2021 Toyota GR Supra (2024)

Roughly seventeen years after it left the market and nearly a decade after Toyota began teasing its return, the Supra finally returned for the 2020 model year. Supra sales in the U.S. ended in 1998, but the car lived on until 2002 in Japan. That last Supra was one of the most respected street racers ever built, and its notoriety was bolstered by a hero car appearance in the first installment of the most popular car-related movie franchise of all time, The Fast and The Furious.

Toyota knew that resurrecting the Supra would put it under the microscope by legions of fans and that the car had big shoes to fill. Fortunately, the all-new fifth-generation Supra hit the ground running and proved itself immediately.

The Supra’s journey back to production began with the 2007 FT-HS concept, which established a design language that led to the 2017 FT-1 concept vehicle. With a touch of the fourth-generation model blended in, the current production Supra hints at the past while embracing the future. Indeed, it remains a two-seat, short-wheelbase coupe with either a 3.0-liter inline-six or, new for 2021, a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine powering the rear wheels.

Some purists were initially irked over the joint development of the current Supra by Toyota and rival BMW. Many of the car’s underpinnings, including its inline six-cylinder engine, are shared with the German automaker’s Z4 Roadster and both cars are assembled by Magna Steyer in Austria.

The cabin can feel slightly tight, but that makes sense considering its 97.2-inch wheelbase and 172.5-inch overall length. Still, there’s enough head and legroom for most drivers once they squeeze through the tight door opening. On the other hand, the tiny footprint adds agility and reinforces the two-seater’s sense of performance car purpose.

The Supra has a standard 8.8-inch center screen touchscreen infotainment interface for both trims. Given the cabin’s snug nature, the screen is within reach, but a handy control dial on the center console offers an analog alternative. A 10-speaker sound system is standard on the Supra 3.0, but the Supra 2.0 gets a four-speaker setup. A 500-watt 12-speaker JBL audio system is available.

The Supra’s long, curvy hood hides a beast of an engine. The BMW-sourced turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six now makes 382 horsepower, 47 ponies more than the previous year’s model. A significant improvement, the extra power doesn’t add up to a mind-blowing difference in performance in real-world situations. Acceleration was already impressive at 4.1-seconds to sixty mph, and Toyota claims the 2021 Supra 3.0 can do the same in 3.9 seconds. This feels accurate, if not slightly conservative.

Like its BMW counterpart, the Supra is also guilty of piping synthetic engine noises into the cabin, anathema to some enthusiasts. Despite this, the genuine sounds that emanate from underhood are stirring; there’s nothing quite like a spooling turbo and loud pops between shifts.

In addition to the boost in engine output, Toyota retuned the Supra 3.0 chassis, adding beefy underhood bracing that ties the strut towers to the radiator support to increase lateral rigidity, new front and rear bump stops and new tuning for the dampers. Likewise, the electric power steering, adaptive suspension, stability control and active differential all received updated programming to work in harmony with the stiffer chassis.

The bigjer news for 2021 is the arrival of the four-cylinder Supra 2.0 model that Toyota pitches as an entry-level Supra to bridge the gap between the Toyota 86 and Supra 3.0. Powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder producing 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque and the same 8-speed automatic transmission as the 3.0-liter, Toyota says it’s good for a five-second 0-60 run.

Critically, the Supra 2.0 does not get the 3.0’s adaptive suspension or active limited-slip differential. It also runs 18-inch wheels in place of the 3.0’s 19-inchers, is fitted with smaller front brake calipers and has manually adjustable seats, whereas the 3.0 has power-adjustable seats.

The payoff for 2.0’s thriftiness is twofold: It weighs in at 3,181 pounds, more than 200 pounds lighter than the 3.0, and its $44,085 (including destination) base price is $8,000 less than the 3.0’s $52,085.

The Supra 3.0 is still just as happy as ever to use its power to overwhelm the back tires, turning them into a cloud of smoke and two dark lines on the pavement. Even so, with a judicious right foot, the car can do wonders when the roads turn twisty. Adaptive suspension tightens up considerably in sport mode, and the 19-inch wheels—nine inches wide in front and ten in back—with sticky Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires bite into the pavement with tremendous grip.

The new Supra 2.0 offers a nimbler take on the formula, trading brute power for a lighter touch and a slightly less intimidating character. With slightly less power on tap, you’ll find yourself grabbing the paddle shifter more frequently during aggressive driving. That’s not a complaint, as it’s highly entertaining to rifle through the gears and let the four-banger rev.

The Safety and Technology Package is new for 2021 and is available on both 2.0 and 3.0 base trims. Safety-wise, it includes adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alert, parking sensors and emergency braking. It also brings navigation, the 12-speaker JBL audio system and wireless Apple CarPlay. Alternatively, 3.0 Premium and A91 buyers can opt for the Driver’s Assist Package that adds just a few features, including radar cruise control, blind spot detection, rear cross traffic alert, parking sensors and emergency braking.

Both the four- and six-cylinder Supras telegraph an intense sensation of speed and dynamics to the occupants. An incorporeal concept, not unlike the “intangibles” that sportscasters talk about with star recruits, it’s the things that aren’t on paper that add up to an enchanting experience behind the wheel. It’s up to you how fast you want to go and how much money you want to spend.