2021 Toyota Supra Tests With More Hp And Torque Than Advertised


2021 Toyota Supra tests with more HP and torque than advertised

In June last year, two Toyota Supras ended up on dynos courtesy of a Motor Trend run in Southern California and a Car and Driver tilt in Michigan. Both Supras put down more power at the wheels than Toyota rated them at the crank. This took no one by surprise since BMW's 3.0-liter B58 inline-six cylinder powers the Toyota, and BMW is known to suffer excessive modesty when quoting power figures for its engines. Car and Driver recently took possession of 2021 Supra, so naturally the proper course of action was to put it on the dyno in Michigan, along with another 2020 Supra in the mag's long-term fleet as a control unit. The runs would not only be a test of a regular production 2020 Supra, but also a measure of the 47 additional horsepower promised for the current model year. Supra buyers will be happy to know BMW still plays coy with outputs, both cars registering more horsepower and torque at the wheels than they're rated for at the crank.

The 2020 Supra's spec sheet notes 335 horsepower and 356 pound-feet of torque. On the Dynojet dyno at Livernois Motorsports and Engineering in Dearborn, Michigan, the coupe notched 346 horsepower and 409 pound-feet of torque at the wheels. Last year, C/D's tester Supra clocked 339 hp and 427 lb-ft. The mag notes that last year it ran the Supra on an all-wheel-drive dyno because the car's programming didn't like high revs while the front wheels weren't moving. This year, C/D learned how to say 'open sesame' to put the Supra into dyno mode, so testing occurred on the proper equipment. The tests were run in sixth gear, which has a 1.00:1 ratio assuming full torque converter lockup, peak rpm coming about 500 revs short of redline, within the Supra's peak power band. 

The 2021 Supra's spec sheet claims 382 hp and 369 lb-ft. At the end of several runs, the car registered 388 hp and 421 lb-ft at the wheels, a tidy commensurate increase compared to last year's coupe. 

Once C/D's testing facility reopens for business, the mag wants to compare the 2021 Supra to last year's car doing zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds, and blazing the quarter-mile in 12.2 seconds at 113 mph. So far, though, as we said after our First Drive of the 2021 Supra, "More power is good — who knew?"