Toyota’s manual GR Supra will come with six cylinders and a collection of key chassis updates
Toyota has revealed a new version of its GR Supra 3.0 with a six-speed manual, alongside key chassis and tech changes that will also spread to the existing four- and six-cylinder models.
While it’s easy to assume the new manual variant just required a quick rummage through BMW’s spare parts department, new Supra manual’s changes run much deeper, with Toyota applying detailed changes to the chassis, braking, stability control program and interior that should transform the Supra’s sometimes snappy handling characteristics.
Only the top-spec 3.0 model with its 335bhp six-cylinder petrol will adopt the new gearbox, which is a brand new and entirely bespoke transmission developed by Toyota. There’s also a new clutch and revised limited-slip differential, with the final drive reduced from the auto’s 3.15 to 3.46. The manual also has an auto-blip function, comes with new gear ratios, and like Honda did with the Civic Type R during its mid-life update in 2020, Toyota has precisely weighted the gear knob to tailor the shift action.
The new ‘box, together with a new forged 19-inch wheel design, a lighter stereo and new interior trim materials have reduced the GR Supra’s overall weight by 38.3kg, giving it a 1531kg figure.
Toyota’s also been hard at work augmenting the rear differential’s slip parameters, introducing something it calls Hairpin+ which allows the inner rear wheel a certain level of slip when on hard lock. The stability control has also been re-tuned, with changes to the Sport mode that will allow more lateral movement before stepping in.
Alongside the new transmission, Toyota has also used this opportunity to update the chassis on all GR Supra models, fitting stiffer bushings to the anti-roll bars, re-tuning the standard adaptive dampers and adjusting the electrically-assisted power steering. While subtle, Toyota has confirmed these changes are designed to reduce the Supra’s sharp handling nature by improving the suspension’s lateral control.
In order to fit the new gear knob the centre console has been redesigned, and there’s a couple of new colour options, but visual changes are otherwise limited. The new model will sit alongside the automatic GR Supra 3.0 at the top of the range which currently costs $70,160. With the success of Toyota’s GR Yaris and the GR86 in extremely limited supply, we expect Toyota to continue tinkering with the Supra, which is good news for us.
This article originally appeared at evo.co.uk
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