Supra-califragilisticexpialidocious!

The long-awaited and much-anticipated A90 5th generation Supra made its debut at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show (North American International Auto Show) early this year.

The Toyota GR Supra’s design theme was first previewed in the dramatic FT-1 concept car, styled at Toyota’s CALTY studio in California and revealed in 2014 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The new Supra is the first global Toyota Gazoo Racing model that spices up the end of a 17-year hibernation.

In early March, the first production version of the all-new Toyota GR Supra rolled off the production line at the Magna Steyr, Graz Plant in Austria.

On the line-off of the Supra, Toyota Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada said:

“Without the support of all the various people and parties related to the Supra, this day could not have come true. Partnerships come in many forms, and our partnership with BMW has been a new experience for both of our companies. We appreciate the enthusiasm and aspiration of everyone that has helped Supra become one of the most anticipated and exciting cars coming out this year. Thanks to you, I am proud to say that Supra has turned out to be a very exciting car.”

Exciting indeed.

Car and Driver has tested it to hit 60 mph (96 km/h) in 3.8 seconds, gobble-up the quarter-mile in 12.3 secs and pull 1.07 g in the skidpad. Toyota’s acceleration numbers are 4.1 secs to 60 mph and 4.3 to 100 km/h. These are impressive numbers that easily bests the A80 4th generation Supra’s stats from 20-years ago.

A B58B30 aluminum block and head 3-liter inline-6 beats at the heart of the car. It’s equipped with a single twin-scroll turbo, direct-injection, variable valve timing and lift, and a water-to-air intercooler. The legendary and durable 2JZ-GTE was aluminum head and iron-block, sequential twin-turbo and air-to-air intercooled. Power is rated at 335hp (340ps) with 369 lbs-ft (500 Nm) of twist. All this power is routed through a ZF 8HP 8-speed automatic transmission with paddle-shift. No manual transmission is currently offered. This is a good transmission that can also be found in Audis, Bentleys, Rolls-Royce and Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep. Though the calipers don’t advertise it, stopping all this power are Brembo brakes. 4-pistons up front and singles in the back. Controlling all the noise is an active exhaust system with electronically actuated butterflies.

The new Toyota GR Supra is also armed with Adaptive Variable Suspension. Its front wheels are equipped with double-joint type MacPherson Strut, while the rear wheels come with Multi-Link suspension. DRiV, a Tenneco Inc. spin-off, supplies the advanced suspension technology from its Monroe Intelligent Suspension portfolio for the fifth-generation, 2020 Toyota GR Supra sports coupe. Adaptive Variable Suspension continuously senses road and driving conditions and independently adjusts each damper in real time. Each shock features an externally mounted electronic CES8700 valve from Öhlins (a DRiV company) that connects to a central electronic control unit (ECU) that can realign damping settings every 10 milliseconds to achieve optimal ride comfort and control. This along with excellent 50:50 weight distribution has resulted in 1.07g cornering (as per Car and Driver).

The Toyota GR Supra is fitted with an active differential that operates both when accelerating and decelerating and can seamlessly adjust from zero to full, 100% lock, with instant response.

A dedicated ECU monitors a wide range of inputs, including steering wheel, throttle and brake pressure, engine and wheel speed and yaw rate, for appropriate triggering of the actuator. Unlike the brake-based torque differentials many other cars offer, which slow the inside wheel to tighten cornering, the 2020 Supra has an active system. It can shift power between 0 and 100-percent between each rear wheel as required, balancing oversteer and understeer.

This delivers huge benefits in stability and efficiency when the tires are about to reach their grip limits. The effect should be felt in all phases of cornering, with increased stability during the braking and cornering phases, and then ensuring maximum traction as the driver accelerates out of a corner. Operation is toggled when Sport mode is selected– to give more efficient cornering at high-speed.

Lesser powered variants of the Supra are already available in other countries but who wants less power. And, it can only get better if an even higher performance model is introduced and equipped with the M-division’s newest S58B30 engine that pumps out 500 horsepower in the X3 M and X4 M. I’m sure the S58B30 can easily fit where the B58B30 already sits.

That’s the future and I’m making my prediction this early.

I certainly can’t wait to get behind the wheel.