Earlier this month, the Mk V Supra entered its fourth year of production and will soon go head to head with the 2023 Nissan Z, which is betting on the retro design card while being more affordable. Of course, Toyota is rumored to have prepared a series of upgrades that would give the Supra an edge over its rival, such as a more potent engine and an available manual transmission (more on this below). Meanwhile, enthusiasts are brewing their own A90-generation Supras with the said kind of ingredients, as is the case with this example.
Two months into the 2019 commercial release of the A90 Toyota Supra, Japanese pro drifter Daigo Saito stuffed a good old 2JZ into his sideways racecar-converted example—he’s doing the same to a GR86 these days. And many other builds using the legendary turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six of the Mk IV Supra have followed, with this being the most recent one.
Underneath the still-stock hood of this Japanese sportscar, we find a 2JZ that’s now at its third turbo. And it seems that owner Mark (aka Pterodactyl Tactics) is willing to trade a certain amount of drivability for big power, having gone for a larger unit.
To be more precise, this is a Precision Sportsman Gen II 7675 turbo, which can deliver up to 1,300 hp at the rear wheels (over 1,500 hp at the crank), even though the actual output hasn’t been mentioned yet.
The motor is matted to a six-speed manual, so the driver can fully be in control while staying alert in terms of keeping the revs in the area that lets the turbo deliver those big output numbers. And, with the vehicle having recently gone for its first drive with the new setup, you can get a taste of its aggressive exhaust sounds—pops included—in the Insta clip below.
Inside the Supra, we find a pair of Bride bucket seats with multi-point harnesses, a competition steering wheel (no airbag here!) and a half-cage.
Outside the polished intercooler visible through the gaping intakes of the front bumper, the custom wheels and lowering suspension, the exterior of this Supra looks standard, which sort of makes the Toyota a sleeper.
What lies ahead for the factory Mk V Toyota Supra
Now that the Supra’s BMW-sourced 3.0-liter straight-six matches the 382 hp output of its Z4 sibling (the Japanese model was at a disadvantage for the first model year), while you can also spec the Toyota with a 255 hp BMW 2.0L turbo-four, what’s next for the Toyota?
These details have yet to receive official confirmation, but you can expect the Supra to receive a six-speed manual alongside the eight-speed automatic this summer—while earlier reports talked about the stick shift being destined for the 2.0L, more recent stories mention that the clutch is coming to the 3.0L unit in 2023 model year form.
As for the 2024MY, the Toyota Supra is rumored to receive the S58 twin-turbo 3.0L inline-six from the current M3 and M4. Expected to land on a GRMN incarnation of the Supra, the motor should gift the Supra with around 500 horses, which happens to be our estimate for how much power one needs on the road.
Oh, and that Nissan Z we mentioned in the intro? It got its first engine swap before even hitting the market.
