Our dreams for the manual option may be coming true this year.
When the Toyota GR Supra was first released to the market in 2019, the one piece of equipment that we all sorely missed was an engaging manual gearbox. The current twin-scroll turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six engine supplied by BMW is currently only offered with ZF's eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission which is great but detracts from the overall engaging driving experience.
According to Creative 311, a notice that has been sent out to Toyota dealers in Japan adds to the rumor mill of a six-speed manual option. This document states that a manual is coming and that it could be released to its local market by October of this year, with the introduction of the 2023 model year range. The notice is a brief outline of what dealers can expect and is subject to change. Official details will supposedly be released next month.
The notice states that the six-speed manual option will only be available on the flagship RZ trim, known as the Premium in the USA. Despite previous reports stating otherwise, it also hints that the 2.0-liter four-pot option will likely maintain its automatic-only state. To let the people around you know that you’re driving a manual Supra, it appears Toyota will be introducing a unique set of 19-inch forged alloys.
The updated Supra range, including the upcoming manual option, will be put together at the Magna Steyr plant in Graz, Austria where the BMW Z4 is also assembled. Fans of the current Supra may recall that Toyota confirmed it had built a manual concept strictly for testing purposes and was aware of the demand. Key members of the company hinted that a manual option would never come to reality but it looks like opinions may have changed.
While a production variant of a manual Toyota GR Supra may be a new thing to look forward to, some tuners across the world have already taken matters into their own hands. One such example is San Antonio-based tuner European Auto Group, who developed a manual swap for the current car. This package also increased the car's power from 335 horsepower to over 420 hp.
Previous reports suggested that a limited edition GRMN example of the Supra will be launched with a 500-hp power output. We have already seen this similar approach with the GR Yaris, but this limited model is a Japan-exclusive. This may be the same for the upcoming special Supra. There's also no indication that this edition will benefit from the upcoming manual gearbox.
Keyword: The Manual Toyota GR Supra Is Coming This Summer