By Paul Gover.
When the born-again Toyota Supra was announced there were instant queues at dealers.
The Supra name is a Toyota icon and its return to showrooms proves that Brand T is serious about delivering on company chief Akio Toyoda’s promise to put the enjoyment in motoring at a company which built four-wheeled fridges – efficient but boringly bland – for far too long.
The GR in the Supra’s name even reflects his personal racing sub-brand, Gazoo Racing, which is being applied to everything from Le Mans winning prototypes to the Yaris hotrods being campaigned in the Australian Rally Championship by Canberra brothers Harry and Lewis Bates.
But the heart of the GR Supra is not Japanese at all. Its German.
A collaboration between the BMW and Toyota led to the creation of a pair of comeback cars, the Z4 as a convertible for BMW and the Supra as a coupe for Toyota, and both are doing well and delivering old-school sports car enjoyment for the 2020s.
The Supra has crisp fixed-roof styling and a turbocharged six-cylinder engine that gives cracking performance, with a cracking exhaust note in the mix, and it’s a relative bargain from $84,900.
It’s a pure two-seater with a tiny boot that’s tough to load, just as you expect in a real sports car.
The handling is responsive and sharp, it stops well, and performance is everything you need. It will slingshot to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds and yet still return better than 8 litres/100km thanks to a very intelligent turbo package that only gives a big go when it’s needed.
The outside is clearly Toyota alongside newbies like the CH-R and one of the best looking newcomers of 2019, but inside the BMW influence cannot be ignored. It’s in the instruments and infotainment package, even the look and feel of the trim.
But is that a negative? Not for me.
The car is far sharper than any of the earlier Supra coupes, which began as a six-cylinder Celica and morphed into a car that was ponderous and bloated in the styling and better for cruising than carving through curves.
This 21st century Supra is easily the best of its breed and a car to enjoy, for both cruising or carving.
The low-slung cabin can make it tough to get in and out, but – like the boot – it’s what you expect in a sport car. It’s the same with the pinched-in visibility at the rear, which is only a problem when going thanks to the usual rear-view camera and sensors.
The Supra can be a bit noisy on some surfaces at highway speeds but, once again, that’s what you expect even in a thoroughly modern sports car.
And if you would prefer a bit more open-air enjoyment with your new whip-quick two-seater there is always the Z4 from BMW.
THE BASICS
Toyota Supra
Price: from $84,900
Power: 250kW/500Nm
Position: two-seater sports car
Plus: proper sports car, BMW basics
Minus: More BMW than Toyota
THE TICK: Yes
