We’re admittedly a bit late to the Toyota Supra GRMN news but the Supra RZ Plasma Orange 100 Edition news brought it back up. Despite no concrete info being released by Toyota, rumors of the Supra GRMN (Gazoo Racing Meister of the Nurburgring) just don’t die. There seems to be a lot of smoke, so let’s hope there’s some fire because the rumors indicate that the Supra GRMN could get the M4 CSL’s S58 engine.
Rumors of an M-powered Supra have been swirling for at least a year, as there were whispers of Toyota giving the Supra a detuned version of the M3’s S58 engine. However, as the rumors persist, the proposed power level keeps rising, the latest of which being 543 horsepower, which is the same as the M4 CSL. Obviously, the M4 CSL uses the same basic S58 engine as the M2, M3, and M4, just tuned to make more power than them all.
Drive the M4 CSL for 30 seconds and you’ll realize that it makes more than BMW’s claimed 543 horsepower. It’s an absolute monster, with unrelenting waves of torque through each gear. In the M4 CSL, which weighs almost 3,700 lbs, the engine feels almost frighteningly powerful. If Toyota stuffs that engine into a Supra, which weighs around 3,400 lbs, it would be mind-boggling.
The rumored Supra GRMN would also be lighter than the standard car, with stiffer suspension, bigger brakes, and more extreme handling. Plus it’s already based on a better chassis than the M4 CSL, as the Supra shares its bespoke sports car chassis with the Z4, while the M4 CSL uses the same CLAR platform as every other rear-drive Bimmer. While CLAR is an impressive platform, it has inherent disadvantages that come with a model-flexible architecture, disadvantages that you won’t find in a bespoke sports car chassis. The Z4 and Supra are much lighter than everything based on CLAR, they’re structurally stiffer, and they drive with more precision, too. Drive a Z4 or Supra back-to-back with a 2 Series, for example, and you’ll be throwing the 2 Series keys back. The Zupra twins are just better cars to drive. So imagine a lighter, stiffer, sharper, and much more powerful version.
If it does happen, it will happen before 2025, as Toyota plans on electrifying the Supra after that date. Obviously, there’s no official word on whether any of this will happen, and it’s all speculation at this point. However, all of the smoke surrounding the rumor, and the promise of an M4 CSL-powered Supra, has us very much hoping for fire.
