Toyota GR Supra - performance and 0-62 time
Does strong work with its modest power figures, but both engines work most effectively in the mid-range
The way it goes about achieving that speed feels… well, quite BMW-like. There are worse engines to listen to than the 3.0’s straight-six, but the engine and transmission’s character is quite laid-back compared to Porsche’s 4-litre flat-six and Audi’s turbocharged five-cylinder in the TT RS (now also dearly departed).
Toyota has worked to give the car some aural character, and in the sportier driving modes there are the obligatory crackles when backing off the throttle. And seat-of-the-pants it feels comfortably as quick as the 4.3sec 0-62mph time suggests (or 4.6sec for the manual version), punching hard from very few revs and the acceleration never really tailing off until you bump into the limiter. It responds well in-gear too, taking off with the merest hint of throttle input.
Perhaps it’s a symptom of the low-set driving position or the minimal glass area but it seems to accentuate the car’s performance too – there’s a proper muscle car vibe. The transmission is one of several areas the car feels short on interaction, as good though the ZF is, it’s not as sharp as the dual-clutch ’boxes offered elsewhere, and the process of switching the car into sport mode, knocking the gear shifter into manual and then changing down half a dozen gears just to wake everything up feels neither efficient nor fun, or interactive.
This is where the manual gearbox option comes in – the extra engagement instilled by needing to stoke the engine yourself makes a big difference day-to-day, with a robust and positive shift quality. The gearbox uses a unique set of ZF internals and Toyota has honed the feel across the gate and into gears; this is no slap-dash installation, and it shows. The clutch pedal action is intuitive too, while Toyota’s iMT auto-blip function has been integrated into downshifts.
The entry-level 2.0 model’s performance on paper is impressive, with 62mph reached in just 5.2sec, but that’s about where the 2.0’s performance good points end. As it is in most other applications, the B48 just doesn’t make a very good fist at being a sports car engine. Its low-down torque negates it having any enthusiasm to reach the red line, and while the engine is responsive, you find yourself driving it like a diesel, relying on the torque and short-shifting up the transmission to keep it in its useable (rather than sweet) spot. All Supras have a 155mph top speed.
