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Throwing aside anything and everything that I had read online, my
very first and most lasting memory of the car is a simple one: as I pulled
out of Toyota New Zealand’s Auckland office driveway, the deafening
screech of wiper blades on a dry windscreen quickly taught me that
the indicators weren’t on the right-hand side of the steering column as
I was accustomed to in older Japanese cars. It’s almost laughable how
insignificant that fact is on its own, except that it was the first of many
subtle reminders that, while this Supra wears a Toyota badge, it is really
a BMW in disguise.
Yep, in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years,
and haven’t heard yet, the Mk5 was built in partnership with the German
automaker. Using the Cluster Architecture (CLAR) platform developed
by BMW, it’s closely related to the BMW Z4 M40i and shares the same
B58 straight-six twin-scroll turbocharged heart and eight-speed ZF
automatic-trans combination.
Toyota claims that the Mk5 makes 250kW at 5000–6500rpm and
500Nm, which is cranked out at an impressively low 1600rpm. These
figures are identical to those of the Z4 — most likely an internal agreement
for one not to outdo the other on paper — but, as I quickly learned when
getting behind the wheel, these numbers aren’t completely accurate.
Climbing inside the tight cabin and eagerly pushing the start button,
flicking the BMW-esque gear stick down into drive, and, of course,
promptly engaging Sport mode, it’s easy to see that Toyota has put its
fingerprints all over the engine. It never stops breathing. Response from
the fly-by-wire throttle feels instantaneous, and it’s a simple depression
of the right foot to get on boost quickly — and that is more than happy to
chuck you back in your seat. Factor in that the ZF is the quickest-shifting
traditional automatic in the game, and, at a scarily fast rate, you’re
reaching speeds that would have your licence permanently cancelled.
The official 0–60mph (0–97kph) figure is set at 4.1 seconds — a claim
that my butt dyno would not dispute.it’s a simple depression
of the right foot to get
on boost quickly