Toyota unveils the icon Supra after 17 years

MANILA: After a long wait of 17 years since the last version was sold, Toyota has finally taken the wraps off the fifth-gen Supra. Toyota’s president, Akio Toyoda, proudly unveiled the 2020 Toyota Supra at the Detroit Auto Show 2019. Previously, several spy shots made their way to give a hint of this car but this is the first time we are seeing the car officially.

The Toyota Supra has not made its way to the US since 1998. However, the most exciting news is that the first production unit of this newest Supra will be auctioned on January 19 at the Barrett-Jackson Auction to benefit Bob Woodruff Foundation and American Heart Association.

Aesthetically, the new Toyota Supra takes some cues from the FT-1 concept, which was shown five years ago. The front panel comes with a huge air inlet under the F1-inspired nose and it also gets a large front splitter. The newest Supra is called modern interpretation of the last model from 2002. The rear gets slim tail lights and edgy spoiler extension, which give it a wider appearance. The bumper gets an aggressive diffuser at the back. The design is quite similar to Supra’s tradition theme and is made for better performance.

Under the hood, the car shares its mechanism with the current BMW Z4. It gets the six-cylinder 3.0-litre turbocharged engine that churns out 340 PS and a maximum torque of 500 Nm. The engine is mated to an eight-speed sports-tuned automatic transmission. Reportedly, the car can sprint from 0-100 kmph in just 4.3 seconds.

It will be available in three variants based on its powertrain. The aforementioned six-cylinder turbocharged model is called the RZ and the straight-four is dubbed as SZ-R and SZ. The SZ-R churns out 258 PS of power and 400 Nm of torque, which also powers the BMW 330i. The lowest in the range, dubbed as the SZ, can make 197 PS.

The Launch Edition model of this iconic Supra, dubbed as A90, is priced at $55,250 (Php 28,80,210) and is limited to 1,500 units. However, there is no official news whether it is coming to the Philippines or not.