Toyota Confirms the Supra Will Be Available with a Four Cylinder

Chief engineer Tetsuya Tada says the four-pot will be lighter, cheaper, get better weight distribution, and boast sharper turn-in.
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Another day, another piece of the MkV Toyota Supra puzzle is revealed. After we learned of the car’s approximate torque and weight figures, Road & Track‘s Bozi Tatarevic has dug up a “transmission catalog” from gearbox builder ZF that outlines the upcoming Toyota’s powertrain options. 

According to the document, the new Supra will be available with a 335-horsepower, 3.0-liter, twin-turbo straight-six. The sports car will also be available with a 2.0-liter, turbo four-cylinder making 261 horses. The four-pot option’s existence was then reportedly confirmed by Supra chief engineer Tetsuya Tada when he spoke to Road & Track at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Toyota man also said that the 2.0-liter car will be lighter, have “much better weight distribution,” and sharper turn-in. Should make it the purist’s choice, especially considering Tada’s instructions to those who intend to perform a 2JZ engine swap: “Please buy the four-cylinder. It will be cheaper.” 

Yes, the new Supra’s engine bay will apparently fit Toyota’s legendary 2JZ.

The ZF document also reveals that both engines will be sourced from BMW. The 3.0-liter will be the B58B30 found in the M240i while the smaller, lighter, more economical mill will be a B48B20 unit closely related to the one found in the current 330i. Both engines will apparently be mated to ZF’s eight-speed automatic transmission.

The document goes on to reveal that the Supra’s BMW platform-mate, the upcoming Z4 roadster, will have an identical setup: A 3.0-liter inline-six flanked by an entry-level 2.0-liter, save for one small distinction. A variant of the straight-six Z4 will apparently be tuned to produce 375 horsepower instead of 335, very likely the slightly hotted-up M40i version

Tatarevic also points out that the Supra’s brakes look remarkably similar to the parts found on BMW’s M Sport package-equipped M550i sedan.

The A90 Toyota Supra is set to reveal itself in full sometime in early 2019. Until then, keep a tab open for The Drive for the latest details to trickle out.

Chris Tsui Avatar

Chris Tsui

Reviews Editor

Chris Tsui is The Drive’s Reviews Editor, overseeing and shaping how the site evaluates new cars. He lives in Toronto.


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