A four-cylinder Toyota Supra probably makes die-hard fans sad, but it's a thing. And it was a thing in the past, too, for those that may remember. Now, with the fifth-generation Supra alive and on sale globally, Toyota is ushering the latest four-cylinder-powered Supra into new territory.
On Tuesday, the Japanese carmaker said the 2020 Toyota Supra 2.0L Turbo will launch in Europe this March. It marks the first expansion of the turbo-four model outside of Japan -- a right-hand-drive market. While it doesn't offer the sweet sounds of the turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six, there are a couple of benefits to the smaller engine.
Toyota said the 2.0-liter turbo-four gave engineers the ability to engineer a 50/50 weight distribution for more responsiveness, sharper handling and overall greater agility compared with the inline-six-powered car. It's also 220 pounds lighter after ditching the BMW-sourced inline-six for another BMW-sourced inline-four.
The trade-off is less power across the board. There's 255 horsepower from the turbo-four engine and 295 pound-feet of torque. As a reminder, the inline-six makes 335 hp and 395 lb-ft of torque. The 2.0-liter turbo model is just over 1 second slower to 60 mph at the end of the day.
When the latest Supra variant goes on sale in Europe, Toyota will kick things off with a special model called the Fuji Speedway Limited Edition -- a nod to the famed Fuji International Speedway in Japan, if that wasn't clear. Limited to 200 cars, the model's exterior is jazzed up with a white metallic exterior color, black wheels and red door mirrors. Red and black Alcantara washes over the interior.
So, will we see this car come to America? All signs point to yes. And maybe, just maybe, we'll see a manual transmission, too.
