Purists get ready: Manual Toyota GR Supra locked-in for 28 April

A rumour that became a quietly confirmed reality two months ago has now been outed internationally with the confirmation that the manual transmission equipped Toyota Supra will be making its world debut on 28 April.

In accordance with a teaser image published by motor1.com, the six-speed manual ‘box will only be available on the 285kW/500Nm six-cylinder Supra, thus confirming Toyota South Africa’s response to The Citizen on the matter last month.

At the same time, the online publication detailed a second image showing the Supra script on the tailgate finished in red instead of chrome.

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Accordingly, this will be bespoke to the manual and not offered at all on models fitted with the eight-speed automatic gearbox.

As is known by now, the manual Supra, first reported in 2018 as becoming a reality, a year before its official launch, will be coming to South Africa in August with its local market reveal set for the 26-28 of the month alongside the new GR86 at the Kyalami Festival of Motoring.

Its reveal will also coincide with the upgraded B58 BMW-sourced 3.0-litre straight-six, which, until now, has been left untouched at 250kW/500Nm as opposed to the mentioned 28 5kW made in markets such as the United States and Australia since 2020.

For now, performance figures are unknown, but chances are that the manual will be a touch slower from 0-100 km/h than the automatic. The limited top speed of 250 km/h is unlikely to change though, with the same expected of the standard specification items.

A guaranteed certainty is that the three-pedal layout won’t be offered on the entry-level 2.0-litre turbocharged Supra, which is unlikely to come to South Africa as it could potentially overlap on price with the GR86.

Expect more details, both officially and in the form of teasers, about the manual Supra to emerge before its reveal at the end of the month.