Toyota's long-awaited hard-core Toyota GRMN Supra will bag a high-output 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine from the upcoming BMW M4 CSL, it has been revealed.
According to Japanese car blog Spyder7, the fastest-ever GRMN Supra will be gifted the same S58 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder twin-turbocharged engine from the current BMW M3 and M4, but tuned to produce as much as 397kW.
That power output is a considerable bump up on the 375kW the current BMW M4 Competition produces and a massive increase over the 285kW/500Nm the latest GR Supra pushes out.
Behind the huge power and torque gains (the latter believed to be more than 700Nm) is a comprehensive overhaul of the M3/M4 S58, with the more powerful twin-turbo six-pot developed chiefly for the new track-focused BMW M4 CSL that was spotted testing last year.
According to Spyder7, the GRMN will also borrow a newly-developed seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that will offer much faster gear changes than the standard car's ZF eight-speed automatic.
With considerably more power and torque, plus the new dual-clutch 'box and launch control, the GRMN Supra should pull off a 0-100km/h sprint in less than 3.5 seconds and top out at circa 320km/h – around 0.6sec quicker and 70km/h faster than the 250km/h-limited regular version.
Unusually, the rumour mill suggests Toyota will offer the Supra GRMN with both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive in some markets. The latter is expected to be even quicker to the 0-100km/h benchmark dash.
Adapting to the extra requirements of its new powertrain, engineers and designers have been forced to ramp up cooling for the GR Supra, with a new front bumper, bonnet vents and even scoops set to be introduced.
Keeping weight down, Toyota has also added more kilo-cutting parts that include both a carbon-fibre roof panel and a larger carbon rear wing.
In Japan, the Toyota GRMN Supra will be priced from ¥10 million ($A107,000), which is only a small margin over the $97,126 (plus on-road costs) charged from the Toyota GR Supra GTS sold in Australia.
Of course, when (or if) the GRMN Supra lands Down Under, expect its limited volume and high demand to see its asking price almost double over the rumoured Japanese pricing.
It's not just the supercar-quick GRMN Supra that is rumoured to be in the pipeline. Leaks out of Japan suggest a three-pedal manual transmission version of the Toyota GR Supra will also be offered next year.
It's thought the six-speed manual will be sourced from either the BMW M2 or the BMW M3/M4, but is highly unlikely to be offered in the rumoured GRMN Supra as it would not be able to cope with the higher torque peak of the uprated S58 engine.