Toyota Supra

REPORT 2

£54,340 OTR/£55,050 as tested/£504pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

Is the new Supra a better daily than a Porsche Cayman?

DRIVER

Rowan Horncastle

A FRONT-ENGINE, REAR-WHEEL-DRIVE JAPANESE SPORTS CAR THAT just so happens to be built in Austria but for romanticism’s sake we’ll scoot over that A long arcing corner with a consistent radius and decent camber You know what comes next big drifting

Yep GY XCG was recently summoned in front of the cameras for an upcoming video series ‘Stig Drifts’ Best keep your eyes peeled for that it’s a goodie But it also came at the perfect time as I’ve been struggling with the communication of what the front and rear of the car are doing And nothing brings the true colours of a chassis out like skids

Don’t get me wrong the Supra’s steering is responsive and accurate especially in Sport mode but you can’t feel what the front end is biting on And this car does bite In the dry it’s really quite astonishing how much grip it has on the Michelin Pilot Sport S tyres You’d think with that engine up front it’d be keen to understeer but it isn’t And with bhp and lb ft of turbocharged torque most RWD cars would struggle for traction under power But the Supra just grips and goes In the wet it’s a di erent story Something I’m learning as winter sets in

But seeing Stig drift it was majestic A Japanese car sideways on a ‘Touge’ corner fit for Hokkaido just looks right Especially as the straight six warble got angrier and angrier fighting for more shove in the upper rev range Which you really have to do as there’s plenty of mid range punch from the litre but beyond rpm the engine loses fizz And with a short mm wheelbase it can be tricky to settle into a slide But once it’s at a big angle it’s happy and controllable Well that’s what Stig’s OB port said So the Supra can skid Good news But let’s be honest if it didn’t we’d be very disappointed