GR Supra

Make
Toyota
Segment
Coupe

The new Supra promises a ton of performance potential, and Toyota is out to prove that on the race track, rolling out a succession of ever-more-hardcore competition versions of the new sports car. But this right here is the most extreme yet.

It's the new GT500-spec Supra that's set to take on Japan's highly competitive Super GT series next season, presented for the first time in all its glory at the Suzuka Circuit alongside its rivals. And man does it look the business, presented in its bare carbon and festooned with more spoilers than a movie review.

Following the lead set by the GR Supra Super GT concept revealed at the Tokyo Auto Show at the beginning of the year (and the GR Supra Racing Concept that previewed the production model last year), the new Supra GT500 is the latest and arguably most extreme version of Toyota's new sports car to date. Far more so than either the GT4 or NASCAR Xfinity versions we've already seen, and eager to pick up where the old Supra and the Lexus SC 430, RC F and LC 500 previously enter in the series left off.

To meet the new Class 1 regulations, the GT500 Supra does away with the BMW-sourced 3.0-liter turbocharged straight-six in favor of a 2.0-liter turbo four – but that engine produces around 670 horsepower – or 500 kW, hence the class designation (above the lower-level GT300 category). That's twice the output of the showroom model.

Of course those rules apply equally to its competitors, of which there are only two: the Nissan GT-R (which is already front-engined), but also the Acura NSX that's mid-engined in road-going spec, but had to switch to a front-engine layout (like the previous HSV-010 GT) for the Super GT series.