Toyota Won’t Offer Four-Cylinder Supra In The U.S.

If you want less displacement, buy a Z4.

By: Jeff Perez

Jan 15, 2019 at 1:19pm ET

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The 2020 Toyota Supra stole the auto show this year in Detroit. The long-awaited coupe gets a turbocharged 3.0-liter engine in the U.S., good for 335 horsepower (249 kilowatts) and 365 pound-feet (494 Newton-meters) of torque. In Japan, the base Supra comes with a four-cylinder engine – but don't expect it to carry over here.

Speaking with Jack Hollis, Toyota's group vice president and general manager, at the Detroit Auto Show, he said the company has no plans to bring the four-cylinder Supra stateside. Toyota believes the current inline-six is the best engine for this car.

"I think it will be interesting to see, with the Z4 coming out with the 2.0-liter – and it's kind of interesting we have our inline six that's the same price as their two-liter – we'll see how that all works out. But no, we don't have a plan to bring the four-cylinder here."

The base four-cylinder Supra is good for either 194 hp (145 kW) and 236 lb-ft (320 Nm), or 255 hp (190 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque, depending on the trim. For countries like Japan with strict tax laws on larger-displacement engines, it makes sense. But in the U.S., with the 86 and no restrictions on larger-displacement engines, Toyota doesn't see a business case for it.

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"The good news is having a company that has that available, we could do so. But we made the choice with Tada Son to only bring [the Supra] out with the inline six – so we feel strongly that that's the right engine and right performance for us."

Gallery: 2020 Toyota Supra

There is one way you can get that platform with a four-cylinder engine, though: Buy a BMW Z4. In the U.S., the base Z4 is powered by a 2.0-liter engine good for 255 hp (190 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque. The four-cylinder Z4 and the six-cylinder Supra start at around the same price – $49,700 for the Z4 versus $49,990 for the Supra.