It was hell for me. See, I grew up on the Cape Flats where tuning a car is more or less mandatory. Imagine then what it was like to drive that Toyota GT86 test car for a year, a car that recently superseded the Mazda FD RX-7 as the most popular car to modify. As its custodian and not its owner and subsequently having no licence to alter it from its factory condition was beyond frustration.
About the new Supra – now I’m not sure if measuring popularity is an exact science, but the sheer amount of kit on offer comprising aero addenda, wheels and suspension hop-ups, engine upgrading and bespoke transformative body upgrades gave the four previous generations an unprecedented catalogue of customizability.
Now enter the 86, a car already steeped in hype and the drift legacy of its AE86 Sprinter forebear, and you would observe an adoption curve that starts somewhere in the bottom left of the graph, then rockets up immediately in a near vertical climb bursting off the top of your page in a pyrotechnic display of carbon fibre and coil-overs.
Despite the holistic approach, all roads lead invariably (sideways) to the land of the rising sun, home to some of the most influential tuners. I’m talking MVPs such as Top Secret, Blitz, WALD and HKS, plus upstart garage firms such as T.R.A. Kyoto and RWB. The latter’s rebellious style of tuning means suddenly we are seeing exposed pop rivets, plus the gratuitous widening and lowering of brand-new cars that are still under their factory warranties. Or rather, were.
You only have to type the image search string “tuned 86” into your favourite search engine to leap down the rabbit hole. Which is a coincidence as you’ll almost immediately stumble across one called ‘Rocket Bunny’, an aero kit that turns your stock Toyota into the sort of beast you’d expect to be competing at the upper echelon drift events. Which they do.
Now dial it up to eleven for the new Supra
Tokyo Auto Salon? SEMA? You may as well call them the “Supra Car Show, also featuring some other cars”.
Over the last year or so more and more parts and tuner firms have been concentrating their engineering might on the form of the new Supra. As for Toyota themselves, Gazoo Racing Developments have been hard at work with the fettling stick with some stunning trim upgrades to get you that tuner look straight from your local dealership.
Unlike the GT86 however, and thanks to its co-development with BMW and their Z4, the Supra will be staggeringly quick out the gates. That means a turbo-charged straight six 3.0 litre with 250kW and 500Nm on tap – good for a 4 or so second sprint to 100kph. And now we have prices to share for this flagship performer from Toyota.
Pricing:
Toyota GR Supra Track
| R953,000.00 |
Toyota GR Supra
| R1,072,300.00 |
Toyota Supra Matte Grey Edition
| R1,092,300.00 |
And because you were wondering...
BMW M40i M Performance
| R1,030,500 |
Want more information on this hot new Toyota? Carshop will be sampling it on Thursday so expect a full review soon.
