t designed for drag racing, albeit it’s wickedly quick with the right mods. The current Supra isn’t a quarter-mile bruiser either, but a seriously misunderstood sports car.
Many critics blame Toyota for selling out in a number of ways, beginning with the CLAR-derived platform that BMW uses for the Z4. The naysayers, however, need to be reminded that said vehicles handle differently because Toyota’s engineers and BMW’s engineers went their separate ways early in the development process.
According to Supra chief engineer Tetsuya Tada, the split happened after Toyota and BMW agreed on the wheelbase and track. As a result, Toyota was in charge of body rigidity, steering, transmission, and engine tuning for the fifth-generation Supra.
Also remember that the Japanese automaker pieced together a manual transmission for a car designed to feature the ZF-supplied 8HP automatic exclusively. Said transmission is expected to be used by none other than BMW in the Z4 M40i, with production supposedly kicking off in March 2024 at the Magna Steyr assembly plant in Graz, Austria.
Most likely the final internal combustion-only Supra, the fifth gen outputs 382 horsepower and 368 pound-feet (nearly 500 Nm) of torque at full chatter. The BMW-supplied engine actually makes a bit more than officially advertised, and the same applies to the M-specified S58 twin-turbo lump.
Photo: Wheels Plus on YouTube
Pictured at Bandimere Speedway (a.k.a. Thunder Mountain) in black and with mismatched wheels, the Supra in the video below appears to wear more aggressive rubber out back. Not drag radials, but clearly better tires than the factory rubber. On the other lane, you’ll notice a white-painted Tesla.
A tri-motor Plaid with aftermarket wheels, the all-electric sedan was developed from the outset to beat supercars in the quarter mile. Not surprising in the least, the Supra didn’t stand a chance, posting 12.7 seconds compared to 9.4 for the Model S Plaid. The difference in speed is pretty shocking as well, with the Tesla clocking 149.10 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour) versus 109.47 miles per hour (176 kilometers per hour).
The Model S Plaid isn’t a one-trick pony, though. Fully stock, the quickest and fastest Tesla of them all topped 82 kilometers per hour (approximately 51 miles per hour) on corner entry in the moose test, which is remarkable for a vehicle this heavy. What’s more, it can morph into a track monster as long as you’re prepared to spend an extra $20k.
That money gets you the Track Package, which unlocks a top speed of 200 miles per hour (a little over 320 kilometers per hour) by means of software. On the hardware side, your hard-earned cash goes on aluminum forged wheels, Goodyear Supercar 3R tires, carbon-ceramic brakes with one-piece calipers, as well as track-ready brake fluid.
In this configuration, the Model S Plaid requires 7:25 to lap the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Not long now, German automaker Porsche will confirm a better time for the upcoming Taycan Turbo GT.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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