Toyota Supra upgrade to fend off Nissan 400Z

The Toyota Supra will face its toughest challenger yet when the new Nissan 400Z is revealed in 2021 – but Toyota says 'bring it on'.

Currently powered by a BMW-sourced 3.0-litre inline turbo-petrol six-cylinder that bangs out a healthy 250kW/500Nm (which will be upgraded to 285kW from later this year), the born-again rear-drive coupe can hit 100km/h in a claimed 4.3 seconds with help from launch control.

However, the all-new Nissan 400Z is expected to out-power the Supra by generating at least 298kW from its Infiniti-sourced twin-turbo 3.0-litre V6. And the Nissan is almost certain to be cheaper than the Supra too.

Toyota Supra vs Nissan 400Z

Toyota says it’s this kind of stiff competition that inspires it to keep pushing the performance envelope.

“We’re not fearful of competition,” Toyota Australia sales and marketing chief Sean Hanley declared to carsales.

“I would welcome competition particularly in this space. There’s nothing like good rivalry to keep interest in the segment.

“We think a healthy competitive environment drives us and inspires us to great things. Are we confident about Supra? Yes we are.”

The Toyota Supra will get the first of many upgrades in late 2020, when a 35kW power boost will be backed up by sportier suspension and extra chassis bracing in the engine bay to sharpen its handling dynamics.

The next Supra upgrade is shaping up to be a gift for the purists -- a manual gearbox -- and it could lob about 12 months after this year's MY21 power boost.

According to MagX.jp, Toyota has green-lit the adoption of a six-speed manual transmission, which is already available in its BMW Z4 twin.

Things are set to get really spicy in late 2022, however, when the ballistic Toyota Supra GRMN is expected to hit the road -- roughly the same time the new Nissan 400Z arrives in Australia.

That said, Nissan is allegedly already working on an incendiary NISMO 400Z, which could make use of electric turbochargers to boost power close to 400kW.

The hard-core, racetrack-ready 2022 Toyota Supra GRMN is expected to swap the standard model's single-turbo (S58) straight-six for the twin-turbo six (S58) from the next BMW M3.

That means tyre-shredding power will be on tap, as the muscled-up 3.0-litre inline six is good for around 375kW/600Nm.

Split-wing Toyota Supra concept

Toyota Australia’s sales boss said it’s important to keep the company's hero cars relevant and exciting, to ensure its high-performance models aren’t gazumped by rivals like the Nissan 400Z.

“It’s an interesting segment the old sports car segment. The chief engineer of the Supra [Tetsuya Tada] has fairly well recently hinted that there’ll be regular updates to Supra on an almost yearly basis. So, we know that we can keep bringing the fight back to any rivals that might appear in the segment.”

With a renewed focus on high-performance cars thanks to Toyota’s petrol-head CEO, Akio Toyoda, the Japanese car giant is set to unleash its second banzai GR (Gazoo Racing) model in Australia later this year.

The pint-size Toyota Yaris GR hot hatch will be a rally-inspired all-wheel drive pocket rocket with a punchy 192kW three-cylinder turbo engine, putting it in a class all on its own.

There’s also a new Toyota 86 coming in 2021 and several GR-enhanced vehicles in the works, including a Toyota Corolla GR hot hatch and potentially even a HiLux GR super ute.