Progress is inevitable.
As much as most of us yearn for things from the ‘good ol’ days’ to last forever, it’s a certainty that things will continue to evolve, with or without us. The only decision we need to make is whether we’re willing to move forward as well, or stay rooted in the past.
There are legitimate arguments for both sides, and particularly when you’re dealing with a product that is tried and tested, one might be more hesitant to move onto something new. What isn’t broken, doesn’t need fixing and all of that.
I remember some of the earliest criticisms of the A90 (MkV) Supra – and there were quite a few – was that it should have had a Toyota-designed and built engine. A so-called ‘3JZ’, if you will.
What wasn’t really take into consideration at the time was that the JZ series of engines are almost 30 years old now, and were designed and built in a completely different era of the motoring industry with significantly less stringent rules, regulations and emissions targets. These are mind-numbingly boring things to have to consider, but be considered they must in this day and age.
With the last of the JZ variants having ceased production in around 2007, Toyota had to decide whether to design and produce a 2JZ successor. To do so would mean they would need to eat all of the development and production costs (a not insignificant amount of money). The other option was to use something suitable that was already in existence.
Enter BMW’s B58.
While we’ve had to endure three years’ worth of highly imaginative ‘nIcE bMw bRO’ comments on every A90 Supra image posted to social media since, I do feel that Toyota have been entirely justified in their decision.
Understandably, it’s still very early days for the B58 which was only introduced in 2015.
The 3.0-litre, turbocharged, inline-six is probably as close as Toyota themselves would have gotten to a ‘3JZ’, when all realities of contemporary engine design and restrictions have been considered.
If there’s a better place to talk about the past and future with respect to the current subject matter, then I’m not aware of it. If you have any affinity towards the Supra, then you will have come across Florida import tuning specialists, Titan Motorsports.
While the bulk of Titan’s business is actually parts distribution for (primarily) turbocharged Japanese and European cars, they’ve built themselves some pretty impressive demo machines over the years, often featuring parts developed in-house or in conjunction with their partners.
A business which started in the bedroom of brothers Nero and Bottle Deliwala to fund a MkIV Supra build, has become a name synonymous with very, very fast cars. The ethos of these cars has stemmed from the passion of the workforce, and Titan Motorsport’s fascination with a minimalist and lightweight approach to building cars. Incidentally, this ethos was based on the staff’s personal experiences of building their own Hondas.
There will be a separate story to come later this month where we will explore Titan’s history with the 2JZ, but for this feature we want to keep our focus on the B58 and its future potential.
To get some insight on how they have fared so far with their own A90 Supra, I recently spoke with Wes Bourne from Titan Motorsport.
While the A90 Supra is still in its infancy according to Wes, that hasn’t stopped Titan from extracting an 8.93-second quarter mile at 152mph from it. Their A90 was the first in the world to dip into the 8-second range when it did so in late 2020.
With Pure800 turbos, a Titan Motorsports down pipe and fuel system, along with port injection and nitrous, the B58 made over 800hp and 700ft-lb at the time with factory displacement. After that event, Titan took the motor apart for the first time and found that the componens inside were practically as new, despite 120+ dyno runs, street pulls and timed runs at the drag strip on a stock crank.
With the knowledge gained from that inspection, Titan are now working towards the next evolution of their car and are confident of a 7-second pass with further upgrades. They still face some environmental challenges, however.
As they’re based in Orlando, Titan Motorsport have to contend with high temperatures and humidity in the summer, and rain throughout the winter. This means there is only a narrow window if opportunity to put some passes on the board in conditions conducive to quick ETs.
One of the upgrades which they hope will get them into the sevens is CSF’s new Super Manifold for the second-generation B58, as found in the A90 Supra and G-Series BMW.
The intake manifold features a larger and more efficient water-to-air intercooler which has seen a drop of ~30°F in intake air temperatures along with quicker recovery, a lower pressure drop across the system and several other significant features which benefit performance and practicality.
CSF have recently added an optional nitrous hard-line kit created in conjunction with Nitrous Express to take advantage of the individual nitrous/methanol ports on the intake. Our friends at MotoIQ were recently able to perform a performance evaluation on the intake, which you can read about here.
What is likely the largest limitation of the B58 setup currently is the transmission, or rather the transmission’s electronics and software calibrations, which at the moment cannot be modified by the aftermarket. This means that the 8-speed ZF gearbox cannot be adapted with different shift points or rev limits.
Once this proverbial cookie is cracked, we should see times tumble even further.
Perhaps the most impressive part of all this, is that Titan Motorsport’s 8-second A90 Supra is still regularly street driven, and with some simple setup changes can be used comfortably on a circuit, too.
Titan’s focus for the time being is still on developing the Supra for the street, with plans for a pro-race car in the future.
It was 2018 when we first saw the A90 Supra fully revealed. It took less than two years from this moment for the aftermarket to run these cars at more than double the stock power output and into the eights on the drag strip with much, much more to come.
Whatever your feelings on Toyota’s collaboration project with BMW, you cannot the deny the performance potential of it.
Paddy McGrath
Instagram: pmcgphotos
Twitter: pmcgphotos
paddy@speedhunters.com
CSF Race is an official Speedhunters Supplier
Photography by Yaheem Murph
Instagram: yaheemmurph
For Toyota to pull off a Supra for 2020's business and regulatory cliamte, collaborating with another maker was the only way to go - much like the BRZ/86 twins. Even though initial reception was generally negative 2 years ago, believe the market and consumers have accepted this reality. And prices for these cars are much more accessible than before due to EV hype and overall lack of demand for 2 door sports cars that isn't a Porsche - which should help a new generation of enthusiasts in the coming years
I’ve accepted no forced reality. The cars manufacturers put out now are laughable trash with more problems than teenage single mother. The zupra is a fat disappointment, only automatic crap. Truly a POS among some of the worst generation of cars
The Zupra is not affordable either, shit is wayyyyyyyyyy overpriced and underpowered. ^kanye is a total idiot with zero knowledge
The A80 Supra was never affordable either, being more expensive than Corvettes and Mustangs back when it was new.
Unaffordable for you unfortunately
There is no hype for ev. Shit is dead before it started. All the gullible sheep already bought them. And they’re way to expensive for the brainwashed children coming up
So, is it nice living under a rock - coming out once in a while to insult those who have a differing opinion. Must really suck to have all that pent up small d*ck energy to unload.
"There is no hype for ev" - That is a hilariously wrong comment given the coverage, media presence, and performance. Top Gear magazine ran a cover last month "RIP petrol" and every other automotive youtube channel is some fast gasoline car vs a tesla plaid. I don't think that EV is the future but if you think there is no "hype" over it - you are an idiot. I think "the future" will be the "E-Fuels" being developed by Porsche and Mazda (and several others.)
As far as the a90 goes - for the level of performance it is quite affordable. You seem to be oblivious to the fact that the MKIV supras were actually more expensive when you adjust for inflation ($75k adjusted.) We are currently living in a golden age of accessible performance - the options to walk into a showroom and drive off in a "fast" car have never been so good. You can get a near 500hp manual transmission caddy (CT4 Blackwing) for mid 60s. Mustangs and Camaros all run 12s or better from the factory and can actually handle, We have Supras, Zs, GT86s, GTis, Type-Rs, etc. You can buy a street legal car right now that runs low 9s off the showroom floor (Tesla Plaid.) I mean name any other time in automotive history where you can buy a mid-engined v8 car that does 0-60 in less than 3, and runs the quarter in high tens for less than 90k (C8 Vette.)
Either you are the worst troll in the community - or a moron. Take your pic.
**400Z has entered the chat
The new Nissan Z is also still technically a refresh model as far as the governments of multiple countries are concerned. Same chassis designation with an engine already developed for a different car all together while still using the same CD009 transmissions they've had since the 350Z was released. It was significantly less expensive and prohibitive for Nissan to do this, even considering all of their other financial troubles. Toyota went with a brand new chassis and a brand new engine. If they did it all in house, the A90 Supra would cost double what it's selling for now before markups.
Still what they did for the new Z especially for the resources they had is quite remarkable in a way they were a bit more ahead of Toyota but yeah I definitely agree on your point with the new Supra
Still can't go wrong with either car tho
I think the new Supra is a great car for what it is and it's already proven to be really good especially after a couple of years now from it's debut
Yes it's not like the iconic A80/Mark 4 Supra but people tend to forget that it was entirely new for that time and era and sometimes we really need something entirely new for this generation too and in a way it brought back the tuner scene too and for the cars we're getting now or even coming back into the JDM scene, the new Supra deserves credit for that too and you have to admit it's a car that was much needed for this era
Nailed it on the head, but too many brain-dead sheeps think only the A80 is a Supra.
For me it's just that BMW's entire business model is planned obsolescence. Who knows what ungodly design "flaws" they've loaded into that engine and platform that will rear their heads in another 5 years.
That is a sweet-looking intake maifold.
sales numbers don't lie, this thing was a flop. i never thought i'd see the day when you can get a damn stick in a vw golf but not in a supra. shame on you toyota.
Two door cars are sales flop anyway.
I don't mean to be condescending with this comment, but when I read the title I laughed. How tunable is an engine? An engine is an air pump that's it. It's as tunable as you're willing to spend, dedicate, and innovate with.
How tunable was the internal combustion engine in its first five years? Imagine telling those people what we're doing now. It's a silly question imo to ask how tunable something is.
Look at what people are doing with shit box Corollas and hot hatches all over the world. How tunable is it? It's as tunable as you are skilled and talented. That's my answer!
It seems like you are trying to argue a point the article is not focused on. Its focused on the A90 and not the B58 engine. The author does mention about how the engine looks brand new at 700hp which is what most people would find useful when trying to build an engine. The point of the article and why the author said A90 and not B58 is because the transmission is not tuneable at this time.
The a90 imo had only two factual problems: it came too late and without a manual option (both due to lack of hiring anyone that simply understands the fundamentals the original models created). Lots of hate here, but like all ICE bmw/audi buyers there's gonna be a flock of sheeple that "just like it" and that's also factual so here we are. 400z is an embarrassment to Japan in the same way: too little, too late. Now, Toyota woke up and realized they didn't do enough to cash in on some great swan song cars during a solid era for ICE cars the past 15 years, so they took it like adults and showed up with a bunch of BEV's and hybrids just like everyone else, but late-ish instead of "a90/400z late". The new luxocoupe and MR2 look great, family-chauffers should like that smaller crossover too. Liked the style on the new supra/400z tho... They finally put out a 2000's feeling car in 2018+! Not too retrograde! Wow!
Of course, meanwhile, some FL boys still going to build some hoonable cars just because, and that's okay with me since, at least when these new supras drive about (and they do), they dont have to fart and pop their way for attention like most bmw/audi/corollas do. Still will leave them for dead IRL on I4/417/429/A1A/turnpike with my mom's BEV because the highway isn't a drag strip with tire warmers and a crew. "What about your daddy's viper?" Lol. Point is, Titan is doing right since these rip the right tarmac against appropriate COMPETITION, but their customers are mostly garage queeners that pay big money to realize the future has left them like a mulletted handlebar stache flooring a rickety transam blasting Pantera winking at high school girls - there WAS a time, but unless you're being half-funny, you're just a tryhard loser: That's the megabuck a90 that isn't Titan's, mostly.
You guys should visit Fueltech. I have a feeling that you will like the cars there, specially a yellow 355 Turbo
Too many die-hards of the JZ failed to take into account of this fact.
Before anyone come at me with "why can Toyota develop the GR Yaris themselves?", let me remind you guys that Toyota is currently competing in WRC and they need a homologation special for things to work to their advantage.
That is a good point.
Keep in mind that the real purpose of automotive regulations - whether they be emissions or crash - is to make it legally impossible to build an affordable, attractive, high-powered car.
Agreed, and developing a 3 cilinder motor has a lot more use then a big 6 cil. Tecnicly they could have done as cosworth does and just make an I6 thats just two I3's
Put a Barra in it
Nice BMW Bro but I prefer M2 CS...
I love TITAN. Anytime I'm in that area I always stop by. Great group of people, always inviting.
This article could have been one word:
- very -
Jokes aside, I still dont get how people think the supra got worse because bmw got involved. I dont hear people call the mclaren f1 an bmw because its engine. And name one car that got worse after bmw got involved?
Okay maybe the mini cooper haha
Change is inevitable, progress isn't