In case you somehow didn’t know, the new Supra is essentially a BMW Z4 on the inside. It has a BMW drivetrain, interior, and parts. It is propelled by a B58 twin-turbo straight-six engine from BMW. The M440i xDrive also has the same straight-six engine. In a drag race, even though both cars have the same engine, they are not very evenly matched.
To see which car would be faster, the Carwow Youtube channel recently decided to drag race the two vehicles on a closed runway. Given that it’s a 2020 model, the Supra only has 340 horsepower (it was retuned to 382 hp for 2021). On the other hand, the M440i is producing all 382 horsepower. It also has all-wheel drive, giving it tremendous starting grip.
Although the Supra may have less torque and traction, it does have one advantage: weight. It is significantly lighter than the 4-Series because it just has two seats and does not require an AWD system. Unfortunately, in a straight-up drag race, that wouldn’t be enough to win. The Supra falls short in each of the three races. The only time it can compete is in a roll race, where it finishes neck and neck with the M440i.
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2020 Toyota Supra vs. 2020 BMW Z4 M40i: Stepsibling Rivalry
Yes, we are aware. Underneath the new Toyota Supra is a BMW. You don’t have to keep feigning shock over it. The mere discovery of a BMW emblem on a component under the Supra’s hood does not constitute proof of a plot. The BMW Code is not a book that Dan Brown will pen.
Both BMW and Toyota have been very open about their agreement: Toyota sent a sizable check, while BMW supplied the mechanical components for the most recent Z4 and the Supra. The Supra, though, makes it clear that Toyota has designed its own swoopy hardtop version of these brothers from separate moms. However, do let us know if you discover any Toyota-branded items inside the Z4’s engine. We’ll start a thorough inquiry. Otherwise, let’s determine once and for all which of these two nearly identically sized, nearly identically performing two-seat sports vehicles utilizes the same fundamental components more effectively. Be aware that a coupe and a roadster aren’t typically comparable. But then again, we also wouldn’t typically compare a Toyota to a BMW.
The new Toyota Supra significantly incorporates BMW elements, but its superior sales performance over its BMW equivalent demonstrates the value of nostalgia.
The Toyota Supra, whose fame increased dramatically as a result of the “Fast and Furious” movie series, has long been regarded as a symbol of the automobile industry. But many in the automobile industry weren’t pleased when Toyota brought the vehicle back to life last year after an almost two-decade exile from the market.
They contended that the new Supra wasn’t the unadulterated Toyota they had fallen in love with in the late 1990s and early 2000s, which was power-friendly and pure. Many criticized the new vehicle as being unauthentic and blasphemous because it was based on a BMW and had an engine from that vehicle.
But a passionate following yelling about a product’s purity or purported commitment to tradition is not what matters. There is a clear preference for one over the other, as shown by the US sales figures for both the Supra and the two-seater BMW Z4 with which it shares many parts.
Toyota has sold 3,897 Supra cars since the new model was eventually released last year, compared to BMW’s 2,253 Z4 sales during the same period. It demonstrates that perhaps things like “tradition” and “purity” aren’t as important as the online mob mentality would have you believe.
Burns said it was nice to know the automobile was constructed on a tried-and-true base and truly enjoys the “strange styling” of it.
Utilizing BMW’s infotainment system is advantageous.
There is a buffet of BMW content in the interior as well as in technical matters, which is actually not a bad thing. Everything meshes well, is quite simple to understand, and provides just enough technology to keep things up to date. The same central control knob used to operate BMW’s iDrive serves as the interface for the “Supra Command” system. Navigation with real-time traffic info, the 12-speaker JBL music system, and Bluetooth connectivity are all brought together through an 8.8-inch touchscreen (albeit a 6.5-inch screen is normal) (though a 6.5-inch screen is standard). This is a hilarious method to get around the fact that Toyota has long resisted providing customers with Apple CarPlay capabilities because the system is BMW’s. Absent is Android Auto.
Active driving features like forward collision warning with automated emergency braking, pedestrian identification, lane-departure warning, and road-sign assistance are standard on all 2020 Supras. A special note should be made of the lane-keeping assistance from BMW. The assist sometimes responds weirdly and intrusively to white lines along the borders of roads, just like on numerous recent BMWs we evaluated. This system, like a bloodhound on a bad scent, can detect something it doesn’t like and stay on a misread trail that requires a lot of pulling to continue moving in the direction that you, the aware driver, know you must move.
The new Supra delivers a completely different dynamic experience than a mid-engine sports car at a basic price of $50,855 (including the obligatory $955 destination fee), which puts it in direct competition with some other two-seat sports coupes like Porsche’s Cayman, which costs $58,850. The 2017 Supra is both high-tech and conventional at the same car thanks to the technology that is built in, the turbocharged engine, and the paddle-shifted transmission. Despite the BMW brand. Because of its German platform, those who completely disregard it will be losing out on some major driving enjoyment.
Both Supra engines come from BMW.
Both the 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo and the 3.0-liter six-cylinder turbo engines for the new Toyota Supra are direct imports from BMW. The smaller engine, internally referred to as the B48B20, will be offered in two states of tune, producing 197 and 255 horsepower, respectively, which are exactly the same outputs the same engine has, for example, in a MINI Cooper S and a BMW 330i.
It’s unclear how much Toyota modified this engine for the Supra, but it’s undeniable that both this engine and the larger 3.0-liter, which typically powers BMWs with the 40i label, are products of the German automaker. It is adjusted to produce 335 hp and 494 Nm/365 pound-feet of torque in the Supra, which is actually 6 Nm less than it does in the Z4. The ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox, which is the exact same one BMW uses in its Z4 to drive the rear wheels, is currently the only way for any engine configurations to transmit power to them.
The BMW Z4 is two tenths faster to sprint to 100 km/h or 62 mph than the six-cylinder Supra, which has the same engine with essentially the same output. It’s amusing that BMW lowered its claimed sprint time for the fastest current Z4 from 4.1 to 3.9 seconds after Toyota announced the Supra could sprint to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds, undoubtedly just to outdo the Japanese automaker on paper – it will obviously be significantly faster in practice.
This could show whether one or both manufacturers are exaggerating engine and performance numbers, which could turn out to be very different in practice.
The new Z4 roadster’s increased hardware will be used by the fifth-generation Supra.
When it was announced several years ago, Toyota’s desire to collaborate with BMW on the Supra/Z4 joint project raised quite a few eyebrows. We are only a few weeks away from the A90’s premiere in Detroit after a painstakingly long path to the official unveiling of the vehicle. The fifth-generation Supra will have a BMW engine under the hood when it shows up at NAIAS. Chief engineer Tetsuya Tada gave an interview to Automotive News Europe in which he outlined the justification for choosing to get the Supra’s engine from a different automaker.
So different on the surface, yet so same on the inside
The link between the 2020 Toyota Supra and the 2020 BMW Z4 is quite intriguing. The two automakers came up with the two models after deciding to divide the costs of creating the legendary car that each brand desired and required to be back in its portfolio. The partnership made a lot of sense for Toyota because BMW has a lot of inline-six engines and the Supra needed one to continue the tradition started by its previous incarnations. BMW would be able to introduce a new version of the legendary roadster to the market by sharing the costs of building a new Z4.
Toyota has traveled this path before. The Japanese carmaker collaborated with Subaru to develop the 86/BRZ, and its joint venture to develop the Supra with the Ultimate Driving Machine team was a major success.
How similar are the Z4 and Supra to one another? The vehicles are produced by Magna Steyr at the same factory in Graz, Austria, and share a common platform and powerplant. The majority of what is concealed beneath the sheet metal remains largely the same, yet practically everything that is visible is entirely new. There is just one convertible version of the BMW. Compared to the previous Z4, its exterior design, which has quick lines, has undergone a significant shift. Contrarily, the Supra is exclusively offered as a coupe and is based on the Toyota FT-1 concept, which debuted at the 2014 Detroit car show.
The 2020 Supra is a BMW product.
Working together between various automakers is not uncommon. Cost and production time savings, as well as the utilization of shared technologies and resources, are frequent advantages of collaboration. Ford has already partnered with Mazda, Toyota has done it with Subaru, and BMW is currently collaborating with Jaguar Land Rover on electrification technology. Toyota and BMW have a long-standing cooperation that recently gave rise to the most recent version of the revered Supra, Toyota’s illustrious mid-sized sports car.
The new Supra, which is now in its fifth generation, doesn’t resemble the BMW Z4 with which it shares parts at all. It has fascinating shapes and pointed-looking headlights, whilst the Z4 has a curvier, more rounder style. The Supra’s bold dimensions can look a little off-putting from certain perspectives. It also sports a distinctive front fascia, as opposed to the safer, more traditional BMW look of the Z4’s.
Even though both vehicles are two-door sports cars, the Supra has a hardtop while the Z4 is only available as a convertible.
However, the new Supra contains a sizable amount of components with BMW stamps underneath. For instance, the inline-six engine came from BMW, but Toyota’s engineers tweaked it especially for the Supra. The chassis is identical to the Z4’s, and BMW likewise provides the eight-speed automatic transmission. The Magna Steyr facility in Graz, Austria, produces both vehicles.
The cooperation makes sense both economically and culturally. Toyota understood it had to offer the new Supra a straight-six engine in order to maintain the tradition set by earlier iterations of the Supra.
So instead of spending the time and money necessary to design and construct its own new straight-six, Toyota opted to use BMW’s.
According to Motor Trend, BMW decided against building a new version of a low-volume convertible because the costs associated with doing so would have been too high. BMW was able to release the new Z4 and the new Supra last year thanks in part to financial support from Toyota.
Does BMW design the Supra?
A J29/DB The Toyota Supra is a sports automobile that Toyota has been manufacturing since 2019. It is primarily sold as the Toyota GR Supra. It succeeded the preceding model, the A80, whose production ceased in 2002, and is marketed under the Gazoo Racing (GR) name. The G29 BMW Z4 and the GR Supra were built on the same platform and were jointly developed by GR and BMW. The Magna Steyr facility in Graz, Austria, makes both automobiles.
The fifth-generation Supra is identified as a J29 series with DB model codes and adheres to BMW model code norms. To retain continuity with other Supra models, Toyota used the “A90” and “A91” codes in promotional and marketing materials for the fifth generation Supra.