One Year in, the 2021 Toyota Supra Adds Power, Chassis Tweaks, and a New Special Edition

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Marc UbranoCar and Driver

Car and Driver

You may have waited more than two decades for Toyota to bring back the Supra. Perhaps you were so excited that you put money down to secure an early one. Possibly you even paid more than MSRP to be first. No matter what your story is, if you are one of the 4100 people who jumped at the opportunity to own the newest-generation Supra, Toyota’s changes for 2021 are going to cause some pain.

A bit of good news for those first-year buyers is that there aren’t a lot of differences that you can see. It’s unlikely anyone will notice that on 2021s the red, four-piston Brembo front brake calipers on the Premium and A91 Edition have “Toyota Supra” painted on them. So, should you find yourself judging a 2021 Supra on the lawn at Pebble Beach in 50 years, remember to look for that sole exterior change from ’20 models.

Most of the changes hide under the hood, including a new, 255-hp four-cylinder variant and an extra 47 horsepower for inline-six models. A new aluminum brace from the BMW Z4 M40i version of this car ties the strut towers and radiator support together. We popped the hood of our 2020 long-term Supra to compare and noticed that the mounting holes were there last year and that the air-filter box is carefully formed to allow the brace to fit.

Supra Four-Cylinder Is a More Docile Supra

BMW Z4 M40i vs. Toyota Supra

A back-to-back comparison with last-year’s engine reveals the ignition coils, throttle bodies, engine cover, and the air intake are the same. The jump in power over last year’s 335-hp rating is more than just a software change to BM (ahem), Toyota’s turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six. There’s a new cylinder head with a six-port exhaust manifold instead of the previous six-into-two design. New pistons reduce the compression rate from 11.0:1 to 10.2:1, but that’s offset by an increase in boost. The results are an impressive 382 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque. If those numbers sound familiar, they should. Those outputs, and this engine, are identical to the Z4 M40i’s numbers. Toyota tells us that the new engine wasn’t available to them for 2020. We can also imagine that maybe the Germans wanted to hold back all their best stuff, at least at first. Nonetheless, the reported output is likely a little low. Our dyno testing revealed there are likely a few more ponies available than advertised.

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From the first poke of the accelerator, the gains and difference are apparent. The turbo whistles to life as the silky six-cylinder symphony plays its soothing snarl. Weighing 3389 pounds, just a single pound more—possibly due to the new braces under the hood—than our long-termer, the acceleration is eye watering. The 3.0-liter pulls consistently hard across the entire sweep of the tachometer all the way into the 7000-rpm redline. Catapulting to triple-digit speeds is effortless. Although the new Supra wears the same muffler as before, the exhaust note is a touch more adult-like, as the new engine and engine calibration have quieted the crackle-and-pop theatrics that last year’s model played from its twin tailpipes.

Once again, there’s no manual gearbox, but the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission is brilliant. Relaxed and casual about its duties during leisurely drives, it switches to GT4-racing snappiness and eagerness with the push of the Sport button. There’s no case for a dual-clutch automatic here, it’s that good. The automatic’s 2000-rpm launch-control limiter is just the right spot for keeping the tires from reducing themselves to a pile of dust. Toyota claims the revised engine is good for 0.2-second quicker zero-to-60-mph time. Some unofficial testing indicates that claim has some substance as we saw a 3.5-second run to 60 mph, which is 0.2 seconds quicker than our long-term 2020 Supra. We’ll have to perform our full battery of tests at our usual venue before we can put the C/D stamp on this one.

Toyota has made slight tweaks to the chassis so it plays nicely with its newfound muscle. While subtle, driving the 2020 and 2021 reveals some minor differences. Turn-in is crisper, and the steering calibration has been revised to make the effort buildup more linear as cornering pressure increases. The electronically controlled dampers received some massaging, and on our 10Best loop the updated Supra was less prone to using all of its suspension travel when plunging into the section with high-speed heaves. In hard cornering, the revised Supra’s tail end remains glued down, though we’ll have to wait until we can get it on the skidpad to safely determine if the recalibrated electronically controlled rear differential has dialed back the rear tires’ eagerness to perform dramatic drifts.

More power will almost always require more fuel, but in the case of the turbocharged 3.0-liter six, this engine continues to return surprising fuel economy. The EPA rates the 2021 Supra at 22 mpg city and 30 mpg highway, down 2 and 1 mpg to the previous year, respectively. We averaged 22 mpg over 350 miles of mixed driving that included plenty of full-throttle whacks. However, on our 200-mile highway fuel economy loop at 75 mph,­ we averaged a remarkable 34 mpg. For comparison, we ran our long-term Supra through the same test on the same day and it achieved 36 mpg. For a car capable of sub-4.0-second runs to 60 mph, highway fuel economy in the mid-30s is incredibly efficient.

If giving the Supra a significant power bump after only a year of production wasn’t enough, Toyota continues to poke early adopters with a new special edition. When the Supra arrived last year, Toyota offered 1500 Launch Editions. For the 2021, there’s the A91 Edition. Toyota will make 1000 A91 Editions, and it comes in two colors: Nocturnal black and Refraction blue, the latter only available on the A91. The exterior features mirror caps and a rear spoiler in carbon fiber, matte-black wheels, and black stickers on the C-pillars. The interior gets blue contrasting stitching.

We realize that the 2021 might not sit well with last year’s Supra drivers. But that’s no reason to be down. Last year’s Supra is still a 10Best winner. Today’s buyers should note that Toyota admits they’re far from done with the Supra, but they won’t talk about any future-product details. If you held out a year for your Supra, congratulations. You’re going to love it. Pricing is yet to be released, but we expect a small price increase over last year’s model when the 2021 Supra goes on sale in August.

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