Which Is Best: The Four-Cylinder or Six-Cylinder Toyota Supra?
Because more isn’t always better.
When the Toyota Supra debuted last year, the car world was set ablaze with people arguing one way or the other about the car’s authenticity, and whether or not it could rightfully be called a Supra. Sure, it has an inline-six, but it's a German inline-six, and most of the other bits that matter come from Bavaria, too. Those people are somewhat quieter nowadays, and Toyota's rolled out a big power bump for the car just a year after its reveal.
For 2021, Toyota engineered a Supra with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, and its ability to stand up to the more powerful and more expensive variant may surprise you. Take a look at what the Everyday Driver YouTube channel found when testing them back to back:
The duo accurately points out that there’s not much in the way of cosmetics standing between the two cars, and notes that even driving them back to back the differences are subtle. The six-cylinder car has an adaptive suspension that can handle road imperfections a bit better, but the four-cylinder version carries 220 fewer pounds thanks to the lack of higher-end features that come with the more expensive car. The four-cylinder Supra, with "only" 255 horsepower, still feels more powerful to the reviewers.
Being an advocate for the "regular" buyer, the guys pick the four-cylinder car as the one to buy. Their choice boils down to the lesser car’s value proposition and the fact that it meets 95 percent of the performance metrics of the car with the inline-six.
When The Drive's own Patrick George reviewed the new 2.0-liter Supra recently, he noted some of the same characteristics. The four-cylinder car, he said, “is noticeably lighter on its heels, direct, playful, and planted.”
Where the car fell short, per his review, was its lack of a “killer factor” that made it a must-buy over any number of competitors, but he followed that statement with a direct verdict that those in the market for a new-new Supra won’t regret buying one.
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