By Otsile Kadiege

In April last year, Toyota GR unveiled a manual GR Supra for JDM fan-boys and girls who enjoy rowing their own gears. Today, Toyota South Africa announced the manual transmission will be available in Mzansi. Adding more cream to the cake, the GR Supra’s straight-six 3.0-litre engine will get a power boost from 250kW to 285kW.

6-speed manual transmission

The manual transmission installed in the GR Supra has been engineered and tuned specifically for use with the coupe’s straight-six engine. The engineering team was able to modify existing transmission housing, driveshaft and gear set and remove elements that were not required, such as the acoustic package, which further reduced weight.

At the heart of the transmission is a newly-engineered clutch with a larger diameter and reinforced diaphragm spring. With a larger friction area and a stronger spring, this new component has the high-performance capability appropriate for use with the GR Supra’s high-torque engine.

Re-tuned suspension and steering

All GR Supra versions benefit from re-tuned suspension, introduced to optimise performance with the new manual transmission. The measures include more rigid vulcanised rubber in the front and rear anti-roll bar bushes and re-tuned shock absorbers. The mechanical components in the electric power steering and the system’s operating parameters have also been re-tuned.

Hairpin+ function

According to Toyota this nifty new function is designed to allow more freedom and reward specifically when taking tight bends on an uphill gradient (more than 5%) with a high-friction road surface. More “free” wheel spin can make such routes more enjoyable to drive, so Toyota has optimised engine torque control to allow a greater difference in the degree of wheel spin on the left and right-side tyres.

Updated centre console

Toyota says, the existing centre console design allowed insufficient clearance between the shift lever and the air conditioning control panel. To achieve the perfect ergonomics, the console unit and the control for drive mode selection have been redesigned. In addition, the lever ratio has been changed and the effort required to make shifts and engage reverse gear has been adjusted. The revised layout provides a comfortable 42mm clearance between the shift knob and air conditioning panel.

New paints and pricing

The GR Supra range also benefits from new paintwork options with the addition of Sapphire Blue and Iridescent Metallic Grey, while Ice Grey, Prime Silver and Grand Blue Metallic have been discontinued along with Matte Storm Grey. The GR brand hues of White, Red and Black remain on offer.

From a model line-up point of view, Matte Grey and Track editions have reached the span of their production and the GR Supra is currently available in two model suffixes in South Africa: Manual (R1,417,500) and Auto (R1,451,800).