It’s been a 21-year wait, but sports car fans finally have a new Supra from Toyota. The 2020 Toyota Supra returns as a hatchback coupe developed as a collaboration between Toyota Gazoo Racing and BMW. It features inline-6 power, which enthusiasts will view as a proper engine for a Supra.
Short, wide, and powerful, the 2020 Supra is one of the more agile sports cars on the market. It launches from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds, attacks corners like an autocross champion, and is loads of fun to toss around a track, though high-speed cornering stability isn’t a strength. We rate it a 5.8 overall. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
Toyota offers the Supra in three trim levels, 3.0, 3.0 Premium, and Launch Edition, all powered by a BMW-sourced turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 that whips up 335 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque and sends it to the rear wheels. The lone transmission is an 8-speed automatic. A 2.0-liter turbo-4 is expected later, and a 6-speed manual may come as well.
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The fifth-generation Supra takes some of its design cues, mostly its basic shape, from the fourth-generation car of the 1990s but the look is effectively a shortened version of the FT-1 concept car shown in 2014. Its body is sculpted, with rounded organic shapes, creases for air ducts, and a nose that resolves into a semi-horse collar look. The Supra has classic sports car proportions with a long hood, a set-back cabin with a double-bubble roof design, wide rear haunches, and a short rear deck with a prominent spoiler.
Sports car enthusiasts will appreciate the Supra’s stiff structure, perfect 50/50 weight balance, and low center of gravity. Underneath, it features aluminum front control arms to reduce unsprung weight, a five-link rear suspension also made from aluminum, and adaptive adjustable dampers. It also has an active rear differential, variable-assist and variable-ratio power steering, and 13.7-inch front brake rotors with four-piston calipers. The Supra rides on staggered Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, 255/35R19 up front and 275/35R19 out back. Total weight is 3,397 pounds.
Two drive modes are standard: Normal and Sport. Each mode adjusts the traction control, throttle response, steering weight, transmission shift points, differential tuning, and exhaust sounds. The Normal mode activates a Comfort setting for the dampers that makes the Supra reasonably comfortable on the street.
Push the Supra on a track or autocross, and it comes alive with slot receiver agility and immediate, rambunctious acceleration. The short wheelbase foregoes cornering stability for a more playful cornering attitude. It’s fun to play with the car’s angle of attack with careful application of the brake and throttle in a corner, but we don’t recommend turning off the stability control for fear the rear end will step out too far.
The Supra’s cockpit has two sport bucket seats and electronics sourced from BMW. A 6.5-inch center screen is standard and so is the BMW iDrive rotary dial to control the infotainment functions. The 3.0 Premium and Launch Edition models get an 8.8-inch touchscreen and a touch version of the rotary dial. The instrument panel is a digital display, and a color head-up display is optional.
Standard features include keyless entry, dual-zone automatic climate control, Alcantara seat upholstery, Bluetooth, and the 6.5-inch screen. The 3.0 Premium comes with heated leather seats, the 8.8-inch touchscreen and touch-sensitive dial, wireless Apple CarPlay compatibility, wireless smartphone charging, and a 12-speaker JBL audio system.
On the safety front, the 2020 Supra comes standard with forward-collision warnings with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection, active lane control, automatic high beams, and road sign recognition. Toyota also offers adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitors with rear cross-traffic alerts, and rear-end collision warnings.
The base 2020 Supra costs $50,920 for the 3.0 and prices rise to $56,180, including destination, for the Launch Edition, which comprises the first 1,500 cars.