CARVERSAL

Toyota Supra is one of the most appreciated sports cars to ever exist due to its huge legacy from the Mark 4 Supra to the Fast and Furious Franchise, and recently Toyota Launched its Mark 5 Supra in the International market and is getting a tremendous response on it, which raises a question where this Legacy sports car will make its way to the Indian shores?

 

History –

Toyota Supra first made its debut in 1978 as a wider, longer, and more powerful version of the second-generation Celica coupe, named the Celica Supra. Mainly launched to rival the other mid-sized Japanese and American Grand tours of the Time.

 

Then in 1981, Toyota launched the A60 Celica alongside the new Celica Supra, now more sharp-suited, sportier, and agile, and also the first Celica series to be exported to the European market. This generation of Supra got equipped with a straight six 2.8l twin-cam engine, retractable headlights, and independent rear suspension.

Then in 1985, Toyota launched its A70 Celica and simultaneous the New Mark 3 Supra but this time the Supra was designated as an Independent Sports Car and not as a more performance-oriented version of the Celica. This new Supra contained a range of four different engines ranging between 2.0l to 3.0l with the Range Topper 2954cc 7M-GTE turbocharged engine producing 230hp which was later upgraded to 270hp for the 3.0GT Turbo limited edition making it the Fastest Japanese car of the time.

During the late eighties and the early nineties. The Japanese car industry experienced phenomenal success with Japanese cars being the preferred choice for every price bracket and other Japanese car makers launching their own version of a sport car like Honda’s NSX or Nissan’s 300ZX, but then in 1993, Toyota unveiled its Fourth Generation supra at the Chicago Motor Show. This generation Supra was completely different from any other previous-gen Supra and has bits from the 1970s Toyota 2000 GT. This Generation of the Supra came out as a huge success as this generation Supra won the Swiss mountain races and the iconic Le Mans 24h.

 

But the overall trends of the car industry were changing as people were shifting from spending more on niche sports cars like Supra to more family-oriented and practical daily drivers so Toyota officially discontinued its Supra Mark 4 in July 2002.

 

For the next couple of years, car enthusiasts were anticipating the Mark 5 Supra but Toyota did not give any hints until 2014 when Toyota Unveiled its FT-1 Concept, with a front engine version displayed 8 months later.

Then in 2019 Toyota officially unveiled its MARK 5 Supra made jointly in partnership with BMW and launched under the name of Toyota Gazoo Racing as the all-new GR Supra.

 

Exterior

The 2023 Supra consists of a splendid combination of the Mark 4 supra lines and Toyota’s latest design language with a big front bonnet almost half of the length of the car, with horizontal lights similar in shape to Mark 4 Supra, consisting of LED High beam lights and a horizontal long LED  DRL running below it. The front bumper is diving into three parts with functional air intakes and air scoops for a better drag coefficient.

On the side, the New 2023 Supra has a very coupe-ish look with an option of basic 18-inch dual-tone rims or upgraded 19-inch alloys. Air scoops on the bonnet to pass the air from the front over the roof where the roof is lowered from the middle for better aerodynamics. Below the doors are black functional side skirts, and an air scoop behind the doors which are not functional but only to enhance the looks of the car.

 

At the back, the Supra contains a very rounded look with triangular-shaped lights seamlessly blending with the rear air vent. The rear boot lid is curved upwards at the end to make the vehicle sexier and more aerodynamic and the rear bumper contains a big black diffuser with two separate independent exhaust tips and a center brake light inspired by F1 Racecars.

Interiors

On the inside, the Supra gets a minimalist interior quite similar to the one offered in the Z4 as both are pretty much the same cars, where there is a BMW-like steering wheel with Toyota Logo, a Digital instrument cluster, a stand-up touchscreen above the AC Vents line. The center console has a very BMW Like feel with the same I-drive control, a BMW Like gear selector, and another mode selector.

 

Toyota Supra India Powertrain Powertrain

In the 2023 Toyota Supra for India, you can expect two different engine options, with the basic 2.0l turbo petrol 4-cylinder engine producing 255hp and mated to an 8-speed transmission and the bigger option being the 3.0l Turbo petrol inline-six engine producing 382Hp and still mated to a BMW Sourced 8 Speed Transmission with which the Supra Ratatata can do 0-100 in 4.1 seconds.

 

Toyota Supra India Launch Price

 

Toyota can launch the Supra in India via the CBU or completely built unit route where the vehicle will be made in its Austria factory and then directly imported to India rather than the CKD route (as that for the Ford Endeavour) due to limited demand for Supra-like vehicles in India and the prices can be anywhere between ₹ 80 Lakhs to 1 Crore depending on the Variant.

Toyota Supra Launch Date in India 

The Toyota Supra launch can happen in 2024 after Toyota analysis the demand for the vehicle in India like Ford did with the Mustang in 2016 and the launch will most probably happen after the launch of the 2024 Fortuner Hybird