TRD has modified the new Toyota Supra, and this is it

By topgear, 12 February 2019
Supra TRD

Just as it promised last week, Toyota Racing Development has had its way with the brand-new Supra. 

Unveiled with surprisingly little fanfare at Japan’s ‘Osaka Auto Messe’, the ‘Performance Line Concept’ gives us an idea what kind of parts TRD will eventually offer for the new BMW-based coupe. It’s wearing skirts and spoilers made from carbon fibre, plus something called a ‘door garnish’. Sounds delicious. 

All these things are claimed to improve aerodynamics, while lighter-weight 19in alloy wheels “tell quality to the road surface without excessive vehicle performance”, in Toyota’s Google Translated Japanese words. We think this means they’re better. 

TRD doesn’t say whether it’s done anything to the Supra’s innards. It will eventually, no doubt, but it looks as though this concept was done purely to show off imminent aesthetic mods. 

As a reminder – the Supra gets a 3.0-litre straight-six from BMW that gives 340bhp/500Nm and a 4.3sec 0-100kph time. It will also be available with 2.0-litre turbo fours with either 197bhp/320Nm or 258bhp/400Nm, but they haven’t been confirmed for Europe. 

Question is, does TRD’s MKV Supra look better than the old MKIV?