Supra now has more power and as standard, the much vaunted six-speed manual gearbox. Image: Toyota
Having held-off debuting the much talked about manual GR Supra at the Kyalami Festival of Motoring last year, Toyota has now announced price and spec details of its flagship Gazoo Racing model, equally resplendent with the upgraded straight-six engine.
Aesthetically unchanged from the automatic available until now, sans the Supra badge on the bootlid being red, the swap to three pedals not only comes with a weight reduction of 21.8 kg, but required a number of alterations to the drivetrain.
Besides requiring retuning, the ‘box, lifted from BMW, sport a modified transmission housing and driveshaft, shortened ratios, revised gear set, a larger diameter clutch and not as many sound-deadening materials deemed not necessary for the manual.
At the same time, the inclusion of the manual, which boasts Toyota’s Intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) function that blips the accelerator when changing down, required a redesign of the centre console that now accommodates a slim lever and GR gear knob weighing 200 grams.
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The lever placed in its specific area so as to aid “precise, rapid and rewarding gear changes”, the new look console, according to Toyota, also provides 42 mm of space between the gear lever and the climate control panel.
Mechanically, Toyota has revised the Supra’s suspension with new shock absorbers and anti-roll bar bushes, as well as retuning the electric power steering for improved feedback.
On top of this, the traction control has been re-programmed for the manual in order to avoid excessive wheelspin when rapidly setting off, and its Vehicle Stability Control altered to be different from that of the automatic.
Also unique in its tuning from the self-shifter is the Track mode that allows for “easy drifting”, while a Hairpin+ function has been added that, when engaged, offers sharper throttle response and slightly more wheel slip when exiting the corner in question or going up a steep incline.
As mentioned, the inclusion of the manual gearbox sees the South African-spec Supra finally join the Australian and North American models in receiving the more powerful B58 3.0-litre straight-six turbocharged engine that powers the BMW Z4, M240i xDrive and M340i xDrive.
Revised with amongst others new pistons, a dual-branch exhaust manifold system, six instead of two ports and a lower compression ratio, power increases from 250 kW to 285 kW, with torque remaining unchanged at 500 Nm.
Slimmed-down to two undesignated models for South Africa differed only by the choice of transmission, both manual and eight-speed automatic GR Supra will top out at 250 km/h, with the latter being 0.3 second faster from 0-100 km/h – 4.1 seconds versus 4.4 seconds.
As for standard spec, both also feature the following as standard:
Resonating as the only spec sheet difference is the manual sporting cruise control and front as well as rear parking sensors whereas the automatic boasts Adaptive Cruise Control plus auto braking Rear Cross Traffic Alert.
On the colour front, Metallic White, Luminous Black, Striking Yellow and Prominent Red remain, but not Prime Silver, Ice Grey, Matte Strom Grey or Grand Blue Metallic. Replacing them outright is Iridescent Metallic Grey and Sapphire Blue.
As before, a three-year/100 000 km warranty and five-service/100 000 km service plan is included in the GR Supra’s sticker price, which starts at R1 417 500 for the six-speed manual and ends at R1 451 800 for the eight-speed automatic.
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