autoevolution
 

Toyota Waxes Lyrical About Straight-Six Engine In 2020 Supra

It’s been a lot of time since Toyota pulled the plug on the Supra, back during a time when the performance-oriented and general public was falling out of love with sports cars. More to the point, the fourth generation ended production at the Motomachi plant in Aichi back in August 2002.
2020 Toyota Supra 17 photos
Photo: Toyota
2020 Toyota Supra leaked photo2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra2020 Toyota Supra
In addition to the styling, the driving dynamics of the Supra attracted people into the showroom. Enthusiasts, on the other hand, were all over the 2JZ with twin-turbo technology. With a little bit of yet expensive tuning, you can take the Supra to the drag strip and dominate every single competitor who thinks he’s king of the blacktop.

But following the JZ family, Toyota didn’t develop another straight-six engine. Production came to a grinding halt in 2007, and more recently, the Japanese automaker even discontinued the 5.0-liter V12 codenamed 1GZ that’s powered the Century from 1997 to 2016. Whichever way you look at it, Toyota canceled two of the most exciting engines it’s ever produced without considering the feelings of car lovers and customers alike.

Automotive News Europe had a chat with Gazoo Racing’s chief engineer, and guess what? “Customer surveys showed that the Supra's one non-negotiable attribute was a straight six.” Tetsuya Tada even has the audacity to claim “the straight six is the only engine with perfect balance and low vibration,” adding that Toyota “can realize smooth driving [dynamics] with exciting [exhaust] sound.”

Coming back for the 2020 model year at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show in January, the Supra can’t do better than the B58 engine that BMW uses in x40i, Mx40i, and M40i models such as the all-new Z4. Speaking of the soft-top roadster, Toyota partnered with BMW to use the CLuster ARchitecture from the Z4 instead of developing a chassis that would suit the Supra better than the platform that BMW also uses in the 3 Series.

As much as we’re glad Toyota is bringing the Supra back, this is a case of too little and too late for people who owned or take the previous generation to the drag strip, at least every now and then. On that note, here’s hope Toyota won’t do a superficial job of the next-generation 86 either.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

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

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories