Toyota GR Supra: What to expect from the sports icon?

If you are a car fanatic you must be well aware of the legendary Toyota Supra. And if you’re not, you might have seen it in the popular Hollywood movie Fast and Furious. Yes, it was the orange one driven by Paul Walker. Still can't recall it? One of the most thrilling scenes of that movie was the drag race between Vin Diesel's Charger and Paul's Supra.

Does this ring any bells? Anyway, there were many reasons behind Supra’s popularity because Toyota really nailed it with the sports car. The Supra was one of the most beloved, famous, and customisable cars in the world. Even today, a well maintained old Supra is desired by many car lovers.

Unfortunately, Toyota stopped manufacturing the Supra back in 2002 which brought a shockwave for its fans around the world. And now, 17 years later, Toyota has revived the Supra, a car that has a long and rich history linked to its name. Designed in the modern era to take back its place in the automobile industry, the new Supra has been trending for quite some time now and we have been desperately waiting for it to come to our country.

Toyota hasn’t released any information about it, though. It was at the round 1 of the Toyota Vios Circuit Championship where the Toyota GR Supra was unveiled for the Filipinos for the very first time. And shortly after, Toyota Philippines posted a picture on its Facebook page confirming the arrival of the GR Supra in the country pretty soon. So, what are the things to expect from it? Let’s find out.

As we have recalled Vios here, do you know Toyota has extended the standard warranty on the ever so popular Vios? The Japanese sedan now comes with a 5-year or 100,000-km standard warranty. Read in detail here.

The 2019 Toyota Supra is inspired by the FT-1 concept car that the Japanese automaker showcased at the 2016 Philippine International Motor Show. It still has a silhouette of the old car but is packed in new clothes. Talking about the front end of the car, it features LED headlamps, LED DRLs, big sporty bumper with huge air intakes, and a low-slung bonnet.

The wheels on this thing are super sexy and very sharp in design. The whole body is very aerodynamic in nature. The rear end has a uniquely-shaped spoiler which looks super cool. Then there are the large LED taillights with signature lighting. Another thing about the rear of the GR Supra that pleases us is the twin exhaust residing underneath the large diffuser.

These were the things on the outside of the car. Now let’s talk about the interior. Toyota has given the new Supra a very driver-oriented cabin as everything is well within the reach of the driver. However, since Toyota developed the latest Supra in association with its partner BMW, there are a number of things that would remind you of the German automaker. For example, the buttons, gear shift lever, paddle shifters, etc. are borrowed directly from BMW. Everything is top-notch but it somehow takes away the excitement from you which was developed by the exterior of the car.

Anyway, let’s move on to the heart of the matter, the engine. The Toyota GR Supra specs should have a 3.0-litre turbocharged straight-six engine that would produce around 340 hp, 10 hp more than the previous generation model. Toyota went ahead with only a single turbocharger but it is of the twin-scroll type which means the turbo lag would be reduced significantly. For the transmission, the GR Supra would get a slick eight-speed automatic gearbox. Toyota claims that the new Supra can do a sprint from 0 to 100 kmph in just 4.3 seconds.

 

One major thing to note here is that the new GR Supra isn’t manufactured in Japan like the old one. Instead, it’s made in Austria by Magna Steyr, the same factory that produces the BMW Z4. While it is confirmed that the Toyota GR Supra will be launched in the Philippines, we still don’t have an official launch date or price. We hope things fall into place quickly and the Supra is launched at the earliest because we are getting a bit anxious to get closer to this car in person! We will be on top of this, so, stay tuned with Zigwheels for all the latest updates about the GR Supra.

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