The Toyota Supra made a glorious comeback in 2019 – the brand’s most famous sports car revived with the help of BMW.
Now the two companies are devising a new way to make the Supra even more special, with plans reportedly in motion to install the same engine from the upcoming BMW M4 into the Japanese coupe.
Read our Toyota GR Supra review
Japan’s Best Car Web publication – a respected industry source – is reporting that Toyota will launch the Supra GRMN in 2023. It will boast not only more performance under the bonnet but a revised chassis and aerodynamic package honed around Germany’s Nurburgring; possibly even during future Nurburgring 24-hour races.
GRMN is the Gazoo Racing nameplate for its range-topping, Nurburgring-tuned models, suggesting this will sit at the pinnacle of the Supra range.
The biggest change will come under the bonnet, with the 3.0-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder engine from the next-generation BMW M4 squeezed underneath the Supra’s long nose. While full technical details of this new engine aren’t locked in yet it’s safe to expect more than 380kW of power and 600Nm of torque. That’s a major boost from the current 250kW/500Nm offered by the Supra’s German engine.
The engine will be paired to BMW’s seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, sending all that grunt to the rear wheels – despite the new M3/M4 making the switch to all-wheel drive.
According to Best Car Web, despite the Supra sharing its underpinnings with the BMW Z4 this engine upgrade will be unique to the Toyota, with the German brand leaving the high-performance engine out of its convertible.
It’s not all good news for fans of the Japanese icon, however, with the same report claiming that Toyota plans to wrap up production of the Supra in 2025 with no plans for a replacement. That is possibly in line with stricter European emissions standards coming into force in 2026 which are likely to force most new models to feature some form of electrified powertrain – either fully electric or hybrid.
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