Why the Supra still Matters

It took Toyota around sixteen years to change the Supra from smooth cruiser to twin-turbo badass sports car. The first car wasn't spectacular at all and looked more like a six-cylinder, elongated Celica, while its successor was more of a cheeky hooligan ready to cook some trouble. Considering the past, the 4th generation Supra should have been already outshined – similarly to what happened to its grandparent back in 1993. But no, the two decades old Supra is still far from being replaced.

Even Toyota’s sports cars under its Lexus brand are slower than the Supra. That’s not a big surprise having in mind the power it received when it first entered the Stateside back in 1993 as a '94 model turning packing 320 hp and an 3.0L inline six, coded 2JZ-GE quickly earning the title of a legend.

By simply adding some extra power to its lightweight body through a free-flow exhaust, the Supra could easily exceed 400 hp and could even reach the mind-blowing 800 hp by swapping turbos. To make the car as light as possible, Toyota used carpets with hollow fibers and dished bolt heads. In fact, the fourth-gen Supra carries the lightweight tradition and its only 3200 lbs, which is with 10% less than what the previous model weighed.

The Supra was also incredibly compact, resembling Scion FR-S in regards to its footprint and center of gravity. The Supra also came with four-piston calipers in front and two-piston in back, which made its braking impeccable. For around a decade no cars managed to beat its stopping distances.

Handling was also superb thanks to the staggered-fitment Bridgestone Potenzas getting power to the ground. Still, it allowed for getting a bit rougher with the throttle when the larger turbo came on boost overwhelming the 255-series tires out back.

There were only two problems with the car starting with the price, which was the shocking $40,000. It was a car that had what it takes to outdo a Corvette or a Porsche 928, but came at the price of a Porsche.

Maybe that’s why after the 1998 it was not longer sold in the U.S. The second problem came later on and the tuners were the main reason behind it.
They went crazy with the car, somewhat ruining its reputation. Some Supras were turned into dyno queens planned to hit big numbers but never going out to the streets. Others became neony kitsch version of the F&F rides…and were abused to an extent that they no longer looked like the original.

See Also: Volvo found a way to Terminate the Turbo Lag

To find a stock MK IV Supra today is almost impossible, which makes it incredibly difficult for the drivers to appreciate it today. At the peak of the Japanese sportscar craze, the Supra was at the level of Acura NSX and the Mazda RX-7 – a trio, which was claimed to be the best cars these companies have ever produced.

When we first heard about Toyota’s FT-1 concept earlier in January, we wondered whether this could actually be the new Supra? In order to be so – it has a lot of high expectations to cover. So let’s see.