Monday 20th May 2019

TRD goes to town on new Supra

Toyota Racing Development celebrates the Supra's arrival in the only way it knows how

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We knew TRD parts were coming for the new Supra. We knew because it's precisely the sort of thing that Toyota Racing Development's employees are paid to dream up. And because they told us earlier in the year. Now, off the back of an official enthusiast gathering to celebrate the Supra's return to the JDM, it has finally put some meat on the bones of what was previously a sketched teaser.

The meat in this case is made from carbon fibre, which has been cunningly woven into a variety of aerodynamic-enhancing ancillaries. Except for the 20-spoke, 19-inch wheels of course, which are forged aluminium and very fetching indeed.

The subjective appeal of the rest you can decide for yourself. For our money, the side skirts and duckbill spoiler look rather good, although there is a huge amount of canarding (definitely a word) going on when you stand back.

There are other sacrifices, too. The three-piece front splitter shaves 14mm from the Supra's ground clearance and the door inserts block off the side intakes (although apparently they are only included to feed air to future aftermarket modifications anyway, and the standard Supra is more than capable of surviving without them).

Nevertheless, the bits are not just for show; save for the mirror caps, TRD claims increased downforce and reduced lift from its glossy efforts. Which is appropriate because it's been suggested that the price for the whole lot is almost certain to run into five figures.

You won't have to worry about that just yet though as a) the Supra has only just landed in Europe, and b) the TRD parts are, at the very least, a long way behind having only just launched in Japan. We'd imagine the US is on the list next. Unless you fancy buying from a Japanese distributor and having them shipped to Blighty, of course. But we'd wait until the tuner unveils the truly massive rear spoiler that you can absolutely guarantee it is also working on...

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IMAGE CREDIT: TRD

[Hot Knife]

But when will there be an engine that lives up to the Legend of Supra?

[Hot Knife]

Mike335i said:

3.0 twin turbo straight six with 340hp? Already got one sunshine.

20HP in 23 years?

BMW has increased the M5's Horsepower from 335 to 617 in the same period.

That's more clouds than sunshine.

[Hot Knife]

V10leptoquark said:

Good point. People would likely have written the car off as just another digital release from a big manufacturer to put its name in the competition offerings.
However "Toyota" decided to "bring back the legendary Supra", and I think in many people's eyes, they royally fecked it up.

exactly. The Legend of Supra was real. That last car was a monster at the time. This is just a ugly and mediocre rebadge.

But that era, the late 90's was the end of Toyota. The GT4 Celica, the Supra, the MR2 Turbo. They were great cars and hella fast for the time.

Toyota is an abomination now. Useless "sporty" cars and some Eco-marketed hybrids that are terrible for the environment. Leftist soccer moms rejoice!

[Hot Knife]

Leon R said:

That logic only makes sense if power leaps make the car better.

Look at the MX5.

but the MX5 was never intended as a HP stonker. The Supra was. Now it's...well I don't know what it is, a weak toyota sporty coupe. That's why people are disappointed. TRD used to be something that had some cache with actual motorsport heritage and homologation issues you could buy and watch it clean up in the World Rally Championships etc.

Edited by Hot Knife on Tuesday 21st May 11:21

[Hot Knife]

Leon R said:

Not sure that is actually true, the most powerful version of it had like 320hp which is near enough what the offerings from Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan ect had.

Well it was a Japanese translation of a sports car and at the time 320HP was considered a lot for someone like that.

Put it perspective, the MX5 you compare it with had 128HP. It was a totally different car.

[Hot Knife]

Dr Doofenshmirtz said:

Aidancky said:

I'm a huge Toyota fan but they've really dropped the ball on this one. Every statement they make about it ends up being marketing BS that is often just literally lies. It's a detuned Z4 with a hardtop, Toyotas efforts are styling as far as I can tell. Which is super disappointing.

Well said & I completely agree.

Sadly it's all the fault of common consumers though. Folks want boring SUV's and aren't interested in sporty or remotely interesting cars any more.

I agree, it's well said. I used to be a Toyota fan at the time they were deep in motorsport and I really loved the GT4 Celica in particular. Toyota abandoned the market and their customers and decided no more sports models. Everything they have ever done since has been like a slap in the face. It's sad and weird to see what they had slip. But that is what the company became.

All this BS about leaving it to the tuners is just bogus marketing

[Hot Knife]

I'm just guessing it's more to do with what their core market is now, the eco market. They're not going to make an all out baller now are they?