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My one criticism in this department is that the extra punch
of driver engagement that can only be found through a manual
gear-swapper was noticeably absent. The manual mode with
paddle shift on the ZF is rapid, and easily outshifts my ability on
an H-pattern, but, for someone who spends a large majority of the
time driving slightly less new manual cars, it doesn’t compare with
feeling the car pull deep into the rev range before enthusiastically
slapping the shifter into the next gear. I’ll forgive Toyota for
this; I imagine that it wouldn’t have been viable to produce and
fit its own manual box to the CLAR platform, but I would have
happily sacrificed performance on paper for that little bit more
engagement behind the wheel. Nonetheless, the remainder of
the car provided enough satisfaction to provide a solid time.
On paper, the Mk5 is clearly designed for ‘enthusiastic’
driving, and that can be felt with the way it handles. At low speeds,
the steering is light and receptive, but plant the throttle and it’ll
stiffen up to keep the smoothness as the speedo creeps up.
Up the top end, it does begin to feel a touch weightier overall —
although this is alleviated by the active suspension tuning, which
squats the arse end and lifts the front. With a short wheelbase,
50:50 weight split, and more than twice the body rigidity of an
86, the Mk5 is happy to snap its way through corners all day long;
even with all the nanny devices switched off, I struggled to find
the limit of where it could be pushed to — although I’m certain
that, when it’s found, you’ll want to be the one watching from the
sidelines instead of responsible for the inevitable carnage.
What I’ll commend Toyota on the most is perhaps one of
the most debated factors: styling. We were never going to getSPECS
ENGINE: BMW B58B30, 2998cc, straight-six
DRIVELINE: BMW ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, rear-wheel drive, six-pot front calipers,
348mm ventilated front discs, single-pot rear calipers, 345mm rear discs
INTERIOR: Leather and Alcantara-accented sports seats, 373mm three-spoke steering wheel,
head-up display
EXTERIOR: Alloy bonnet, front guards, and doors, rear diffuser, body-matched bumpers, six-lens
LED headlights, green-tinted UV-protection windscreen
WHEELS/TYRES: (F) 19x9-inch, 255/35ZR19 Michelin Pilot Super Sport; (R) 19x10-inch,
275/35ZR19 Michelin Pilot Super Sport
SUSPENSION: Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS); (F) double joint–type MacPherson struts with
stabilizer bar, (R) multi-link independent with stabilizer
POWER: 250kW at 5000–6500rpm, 500Nm at 1600–4500rpm
0–60MPH (0–97KPH): 4.1 seconds
PRICE: $99,990 drive away
an ‘enhanced’ Mk4, yet many are using that as a way
to bash the Mk5 — you’d have to be the ballsiest and
perhaps most daft manufacturer to try to launch a car in
this age that relies heavily on ’90s styling; when it comes
to actual purchases, these cars are being bought by
cashed-up modern car buyers. If those people wanted a
Mk4-esque car, they’d probably buy a Mk4!
Regardless, Toyota has done well to differentiate
the Supra from the Z4 equivalent, producing a far sharper
and more aggressive aesthetic package that includes a ton
of ‘fake’ vents that can be tapped into and opened up for
practical use if desired. There’re cues taken from both the
predecessor and the automaker’s first sports car, the 2000GT,
and it looks far better in the flesh; having a full sense of scale is
key for the Mk5 — it’s low, long, and incredibly sharp.
So, while it’s easy to write the Mk5 Supra off as a BMW with a
Toyota badge on the bonnet, it really is a lot more than that. Toyota
has taken a base platform and honed it to suit the Toyota ethos,
producing a viable successor that actually made it further than the
concept stage — just what we were all asking for. With a ton of
aftermarket tuning houses already developing and selling upgrade
components for it, and the potential that has been realized from the
B58 previous incarnations, the Mk5 will be much like the Mk4 before
it in the sense that, while a solid car out of the box, it will be even
better when you start throwing go-fast bits at it.
The Mk5 earns a solid thumbs up from me, but I still can’t
remember the correct stalk to use for the indicators — I suppose
that makes me a real BMW driver now!plant the throttle and it’ll
stiffen up to keep the smoothness
as the speedo creeps up