Many of us knew it was coming, and some of us believed that it would never happen. Surprisingly, Toyota has made some serious inroads in the enthusiast community with the recent announcement of a manual-transmission GR Corolla with 300 horsepower and all-wheel-drive. Now, the Supra is finally getting a 6-speed manual transmission option along with some refinements to complete the package for a more engaging sports car.
The new 2023 Toyota GR Supra having a manual transmission option also brings about some other changes for the new sports coupe where it will feature new suspension tuning and a Hairpin+ drive mode function that essentially allows for certain amounts of wheelspin for sharper corning. Basically, it is a method of using the vehicle stability control to enact for modulating the wheel spin for better cornering.
Other changes include an exclusive one-year-only A91-MT special edition version of the Supra, which only comes with the manual transmission and is limited to a choice of two colors, Matte White or CU Later Gray. The special edition, which is limited to only 500 units in the U.S. market, will have a unique Cognac leather-trimmed interior with an Alcantara GR shift knob and exclusive 19-inch frozen gunmetal gray forged wheels. A new 12-speaker JBL audio system is also a new addition that comes standard on all 3.0 Premium and A91-MT special edition models.
As a quick note and nod to enthusiasts, the new GR Supra Manual will only come with the 3.0 Premium and A91-MT edition, which means the manual only gets bolted to the delightful 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6-cylinder engine with 382 horsepower and 367 lb-ft of torque.
The 6-speed manual transmission that Toyota decided to use is claimed to be developed in-house by their engineers. However, it is believed that the unit used was derived from an already-existing setup but appears to be highly modified and exclusive for use in the new 2023 Supra. The clutch is “upgraded” with more friction surface material, the diaphragm spring is stronger, and there’s the removal of an “acoustic package” that touts weight reduction and potentially gives the driver more feedback through unfiltered sounds of the drivetrain. Fundamentally, we’re totally sold on what Toyota is offering here with the new manual transmission Supra. Now, only if they could fix that annoying wind buffeting issue when you roll down the windows of the new Supra!
Toyota’s quest to bring us some joy in driving before Electric Vehicles spoil all the fun is attracting a lot of good “enthusiast” attention, and we like it! Pricing for the new Toyota GR Supra Manual will be revealed this summer just before it goes on sale around the same time.
