Friday 2nd August 2019

Toyota Supra set for 450hp with Litchfield upgrade

Litchfield made its name in Japanese cars, and more recently with BMWs; a faster Supra was only a matter of time...

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Litchfield is working on software and exhaust upgrades for the Toyota Supra, changes that are predicted to boost its turbocharged straight-six's output to 450hp - a gain of 110hp on standard. The Gloucester tuner, which has wasted no time in getting Japan's new sports car onto its in-house rolling road, has already extracted 420hp from the car's 3.0-litre engine via an ECU remap, but expects to add 20-30hp to that figure when hardware changes are made to the mechanical setup.

The changes will centre around the car's breathing hardware, primarily its centre pipe and exhaust system. Litchfield is working with specialists Milltek and Akrapovic on new parts, engineers visiting the latter in Slovenia last month in order to get to grips with its just-announced titanium setup - which you can listen to on video here. To get the most from the new pipes, Litchfield unsurprisingly will ditch the Supra's factory-fit particulate filter.

Assuming Litchfield achieves its target for the Supra - and there's little reason to doubt it, given the firm's familiarity with the B58 from its BMW '40i' work - it seems plausible that the Supra's 0-62mph time will edge beneath the four-second mark. That would rank it close to some pretty serious machinery - 911s, BMW M cars and the like.

You probably won't be surprised to hear that Litchfield is also developing an oil cooler for the engine, because buyers of an uprated Supra are the sort to embrace the power on offer. To the same end a raft of chassis upgrades is forthcoming, including a strut brace and uprated suspension, with a choice of Bilstein and KW dampers.

It all sounds rather exciting, and just the sort of stuff we felt necessary after driving the highly impressive but not-quite-as-exhilarating-as-expected standard Supra. A big boost in power and some light chassis fettling ought to extract the properly focussed performance machine that seems to be lurking somewhere in the A90. The question remains as to how much this will all cost; pricing is yet to be confirmed, but expect Litchfield to offer something pretty competitive, what with it already having a decent number of interested Supra customers eagerly awaiting final numbers. More to follow soon!

[anonymous-user]

[redacted]

[bluezedd]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Hi RR,

I had a look for the video that you mentioned, and I think this is it.

https://uk.motor1.com/news/358528/toyota-supra-bmw...

Just putting it here so others can see.

That was surprising, as I thought they would have been matched. Then again I don't know about Z4 models and whether they were racing exactly the "right" model. Still surprising though.

[wab172uk]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's on Carwow Youtube site.

Clearly quick (thanks to the gearbox) but if any car needs a manual gearbox, this is it.

Awaits all the negative comments about Litchfields. Just as they did in the Litchfields Golf remap thread.

[Alistair-mvug5]

It's not a 110bhp upgrade though

The new 'Supra' has been proven to make 380bhp standard and M140's make around 350-360bhp standard anyway.

These gains are not new, I don't understand the hype it's the same engine from 2016 in a different body.

[borat52]

Always good to see a UK tuner doing something interesting.

I'll take the opportunity to point out that you could get that power out of the old supra TT with FBO mods more than 20 years ago.

[Dave Hedgehog]

Alistair-mvug5 said:

It's not a 110bhp upgrade though

The new 'Supra' has been proven to make 380bhp standard and M140's make around 350-360bhp standard anyway.

These gains are not new, I don't understand the hype it's the same engine from 2016 in a different body.

Very much this

[soad]

Realistically, that’s more than enough for daily use?

But it’s only the beginning, more gains to be had...

[krisdelta]

Litchfield have good form for upgrades, but my goodness the Supra is a dogs dinner to look at. I really hoped this would transform in the metal (as the related Z4 didn't photograph well), but having seen two at LeMans - nope, just dreadful to my eyes.

[cerb4.5lee]

wab172uk said:

Clearly quick (thanks to the gearbox) but if any car needs a manual gearbox, this is it.

Agree and I really hope that Toyota do eventually offer one.

[Denorth]

bluezedd said:

Hi RR,

I had a look for the video that you mentioned, and I think this is it.

https://uk.motor1.com/news/358528/toyota-supra-bmw...

Just putting it here so others can see.

That was surprising, as I thought they would have been matched. Then again I don't know about Z4 models and whether they were racing exactly the "right" model. Still surprising though.

the article below the video kind of provided the answer:
As mentioned, both cars use BMW's straight-six engine, which produces 335 bhp and 369 pound-feet, sent to the rear axle via an 8-speed ZF 8HP automatic torque converter transmission. The one on the video above didn't use the U.S. version of the Z4, which has a tad bit of power at 382 bhp.

[IMI A]

I’m reasonably sure if Litchfield remove the particulate filter it’s an auto MOT failure a few years down the line and also illegal? Having said that they must have done their homework as it’s the best tuning facility in the UK.

[mackie1]

How likely is it that Toyota have been turning the wick up a bit on the press cars? Or is 335bhp the at-the-wheels number?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60cxIFwHJNU

[ghost83]

Front is just a mess on the supra imo! I actually quite like the back though!

This was a chance for Toyota to showcase itself and it’s sold itself out imo!

Should have had a lovely new version of a 2jz with a manual gearbox

[Reavenger]

IMI A said:

I’m reasonably sure if Litchfield remove the particulate filter it’s an auto MOT failure a few years down the line and also illegal? Having said that they must have done their homework as it’s the best tuning facility in the UK.

I wondered this. Can't just remove filters like you can DPF's back when, anymore. Times have changed.

Edited by Reavenger on Friday 2nd August 13:01

[Julian Thompson]

Are they allowed to ditch the GPF and still pass an MOT?

[Orchardab]

Companies have been tuning these engines for ages have they not??

[Mackofthejungle]

mackie1 said:

How likely is it that Toyota have been turning the wick up a bit on the press cars? Or is 335bhp the at-the-wheels number?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60cxIFwHJNU

I suppose it's possible, but I think it's more likely they're doing the classic Japanese trick of lying about power figures. Make it with 380bhp, tell everyone "hey, our new car has 335bhp", and watch as stupids all go "wow, this car is so quick! Suck trickery! Magic Toyota engineering!" Same with the "470bhp" GTR, same with the gentlemen's 276bhp era... We should really have learned by now.

[Gandahar]

Julian Thompson said:

Are they allowed to ditch the GPF and still pass an MOT?

Only if they have fitted a diesel engine into it. I'm guessing from reading the review they have not. Only DPF's tested at MOT.

Edited by Gandahar on Friday 2nd August 13:55

[Gandahar]

wab172uk said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Awaits all the negative comments about Litchfields. Just as they did in the Litchfields Golf remap thread.

The BMW M2 thread was best when our resident forum PH engineer popped up again to claim their version would increase the UK's cancer rate

[Gandahar]

IMI A said:

I’m reasonably sure if Litchfield remove the particulate filter it’s an auto MOT failure a few years down the line and also illegal? Having said that they must have done their homework as it’s the best tuning facility in the UK.

The particulate filters are a European thing, a few years down the line I wonder how Boris and the EU and the MOT and particulate filters will affect whether this car passes the 2025 MOT ?

People worrying about an exhaust and MOT rather than the UK and Europe