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.
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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.
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.
In a drag race, the 2020 Supra would lose to its BMW M440i sibling.
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. 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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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.
Do you believe Toyota was responsible for the gauge cluster on the Supra? Think again.
Design Works became a complete member of the BMW family and was forbidden from working on projects for other automakers after being acquired by BMW in 1995. The design company also works on non-automotive projects, such as John Deere tractors and personal computers, in addition to BMW. (In fact, after BMW, John Deere is the company’s second-largest client.) However, BMW Design Works is responsible for the Toyota Supra’s instrumentation, specifically the gauge cluster for the 2020 Supra.
You may say that an exception was made or that this is just another hokey instance of how the most recent Supra is really just a BMW in disguise. (After all, BMW Design Works doesn’t work on non-BMW projects.) The BMW Z4 roadster and the Supra share an engine, a platform, and a variety of switchgear. In addition, as we found out, BMW Design Works was in charge of developing the Supra’s on-screen menu icons in the infotainment display, the actual cluster itself, as well as all of its instrumentation and screen visuals, and they did it in accordance with Toyota’s style.
Even though this isn’t brand-new knowledge, Toyota hadn’t previously told us that the Supra’s instruments weren’t made by them. Design Works, on the other hand, prominently promotes its partnerships with businesses like The North Face and John Deere on the corporate website. There is no mention of the partnership with Toyota on this specific project. Given that the Supra and Z4 were developed mainly in tandem with one another, it is a wonder as to why Toyota (or BMW) chose to keep this small additional piece of knowledge a secret, but it is hardly scandalous.
There has been a great deal written about the well-known (or infamous, depending on how much you care) partnership between Toyota and BMW. The Supra is considerably less Japanese and even more Bavarian than we previously believed, as shown by this most recent piece of the puzzle. The new Supra’s compelling performance and outsized visual personality will continue to be appreciated by those of us who are less brand-snobby and protective of their sports car development niches, regardless of who was responsible for it or whose part numbers are stamped into its various components.
Revealed:
The first task was to get a straight-six engine when Toyota decided to give a new sports car the illustrious “Supra” label. Why? because customer surveys revealed it was a necessity given that the inline-six engine was present in all four of the car’s prior incarnations. The simplest method to get one was to sign a contract with BMW and purchase their 3.0-liter engine, which is found in the Z4 M40i and the new M340i. Toyota chose against creating its own straight-six, which disappointed purists but was a smart business decision given that the Supra won’t be a high-volume vehicle.
Similar to other crucial components from BMW, including the eight-speed transmission and the chassis, the engine with Bavarian roots has been modified specifically for the Supra by Toyota’s specialists. The two businesses have vowed that their sports vehicles will have individual identities that go beyond the various body styles, while sharing quite a few elements. Since we’ve seen the new Z4 and a clear picture of the Supra, we can be certain that their exterior designs won’t be similar in any way.
Returning to the test drive event interview, Tada made a suggestion that future Gazoo Racing cars might feature engines created by Toyota’s go-faster division. These will be brand-new engines as opposed to more powerful versions of current engines, and they’ll probably work with electrification for an added boost and lower emissions.