Toyota Could Announce The Four-Cylinder Supra For The U.S. This Thursday

Nothing's official yet, other than 'more news is coming'

Toyota Could Announce The Four-Cylinder Supra For The U.S. Market This Thursday
[Photo: Toyota]

The 2020 Toyota Supra was one of the biggest automotive revivals in years, and one that’s garnered both excitement and disdain from enthusiasts. It’s a damn good sports car in its own right on one hand, but on the other its co-development with BMW has been a fly in the ointment for those who fondly remember the Mark IV Supra and its 2JZ straight-six engine. While we haven’t seen it (yet), a four-cylinder Supra has actually been around in other global markets, but we may soon get it on our shores as well.

At least, that may be the case if that’s the news Toyota will announce this upcoming Thursday, February 13. “Toyota is racing into the new year with fresh news about the upcoming 2021 Toyota GR Supra. Tune into the live reveal from Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, February 13 at 3:00 P.M. EST,” is all the company said in a statement. That, and they revealed the photo above, which doesn’t reveal much. But more than likely Toyota’s big announcement is that we’re getting another engine option for the new model year.

Motor Trend pointed out in a piece late last week that the smaller, 2.0-liter mill gained certification from the California Air Resources Board. If the Japanese automaker is going through such trouble to certify the engine, odds are they’re actually planning to bring it over here sometime soon. In Japan, the four-cylinder engine is available in two states of tune. The base engine manages 194 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque, while the more powerful version manages 225 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. As with the straight-six, it’s a BMW-sourced engine, and it manages 255 horsepower (with the same torque figure) in the Z4 sDrive30i. If the engine does make it here, it’s almost certain we’ll get the more powerful variant.

And this is the Supra we’re talking about — even with the “weaker” engine, you know some owners are going to try and tune it for power figures way beyond that. Sure, it doesn’t have as much grunt as the inline-six, but a smaller and lighter engine tuned for more power? It could be a winning combination. Ed Laukes, Toyota’s group vice president of marketing, just told Motor Trend to stay tuned this week for more information coming from Daytona. This upcoming weekend is the Daytona 500, so it’s a good time to make an announcement, particularly if it’s more notable than a new trim level or something.

While we wait for the official announcement, check out our latest experience with the Toyota Supra below: