Buy A Stick-Shift Toyota GR Supra While You Still Can

With a bit of love and a bit of time, things have a habit of growing. Take the Toyota GR Supra, for example. Not only did it revive an iconic nameplate canonized in tuner culture, it’s also been regularly updated throughout its life, continuously honed and optimized. From a power increase for straight-six models to the addition of a manual transmission, this is one of those performance cars that seems to have grown more desirable as its production continued on.

However, time might be running out for the GR Supra in its current form. The recent unveiling of a Final Edition model certainly seems to indicate that time’s nearly up for this collaboration between Toyota and BMW, and while one more model year seems like a reasonably safe bet, beyond that, who knows? While a next-generation model’s been teased, nothing’s set in stone yet. So, should you buy the current GR Supra while you still have the chance? Let’s find out.

[Full disclosure: Toyota Canada let me borrow this GR Supra for a week so long as I kept the shiny side up, returned it with a full tank of premium fuel and reviewed it.]

Soak Time

It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than five years since the GR Supra made its first undisguised public appearance at the 2019 Detroit Auto Show. At the time, its muscular forms and bevy of faux vents were deeply controversial, but I reckon the shape aged well. In the weirdly inauthentic year of 2024, it’s easy to look past the false grillework and realize that despite the challenges of shrinking the language of the FT-1 concept car to fit the GR Supra’s bones, there are some cool things going on here.

The rear fenders are properly wide, with enough distance between the transition towards a horizontal surface and the C-pillars to hold a family picnic on. At the same time, the Formula-aping nosecone and ducktail-like hatch elongate the nose, blunt the tail, and give off a sense of forward motion. This isn’t a classically beautiful or elegant coupe, but it has its own je ne sais quoi about it that fits with the street brawler mythos of the nameplate. There’s this phrase, “soak time,” that describes letting a design proposal rest in the studio to really understand it. Now that the general public’s had some time to soak in the GR Supra, I reckon it’s reasonably well-accepted.

Chrysalis

Thanks to a high belt-line, low roof rails, and relatively wide center console, the cockpit of the GR Supra feels as snug as a pair of skinny jeans. Even at its lowest, you’ll find the driver’s seat a bit higher than you might expect, although given the slim greenhouse, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you’re coming from a sports sedan, it’ll seem positively natural, and the ergonomics of the driving position are fantastic. Not only does the tilt and telescopic steering column come way towards the driver, everything’s in place for comfortable elbow-on-console, flick-of-the-wrist shifting. It’s proper and traditional, and that’s not the only slightly old-school thing you’ll find in here.

Oh, iDrive 6, how I missed your logical, easy-to-navigate layout. Sure, everyone with an Android phone can take a hike, but for those on iOS, wireless Apple CarPlay is as reliable and seamless as you’d wish, even if the pairing process feels a bit last-gen. The upshot? Older infotainment means a litany of physical buttons including climate controls, heated seat buttons, and programmable presets for everything from radio stations to performance pages.

These physical buttons also have the only good implementation of capacitive touch controls in cars because as you brush your finger over them, a preview of what each preset does appears in an infotainment header before you make an actual selection. They’re probably as expensive as myrrh by weight if you launch a Double Gulp into them and ruin them, but they’re also a great example of what technology in a car should do — make your life easier.

If there’s a downside to the interior of the GR Supra, it’s that the leather isn’t so nice. Look, urethane-coated leather varies wildly in quality, but the stuff in the Supra feels about as supple as a watercolor hung on the wall. The hide of a cow shouldn’t be scratchy, especially in something priced like the downpayment on a home. Also, the lack of a heated steering wheel feels like a miss, even if svelte coupes are primarily fair-weather propositions, and the generally cromulent JBL sound system falls off pretty hard on the low end.

Still, choice of upholstery aside, this Austrian-built creation feels every bit of its price tag, like you’re barely sacrificing any luxury to get a performance car. From a head up display to wonderfully supportive seats, this is the flight deck of an excellent daily driver, and that’s before you even press the start button.

Doublespeak

Under the hood, you’ll find BMW’s B58 engine, otherwise known as God’s own turbocharged inline-six. A sextet of 500 cc cylinders and a twin-scroll turbocharger combine to dole out 382 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 368 lb.-ft. of torque from a low 1,800 rpm., with gobs of torque and a reasonably heady 7,000 rpm redline. It’s a reliable favorite when paired with an automatic transmission, so how does it feel with a manual?

On the one hand, there seems to be a little bit of rev hang going on. The stick GR Supra’s shifter will oblige in quick shifts, but if you’re shifting in the mid-range, it takes a beat or two for engine speed to settle. On the other, the buttery, weighty gates of this stick make the manual GR Supra far more enjoyable than any automatic. Some could even accuse the shifter of being too objectively perfect, slack-free but without any notchiness. Plus, with possibly the easiest clutch in any current production car and defeatable auto-blip on the downshifts, even slogging through traffic isn’t a hassle with three pedals.

Once the grind of stop-and-go lets up and the right cloverleaf appears, you’ll get a chance to explore the handling of the GR Supra, and that’s where things get really interesting. Even in chilly late-November weather, the Michelin Pilot Super Sport summer tires, adaptive dampers, and suspension geometry offered flotsam-launching lateral grip, with a refreshing breakaway into oversteer should you dare. That’ll teach your passenger to have a weak grip on their phone. Aphid-like adhesion from the front end gets sports car fans salivating, and the progressive lock-up of the electronically variable limited-slip rear differential feels more confidence-inspiring than a Centurion card. Make no mistake, the GR Supra puts numbers on the board, but for the discerning sports car enthusiast, something’s missing from the steering — feedback.

As a result, this is a car you drive reactively, rather than proactively. You need fast hands and a measured right foot, as the sharp chassis setup and prodigal plateau of torque make kicking the rear end out in low-speed corners twinge-of-the-toe easy. If anything, it’s reminiscent of the emotional wall put up by the Honda S2000, but this time, you actually have more low-end torque than an electric screwdriver. This means the GR Supra does something that the other much-heralded Japanese sports car of the 21st century can’t do — settle down and be lovely when you’re looking for calm.

Remember how I wrote that every Supra prior to this is a GT car? Turns out, this new one is as well. Get out of sport mode and the blat of the straight-six quiets down, the steering lightens up, and the dampers relax their shoulders. Around town on apocalyptic roads, shifting just past 2,000 rpm, the GR Supra becomes amicable. Insulating. Refined. It files down bumps, smothers expansion joints, and puts just enough of a hush on road noise to the point where if the cockpit didn’t feel so form-fitting, you’d almost be convinced you were driving a sports sedan.

Remember The Name

For what can only be described as absolute ages, people on the internet have wondered whether the GR Supra is deserving of its name. Well, after hundreds of miles, I can confirm, yeah, it’s a real Supra. It’s a comfy, refined, well-equipped coupe aimed at a mature audience that wants straight-line speed, impressive grip, enough toys to humble an entry-level Lexus, and enough mechanical headroom to really turn up the wick. This means it’s not quite in the same niche as a four-cylinder Porsche 718 Cayman for better or worse. For most people, it’s certainly for the better, but for those feeling a bit betrayed by this verdict, I have some good news.

Thankfully, Toyota does make a sports car for diehards, those who live and breathe agility and communication, and are willing to sacrifice a bit of refinement and straight-line speed to get what they want. It costs about as much as a new Camry, it’s called the GR86, and it’s sen-bleeding-sational. However, that’s not an experience for everyone. The GR Supra is the middle ground between the housefly intuition of the GR86 and the sprawling, galloping feel of say, a Mustang GT. It’s a great first sports car if you don’t want any of the unspoken sports car compromises, and something we’ll dearly miss when it’s gone.

(Photo credits: Thomas Hundal)

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