Three pedals impact its 0–60-mph time by four-tenths of a second in the wrong direction.
The Toyota GR Supra can now be optioned with a manual transmission, adding another layer of driver engagement to Toyota’s already potent sport coupe. But rowing the Supra’s gears yourself comes with a requisite sacrifice in straight-line performance compared to its automatic-equipped counterpart. Our first crack with it at the test track resulted in a 0-60-mph time of 4.3 seconds, 0.4 second slower than the quickest automatic-transmission model.
The Supra’s six-speed manual is simple to launch, requiring just a little finesse. Given that its 3.0-liter turbocharged I-6 churns out a healthy 382 horsepower and 368 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels, it’s quite easy to overwhelm the car’s relatively narrow 275-millimeter-wide Michelin Pilot Super Sport rear tires. From a standstill, the Supra will let you launch at any engine speed up to its 6,500-rpm redline. We got our best time by holding the engine between 3,000 and 3,500 rpm and releasing (not dumping) the clutch quickly enough to allow a touch of wheelspin. Reaching the quarter mile took 12.8 seconds with a trap speed of 114.0 mph.
We’ve tested five examples of the GR Supra equipped with the eight-speed automatic and 3.0-liter engine combo in all, three of which featured the car’s original output of 335 hp and 365 lb-ft. All three were consistent, recording 0-60-mph times of 3.9 seconds and crossing the quarter mile in 12.5 seconds (with the best recorded trap speed at 111.2 mph). We’ve also tested two examples of the GR Supra automatic with the output bump to 382 hp and 368 lb-ft. . Interestingly, both of those cars were slower to 60 mph by a tenth of a second compared to the less powerful models, but they were 0.2 second quicker through the quarter mile (12.3 seconds) with faster trap speeds of 114.7 and 115.8 mph.
Just like the automatic car, the stick-shift Supra outruns its chief competition, the Nissan Z. With a six-speed-manual transmission, the Z reaches 60 mph in 4.9 seconds and clears the quarter mile in 13.5 seconds at 105.3 mph. The Nissan packs more firepower with its 400-hp 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6, but it weighs 177 pounds more, giving the Toyota a slight weight-to-power advantage. The Supra also launches harder, opening up a 0.3-second lead by 30 mph.
We should note that the Supra manual test car we had in for evaluation was a pre-production unit, so we’re eager to get our hands on a polished, production-ready GR Supra manual to see if we’re able to improve on our current test numbers. In the end, though, regardless of how well it performs, the fact that Toyota is building this car at all is good news, not only for fans of the Supra but also for fans of manual transmissions in general.
