Four-Cylinder Supra

Toyota Will Build a Four-Cylinder Supra

And the chief engineer says it's the perfect platform for your 2JZ swap.

BY BOZI TATAREVIC

 TOYOTA

Toyota has been testing and teasing the new Supra for quite some time, and while we’ve seen and heard prototypes running around, Toyota hasn't yet confirmed exactly how much power the new car will produce. Earlier this year we shared that Japan's Best Car magazine expects a 335-horsepower inline-six. Now, based on a recently-discovered document originating from German transmission maker ZF, we've learned that might not be the only engine available in the new two-door sports car.



The "transmission catalogue" document details various implementations of the eight-speed ZF 8HP automatic transmission in production and pre-production cars for 2018. In this document, the Toyota Supra gets multiple entries under both the J29 and GT86 platform designations. The entry shows that the Supra will be motivated by two powertrains. The lower-powered version uses the BMW B48B20 turbocharged four-cylinder engine displacing two liters and producing 262 horsepower, while the high-power version will use the single-turbo inline-six B58B30 BMW engine and will produce 335 horsepower, according to the document.

 
ROAD & TRACK

Judging by this internal document, both variants of the Supra will use the ZF-8HP51HIS 8-speed automatic transmission, which is not surprising, as that transmission is found behind the B48 and B58 engines in many BMW products. The document also lists the new BMW Z4, which shares a platform with the Supra but gets its own platform designation, G29.

Most of the engine and transmission information listed for the Z4 is a direct replica of what is shown for the Supra, but with one important distinction: The Z4 appears to have a higher-powered variant for at least one of its 3.0-liter trims, an entry that produces 375 horsepower according to this document.


ROAD & TRACK

Road & Track web editor Chris Perkins had the chance to speak with Supra chief engineer Testsuya Tada at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a few days ago, and the Toyota employee confirmed that there will indeed be a four-cylinder Supra. Tada also elaborated, saying the four-cylinder Supra will be lighter, with "much better weight distribution" and a sharper-feeling turn-in. Tada also remarked that, for the Supra owners who plan to swap in a 2JZ engine, "please buy the four-cylinder. It will be cheaper."

The BMW engineering behind the Supra was also very apparent when Toyota ran a prototype at Goodwood last weekend. We were able to get a very good look at the brakes, noting that they're straight from the BMW parts bin. The rotor sizes are unknown, but the front and rear calipers are a direct match for those found on the G30-generation BMW 5-series which also uses the B48 and B58 engines that seem to be slated for the Supra.

Hopefully, the Goodwood "reveal" of the Supra will be the last teaser, and we’ll finally get to see the car unmasked sometime soon.