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The 2020 Toyota Supra has a BMW engine, but just how good is it? Let's find out

The BMW-sourced engine in the new Supra had many Toyota fans on pins and needles, wondering if it's as good as the old 2JZ.

Kyle Hyatt Former news and features editor
Kyle Hyatt (he/him/his) hails originally from the Pacific Northwest, but has long called Los Angeles home. He's had a lifelong obsession with cars and motorcycles (both old and new).
Kyle Hyatt
2 min read

Internet hype is an increasingly powerful force, and few cars were as hyped online as the reborn Toyota Supra. Still, as excited as people were for the new car, there were a lot of concerns from the community of  Toyota purists about involvement. Will the BMW-sourced B58 straight-six hold a candle to the legendary (for a good reason) Toyota 2JZ-GTE?

We have to admit that we were a little curious about that too, so we were happy to find that none other than evil racing genius Stephan Papadakis was going to tear down the BMW B58 engine and see just how good -- or bad -- it is, and whether it'll be stout enough to make crazy horsepower.

In Steph's video, which was released on Monday, he pulls the engine out a brand-new Toyota Supra with just over 500 miles on the odometer and rips it to pieces. What he finds is both surprising and heartening.

When it came to clever designs, BMW didn't skimp on its B58 straight-six. It uses an exhaust manifold that's cast directly into the cylinder head, which means there are only two exhaust ports -- one for each scroll of the twin-scroll turbocharger. It also incorporated the engine's efficient water-to-air intercooler directly into the plastic intake manifold.

What was Mr. Papadakis' take away after pulling the motor to pieces? He reckons it'll be capable of over 1,000 horsepower without having to go too crazy on things like the crankshaft and the oiling system.

Needless to say, we're very excited to see him build the engine back up and strap it to a dyno to see if he's right.

2020 Toyota Supra is a divisive devil in red

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Watch this: The new Toyota Supra feels suspiciously like a BMW Z4