Return of the king - Toyota Supra MKV
Of all the JDM legends from the 90s, only a few have managed to keep their lineage going and just one has managed to make a return. While Subaru is still making the Impreza, Mitsubishi has discontinued the Lancer Evolution—moving away from enthusiasts' cars altogether in favour of city cars and crossovers. Honda and Acura have the NSX and the Civic Type R, while Nissan has remained strong with the GTR and the Z-car. Mazda is nowhere to be seen. Toyota, despite the economic foundation afforded to the manufacturer by virtue of its title as largest automaker by volume, has largely ignored performance motoring for the past two decades—with Lexus tasked with providing lukewarm blips on the radar of sports cars.
Until now. Teased for half a decade and shown off through multiple concepts and race recreations—partly contributing to Toyota's establishment of Toyota Gazoo Racing, their in-house racing and parts development team—it's finally here. Unveiled at the 2019 North American International Auto Show at Detroit, the MKV Toyota Supra is here as a 2020 model.
The initial trim levels place it as a premium sports car in the North American market. At launch, three trim levels are offered—Basic, Premium and Launch Edition. The Basic starts from a slightly steep $49,990, Premium at $53,990 and the limited run Launch Edition going for $55,250. The new Supra, depending on trim, will have a premium interior with leather and stitching, as well as in-car tech courtesy of BMW. The German manufacturer was heavily involved with the development of the Supra—the new Z4 and the MKV share platforms, engines and more.
There's a 335 HP, 365 lb-ft of torque from a single-turbo 3.0-liter straight six in the highest trim, mated to an eight speed auto. It'll do 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds, with a limited top speed of 250 km/h. There's also rumours of a turbo 2.0 litre four cylinder as offered in the sister car Z4, with 255 HP and 295 lb-ft torque, but no confirmation at launch.
The one downside? It's pretty porky, weighing in at 3397 lbs (1540 kg) kerb weight. Considering it's barely up on power from the MKIV A80 Supra, the MKV A90 doesn't seem to have all that much of a performance edge. It's definitely not a competitor for Nissan's supercar slaying GTR. That might change with a GR-MN edition in the future.
Despite the slight concerns with performance figures, most enthusiasts seem to be focussing on how it looks. To them, we point towards a handy meme (below) we found on the interwebs.
Right now the 3.0 litre motor is an obstacle Bangladeshi import laws will definitely run into. Considering the high list price and the tax levied on large displacement engines, it's simply going to be too expensive to import officially.
The grey market is an option, but the high taxes still play a role. Until the 2.0 litre four is announced, chances of seeing the MKV on Bangladeshi roads are slim, unless an adventurous importer decides to brave the waiting period. Keep your fingers crossed.