After a 17-year wait, Al-Futtaim Toyota has launched the new 2020 Toyota GR Supra in the UAE, much to the delight of fans and loyalists across the country.
Toyota’s engineers and designers had to develop an inevitable sequel to the legend, an automotive legacy that started way back in 1978. The team had to follow the best performance of four decades – quite the act to follow. With the all-new fifth-generation model, the legendary name has returned ready to set the roads ablaze with a comeback only fitting of the Toyota Supra story.
Evoking power, beauty and the thrill of driving and heart-pounding performance, the GR Supra embodies world-class sports car characteristics enhancing its formidable reputation as an all-conquering, giant-slaying machine. Whether on the highway or the track, the new much-anticipated Supra is now here in the UAE ready to take its race-to-road technology to the top of the segment.
Born at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany, the world’s most arduous race track, the 2020 Toyota Supra went through thousands of kilometres of performance testing to ensure it lives up to the heady expectations of some of the world’s most devoted enthusiasts.
Chief Engineer Tetsuya Tada, who headed the vehicle’s development, said: “The history of Supra development is marked by the pursuit of driving pleasure created by the relationship between driver and car. The all-new GR Supra really reacts the way you want and feels good to drive. I can definitely say that the acceleration delivered by the GR Supra’s straight-six turbocharged engine feels truly exhilarating. The solid torque it provides continuously elevates the acceleration feel to a sublime level. Once people have experienced that feeling, even those who don’t know or who have forgotten about the fun of driving a car will think, ‘That feels amazing!’”
Tada continued: “It’s not about numbers, it’s about the sense of becoming one with the car; that is what we were pursuing, and was the main consideration throughout the development process. We aimed to ensure that the car properly hugs the road surface and delivers excellent stability, offering supreme driving confidence regardless of road surface conditions.”
It’s been nearly two decades since Toyota stopped production of the previous fourth-generation Supra model. The car started in the market in 1978 and quickly earned a reputation as an unfailing sports car. It was in the 1990s, however, when the Supra encroached on territory normally reserved for the most expensive and most exotic supercars from Europe and the US. In its fourth-generation guise launched in 1993, the Supra punched above its weight and upset its more established competition, becoming a car cultural icon as well as a genuine movie star along the way, winning millions of fans around the world.
The wait has been well worth it and now a new generation of enthusiasts can enjoy the re-imagined Supra, updated for a world in 2020 without forgetting the fundamental pillars of its past successes.
The new 2020 Toyota Supra stays true to its front-engined, rear-wheel-drive layout which set it apart all these years, not forgetting of course the heart of the beast – a longitudinally-mounted in-line turbocharged six-cylinder engine, displacing 3.0-litres and delivering 335 horsepower and 50.99kg-m of torque to the grippy rear tyres, mounted on lightweight, forged aluminium 19-inch wheels.
