Analysis, Comments & Reactions from the Web about the new Supra

Axix23

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https://www.roadandtrack.com/review...review-good-not-japanese-sports-car-i-wanted/

The Toyota Supra Is Good, But It's Not the Japanese Sports Car I Wanted

It's fun and competent. It just isn't what I hoped for.

BY AARON BROWN DEC 28, 2020

Everything about the prospect of a new Supra was exciting. I loved that Toyota was once again selling a powerful rear-wheel-drive sports car. That it was finally going to revive its halo performance car, one I've only gotten to know through reruns of The Fast and the Furious and by watching fourth-generation examples skyrocket in price on Bring a Trailer. This was going to be my generation's Supra. And it is, kind of.

Take away the Supra badging and I'm extremely happy with the car. With that name tacked onto the rear bumper, it doesn't quite work for me.

This new Supra is not the Japanese legend I wanted it to be. It's no secret that the fifth-generation car was co-engineered with BMW. It's built on the same platform and shares powertrains with the BMW Z4. And that's fine. I might have been able to accept that, if that's where the line had been drawn. But it's not.

On the outside, it looks the part. But that's about it. The key fob is BMW. The interior appears to be almost fully BMW—iDrive infotainment system, steering wheel, shifter, light controls, heads-up display. The chimes are BMW. It's all BMW. And, yes, it drives like a BMW.

That's not the worst thing in the world, in practice. BMWs work. The company’s history of M cars demonstrates it knows how a performance car should feel. The Supra, in the least, meets that mark. Hell, I even own three older 3-Series at this very moment. My problem is, nowadays, BMW doesn't make the most exciting sports cars. And they're obviously not known for Japanese tuner cars.

Spiritually, the new Supra leaves me hanging.

America has mid-level European sports cars. They're fine. But we don't have a multitude of special-feeling Japanese sports cars. That's the bar I set for the Supra. Miata, but more exhilarating. Toyota 86, but more grown-up. Nissan 370Z, but not 10 or more years old.

There's no authenticity to the Supra as a Japanese sports car. It's depressing for people (me) who fantasize over special Nineties Japanese cars, like the R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R, the fourth-generation Supra, the FD Mazda RX-7 and the like. We want the Supra to be that. I want the Supra to fill that void. It can’t do it. It just isn't true to that spirit.

If I wanted a BMW, I'd buy a BMW.

With that out of the way, I have to admit I did enjoy racking up miles in the thing.

Acceleration in the 382-horsepower 3.0-liter-equipped Supra is beyond adequate. Toyota claims it does 0-60 in 3.8 seconds, and I absolutely believe it. Nothing more is needed. The car is a bit quiet, and the noises it makes aren’t the most exciting, even in Sport mode, but there's still enough sound there to remind you you're behind the wheel of something fun. There’s's nothing wrong here that an aftermarket exhaust can't fix.

The Supra also feels nimble as hell. Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires gave me a surplus of confidence putting the car through its paces on winding country backroads. Grip, grip, and more grip was all I was dealt. Coming out of corners, the electric limited-slip differential in the rear helped me put power down without issue. I'm always a little hesitant with e-diffs, but I felt more in-tune and comfortable with it in the Supra than I have in comparable sports cars.

Not everything about the Supra's performance is perfect.

When not in Sport mode, I found the car to be mostly compliant. But over bridge joints and similar road imperfections, the car bounces around so much I felt like I was going to fly through the windshield. Its suspension setup isn't ideal for regular driving over haggard New York City streets. And definitely not in Sport mode, which sets the suspension too intense for anything that isn't a perfectly smooth road or track.

I agree with our previous assessment of the Supra's handling. "There’s no steering feel and the rear end provides no confidence over bumps," Road & Track's Travis Okulski wrote in our July 2020 print issue. For me, these two negatives didn't ruin the experience behind the wheel. But they did make me feel less comfortable on imperfect roads and hyper-aware of how I was tossing the car around.

Then there's the other elephant in the room. Or, should I say, on the center console. The ZF eight-speed in the Supra is fine. Great, even. Rarely did I find it getting in the way of my requested shifts during spirited driving, and around town in automatic mode it did its job without fault. But this car begs for a manual. It's my main performance gripe about my experience behind the wheel. When pushing the Supra around backroads, I already feel highly concentrated and very involved, keeping the car happy and settled on the pavement. That's great. But I want the whole package that usually comes with that experience. I want a manual.

The Supra name deserves more than this. If it were a proper, exciting Toyota sports car, it'd be something I'd personally consider cross-shopping and potentially buying, against the BMW M2, Porsche Cayman, C8 Corvette, Mustangs, and any semi-affordable sports car. I didn't want to get in a Supra and be surrounded by that same old orange gauge glow that's been populating the cabins of every single BMW for as long as I can remember. It feels like Toyota copied someone else's homework, as if it didn't even feel the need to submit an assignment. Why bring the Supra name back if this is how you're going to do it?

The Supra is fun to drive. But it feels more like an outsourced sports car, something put together to fill a gap in the middle range. I want more than that. I want it to feel special. I want it to break the rules.
^^^ that man can STFU ?
 

autopc25

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Two years later and people are still on the fake vents. :lol:



Anyone buying a production Supra designed for the street and expecting pure race car efficiency is probably buying the wrong model. Anyone wanting that should consider a GR Supra GT4 for $200K or another car they think is better.

Plenty of production cars have functional vents yet still have cooling issues or aerodynamic issues. There are also plenty of cars that have non-functional vents with a lot less performance than the Supra. Vents that are intended for style. I am fine with that.

The vents are obviously more of a styling decision than a performance one for this model. I am OK with that. It's not like this current Supra is an underachieving poser with coffee can exhaust and bi-plane spoilers. It makes great power and has great performance with or without the vents functioning.

I think it is a lot more impressive Toyota was able to get the power and performance they got without those vents providing additional cooling. Thermodynamics is usually a limiting factor for engine power, transmission load-durability, differential durability, braking efficiency. Then there is aerodynamics. Toyota got the end product to where it is without those non-functional vents dissipating additional BTUs. They also did not need the vents for chassis pressure build up.

All this means to me is there is still more untapped potential or reserved thermo capacity to be tapped into for future higher performing models. I would not be surprised if future models have some of those vents functioning if and when they need to dissipate extra BTUs.
 
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Xxyion

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to be honest it kinda irks me when people say that the Supra is just a Z4 with Toyota styling on top.

Theres been confirmed reports that the chassis was co-developed by both BMW and Toyota. Anyone who has driven both the Z4 and the Supra know that they are completely different cars and have zero in common in driving characteristics. Sure it uses a BMW engine, and interior, but thats it. Suspension, engine tune, driving characteristics were all done by Toyota without BMW influence.

I think what it really is, is that noone calls the 86, a BRZ with Toyota styling. The 86 and BRZ are literally twins, and yet noone seems to jump at the chance when they see an 86 to point and yell "Subaru!". For whatever reason, people love to just pretend like all Toyota did was pay BMW to give them a car and then called it the Supra.
 

MCSeverino

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to be honest it kinda irks me when people say that the Supra is just a Z4 with Toyota styling on top.

Theres been confirmed reports that the chassis was co-developed by both BMW and Toyota. Anyone who has driven both the Z4 and the Supra know that they are completely different cars and have zero in common in driving characteristics. Sure it uses a BMW engine, and interior, but thats it. Suspension, engine tune, driving characteristics were all done by Toyota without BMW influence.

I think what it really is, is that noone calls the 86, a BRZ with Toyota styling. The 86 and BRZ are literally twins, and yet noone seems to jump at the chance when they see an 86 to point and yell "Subaru!". For whatever reason, people love to just pretend like all Toyota did was pay BMW to give them a car and then called it the Supra.
You care what other people think way too much.
 

Xxyion

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You care what other people think way too much.
its more the lack of proper representation and misinformation that bothers me.

But i mean yeah, shouldnt we care what reviewers say? There are a whole ton of people who wont buy a Supra because a few reviewers they follow would say things like "oh toyota didnt do anything they just slapped a bodykit on", or "the cars bumpsteer makes it completely undriveable in all conditions" or something stupid like that.

We only get these cars if companies see that we're buying them. A reviewer can very easily turn away plenty of sales due to misinformation, and who knows, maybe that last 1000 sales is the difference that makes the company say whether or not they will ever make another sports car again.
 

MCSeverino

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its more the lack of proper representation and misinformation that bothers me.

But i mean yeah, shouldnt we care what reviewers say? There are a whole ton of people who wont buy a Supra because a few reviewers they follow would say things like "oh toyota didnt do anything they just slapped a bodykit on", or "the cars bumpsteer makes it completely undriveable in all conditions" or something stupid like that.

We only get these cars if companies see that we're buying them. A reviewer can very easily turn away plenty of sales due to misinformation, and who knows, maybe that last 1000 sales is the difference that makes the company say whether or not they will ever make another sports car again.
If people are so ignorant that they will not properly educate themselves about a car, then no, I couldn't care less. I think you greatly overvalue dipshit YouTube reviewers. People who rely upon clickbait BS are not the people buying expensive cars.
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