Toyota Supra review

• What is it?
• Ah yes, is this just a BMW in a Japanese suit?
• That’d odd for a proudly Japanese company…
• Back to the headlines please.
• Our choice from the range
• What's the verdict?
• What is it like to drive?
• Tell me about the gearboxes.
• Is it comfy?
• Does it feel like a Japanese car or a German one?
• What is it like on the inside?
• What should I be paying?

Overview

What is it?

A car that’s been seven years in gestation and returned 21 years after its last appearance. Yet still it resonates. Supra. We first had it confirmed at the Detroit motor show back in 2014, when it was called the FT-1 Concept. Since then, much controversy. Mostly as a result of Toyota’s partnership with BMW.

Ah yes, is this just a BMW in a Japanese suit?

Underneath, the Supra shares a platform, running gear, engine, gearbox and large chunks of the interior with the latest BMW Z4. Another example of Toyota partnering with other marques to make the economics work (see also GT86/Subaru BRZ, and Aygo/Peugeot 108/Citroen C1).

But this partnership is different, because the Supra matters. It’s not a run-of-the-mill hatchback or a newly introduced small coupe. The Supra badge has history, a history that places it front and centre in Japanese car culture alongside the Honda NSX and Nissan GT-R.

It’s a car about which the president of the company, Akio Toyoda, a known petrolhead, has said “Supra is like an old friend that holds a special place in my heart”, and yet rather than building a bespoke halo car from scratch, the world’s largest car company has chosen to ship in large chunks of a moderately well regarded German roadster. And build it in Austria.

That’d odd for a proudly Japanese company…

Of course Toyota’s version is different, but here’s the crux. Toyota has history with the straight-six layout. The new Supra would have to use it. But Toyota doesn’t build them anymore, and doing so, according to chief engineer Tetsuya Tada, would have needed not only an all-new engine design, but a whole engine plant. Not viable. So they needed a partner, and as far as straight sixes go, BMW is about the only option.

The Toyota and BMW teams then worked together to develop their ideas into a prototype, based around a 2 Series coupe with a shortened wheelbase, nicknamed Fullrunner. This was driven by the boards of BMW and, after being shipped to Japan, the boards of Toyota. It was given the go-ahead, and the two teams separated and developed their cars themselves. Tada-san only drove a Z4 just before it went into production.

Enough background. The Supra is better looking than the Z4, no doubt about it. It’s well proportioned, voluptuous, you know exactly where the engine is and which are the driven wheels. But step up close. See the vents on the bonnet, doors, under the headlights and taillights? They’re fake. All of them.

Under the bonnet sits BMW’s B58 single turbo 3.0-litre straight six, retuned by Toyota, but still developing identical power figures (335bhp and 369lb ft of torque) to the Z4 M40i. This was originally sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission only, with 0-60mph taking 4.3 seconds.

However, Toyota says it’s bowed to public demand and as of mid-2022, there’s finally a manual gearbox which costs £2,000 less. The manual required Toyota to rejumble the centre console layout a little and head to ZF with a gearbox shopping list to cobble together a new transmission from various bits which could handle the lusty engine’s torque. GR also tried three different weights of gearknob before settling on a 200-gramme item for the most satisfying shift quality. Nerdy, huh?

Back to the headlines please.

Top speed for the 6cyl is 155mph. Only two seats inside, hatchback boot at the rear. The body is more rigid than the Lexus LFA’s, weight distribution is 50:50. Leaving aside the BMW controversy, you’ve got to admit it looks good on paper.

You can also have a 2.0-litre four-cylinder version with 255bhp. It’s an engine tried and tested in numerous BMWs, Minis and even a Morgan, and it works well with that eight-speed auto (yep, there’s no manual in the entry-level car).

So, time to see what it’s all like…

Our choice from the range

Toyota

3.0 3DR

Ј53,495

It’s a very complete coupe. Big enough inside, well equipped, handsome, rapid and good-natured. It’s grown-up, yet compact, agile, yet smooth. It’s a clever piece of engineering. A car you’d enjoy driving anywhere, a car that probably strikes the best compromise of GT and sportiness of any car in its class.

But that also means it doesn’t really shine brightest, either. We seem to have an absurd amount of choice in the £40-60k sports car market at the moment. There’s Caymans and Alpines if you want handling, a BMW M2 if you want a surprisingly lithe hot rod, and the likes of BMW’s M440i coupe if you want something really grown up. With numerous soft-tops peppered in amongst them all. But if you love the way the Supra looks – and can’t resist its iconic badge, in its Nineties font – then the rest of the car is good enough to justify giving this a try.

Driving

What is it like to drive?

The GR Supra is divisive. Some in the TG office think it’s really good to drive. It’s crisp, responsive, well connected, confidence-inspiring and quick.

The front wheels unfailingly go where you aim them, and the rear axle is communicative and well supported. What this means is that the Supra moves into corners well, and it gets out of them well, too. Actual steering feel? Not really, but the steering set-up – especially in Sport (that or Normal are your only choices) – is lovely, well weighted and responsive. It’s too light in Normal. Turn-in is positive, roll very well contained, and it feels agile, almost as if it has four-wheel steering (it doesn’t) thanks to the short 2.5m wheelbase.

It’s friendly over a wide range – you can choose to brake deep into an apex, or you can go in gently and power out. Nothing much flusters it. It doesn’t succumb suddenly to either understeer or oversteer, because there’s enough information coming to you that you’re already on top of the situation. In the dry, at least; it can be friskier in the wet.

If you do choose to, erm, exploit the edges of the performance envelope, you’ll be glad to hear it settles into oversteer with aplomb, has enough power to perform in third gear, enough lock to save most blushes. The brakes (vented, but not cross-drilled, no ceramic option) do fade, and could be more precise underfoot.

Others among our ranks dislike the car. They find its steering numb, the body control lazy, and we all agree that at over 1.5 tonnes it’s far too heavy for a bespoke two-seater. Toyota clearly knows this because as part of the updates for 2022 along with the manual gearbox, it’s added lighter wheels and a lighter hi-fi to help shed almost 40kg.

Tell me about the gearboxes.

The eight-speed automatic just about passes muster as a sports transmission, but it’s a close-run thing. Requested paddle downshifts can be a fraction delayed, upshifts can surge. We much prefer the manual, which is slick, intuitive and brings you closer to the engine, which can otherwise seem aloof. Plenty of mid-range shove, but not much point venturing beyond 5,500rpm. Nor that much further before the auto change-up point at 6,500rpm, either.

Is it comfy?

It rides calmly. This is surprising. Given the Supra’s accuracy you’d imagine it to be potentially brittle, but actually it flows along, relatively undistracted by lumps and bumps. Each wheel is very well controlled. Nor is noise, vibration or harshness an issue. You could easily imagine settling in for a long trip. It’s certainly quieter on the road than a Cayman, more settled than a BMW M2 Competition, if not as deft as an Alpine A110.

Which brings us on to weight. It’s not Alpine-light obviously, but it’s more agile than the 1,495kg kerbweight would suggest. And before you ask, it’s 115kg lighter than the equivalent Z4, the 1,610kg M40i. The 2.0-litre is lighter still which does help turn-in, but you get a less expensive sounding engine and more turbo lag in return.

Does it feel like a Japanese car or a German one?

Taken in isolation and ignoring lurking elephants, the Supra is great to drive. But it doesn’t half feel like a BMW. It’s the engine that does it. Toyota claims to have worked on the torque characteristics and so on, but the noise, the feel, the interaction is pure BMW. Engines are often what we fall in love with and Japanese straight sixes have a reputation to uphold, the old Supra’s 2JZ unit especially.

What price individuality? If you’ve never driven a recent BMW turbo – or something Japanese with a straight six – you’ll take this motor at face value and enjoy it (the Supra’s certainly not short of pace), but if you care about the backstory or have driven a 335i, we think you’re going to feel puzzled.

And this complex gestation has another victim: charisma. Great cars are often great because they’re flawed or highly individual, but the Supra feels confused – part German, part Japanese, not quite knowing what it is. A feeling the 2.0-litre four-cyl version only exacerbates, though let it be said it’s actually the sharper car to drive. A smaller engine means it’s 100kg lighter, and every dynamic facet – steering, composure, braking – benefits as a result. It’s the best Supra if you simply seek a sports car. But you might have already knocked on Porsche or Alpine’s door if that’s the case.

Interior

What is it like on the inside?

So here’s the thing. We can forgive the BMW engine. But it’s hard to forgive the cabin. The Supra is a BMW inside. Of course this means it’s got material quality and tactility it wouldn’t have had otherwise, and some people will see that as a plus. And once again, if you aren’t familiar with BMW, it’s not going to offend you. But here’s Toyota, the world’s largest car company, having to wedge in large chunks of BMW switchgear. It’s just odd.

There’s a reason, unsurprisingly. The engine can’t come alone. You need all the management software with it. Which means you have to have iDrive. Which means you have to have the screens, which means that – unless you’re prepared to spend millions and millions – you have to have the typefaces and so on.

Toyota looked at doing it, and did do it for the safety alerts in the Supra. That alone required rewriting 20,000 lines of code. The complications of platform sharing in the modern age are ridiculous. The rev counter is Toyota’s own, the steering wheel definitely isn’t. Same goes for the heating controls, graphics, USB slots, switchgear, door handles etc.

Ignoring the BMW influences then: the driving position is great. You sit low, the standard seats wrap around your back a treat (they have adjustable side bolsters, but the seat bases aren’t so impressive), over the shoulder visibility is horrible, elsewhere it’s good enough. Two people have space inside, and the boot is much more generous than the 290-litre claimed volume suggests. A bit of jiggling has the parcel shelf out and you can get some long loads in here, if you must.

The infotainment is intuitive (if it had been Toyota’s, it wouldn’t have been) and kit levels are good. Base versions in the UK get a rear camera, electric Alcantara seats with heating and cooling, 10-speaker audio, sat nav, adaptive LED lights, adaptive suspension, active differential, adaptive cruise, but 99 per cent of buyers are expected to spend the extra £1,300 for the Pro. Be the one per cent. The leather seats are inferior to Alcantara and the head-up display is a distraction.

Buying

What should I be paying?

Do you care about the brand overlap and associations? This is a curious one. Normally BMW branding enhances a car’s value. Here we’re not sure it does. Toyota has proved it can build its own sports cars before and long-term we’re not sure this one will be seen so favourably.

It’s expensive to buy, but so’s an Alpine A110, and a Cayman S is probably £10k more once you’ve specced it as comprehensively as the Supra. It’s a bit galling to see that BMW’s equivalent Z4 – bearing in mind roadsters are traditionally more expensive than coupes – is a few grand cheaper, though. The Supra will be a rarer beast.

It’s efficient. Over the course of nearly 300 miles, including track driving, we averaged 27.4mpg with the 6cyl. On motorway schleps it was up at 34.0mpg, with 70mph pulling 1,700rpm. It’s quiet and relaxed.

You can save £2k by having the manual, which Toyota says 30-40 per cent of buyers will. Weirdly, Toyota insisted at the Supra’s debut it would never build this car with a manual gearbox because sports car buyers want paddles for speed and ease. Now they say a third of sales will have a stick and a clutch pedal. That’s one heck of a U-turn, and one we suspect wouldn’t be happening unless the initial reaction to this car had been less lukewarm.

But do you want to own one? Over and above an Alpine A110, Porsche Cayman or BMW M2? Before driving it, we’d have said no. But the dynamics are good enough to put it firmly in the mix – if you can accept something a bit heavier and ultimately softer.

Oh, and we’ve been running one in the Top Gear Garage. Read all of our updates right here.

Keyword: Toyota Supra review