I hope you’ve got your salt pinch ready because we’ve got a Toyota Supra rumor. Apparently, the Supra sports car will receive the GRMN treatment which will transform it into a 540 horsepower monster.
When and where have we heard that before? Well, when the Mk5 Supra was brand new and dealers were marking up prices by $20,000, there was talk of a model which was supposed to receive a 500 horsepower BMW M3 engine.
That was in the summer of 2020. Two years later, it still doesn’t exist, but we still can’t call it “fake news” because the rumors said it would only arrive at the end of the Mk5 Supra’s life. We don’t know when that is, but it’s probably around 2026-2028.
In any case, the rumor is back and has become even more extreme. The Japanese website Spyder7 is reporting on a GRMN Supra which is supposed to get even more power: 540 hp from the S58 engine. In case you guys forgot, the Supra made 335 hp in the first model year and jumped to 382 hp after that.
This output is from the BMW inline-6 single-turbo engine called B58. As you saw recently, it’s the exact same thing found under the hood of the M240i, the Z4 M40i and a bunch of other Bimmers. But the S58 is an entirely different animal.
This twin-turbo version of the 3.0-liter powers the M3 sedan, the M4 Coupe and soon the M3 wagon as well. Currently, the output is up to 510 or 503 hp, depending on which country you ask. BMW also has a more powerful version being developed for the M4 CSL, currently testing at the Nurburgring.
Speaking of which, it’s worth pointing out that GRMN stands for Gazoo Racing Master of Nurburgring. So that means the GRMN Supra will be a kind of track car. This name belongs to the division putting together all their hot sports models, including the GR Corolla and Yaris.
6-speed manual, 7-speed DCT
It’s my belief that if the GRMN Supra exists, it will have Toyota fine-tuning that’s different from BMW’s. On paper, the GR Supra and Z4 M40i are the same, but that’s not the case in the real world, where the Toyota model sounds better and possibly makes more power too.
The hardcore Supra is supposed to arrive in 2023 and cost around 10 million yen in Japan, which translates to $80,000. That’s a sizable price jump, but it’s still affordable. Plus, the JDM community would gobble any limited-edition Supra no matter the cost.
According to the report by Spyder7, the GRMN Supra would have a 7-speed DCT instead of the current auto, as well as numerous carbon fiber parts. It sounds a little hard to believe, but the GR Corolla was also a pipe dream a few years back.
In the meantime, it appears that the 2023 model year Supra will have a 6-speed manual. Production is supposed to start at the end of April with deliveries in October. In Japan, the manual-only Supra will be a special model called the Matte White Edition, equipped with new paint and tan leather seats.
