Good News: There’s Already a 2JZ Swap Kit in the Works for the New Toyota Supra
The new Supra isn’t even on the streets and engine swaps are already being plotted.
The original purveyors of the eBay turbo are here to restore the new 2020 Toyota Supra to its former glory. Aftermarket performance company CX Racing announced on Facebook that it would soon be taking preorders on a 2JZ swap kit for purists, posting a rendered mock-up of the pair to commemorate what will surely be a chariot of the Gods.
Upon its announcement, the new Supra was heavily criticized for relying so heavily on BMW-bred parts, essentially making it a re-branded and re-engineered BMW Z4. Die-hard purists and keyboard warriors alike denounced the platform for sullying the heritage of the 2JZ-GTE despite being vetted by Akio Toyoda himself.
BMW's M58 is used to power the MK5 Supra and retains a similar configuration to that of the formidable 2JZ-GTE; six cylinders placed in a straight line with 3.0-liters of turbocharged goodness. The new powerplant produces 335 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque, making its 4.1 second 0-to-60 time seem like a breeze for the sub-3,400 pound car.
Despite the criticism of the B58, the MK4 Supra's notorious 2JZ greeted drivers with slightly weaker 325 horsepower and 324 pound-feet of torque. While this might seem like a situation where an engine swap doesn't make sense, one must consider that the 2JZ is infinitely more customizable off-the-shelf in comparison to the relatively infant B58 which has only been in production since 2015. The 2JZ wasn't just a powerful engine in the '90s from the factory; the stock block could hold insane amounts of power.
The performance variant of its BMW Z4 counterpart, the M40i, carries the same B58 engine underneath the bonnet and will receive a modest power increase, resulting in 380 horsepower upon release. Therefore, the Supra seems to have a bit of wiggle room to squeeze some extra power, but that comes at a cost of expensive modern parts and development time.
Sadly, no news on if CX Racing's swap will be for just the engine or if it will also include the transmission as well. Toyota's announcement that the Supra would only be available with an eight-speed automatic transmission had some potential buyers crying the blues; bolting up a manual transmission, especially the matching R154, could bring a whole new niche to the MK5 Supra.
The California-based tuning company promised the impending release of the swap kit would be "soon,” unfortunately keeping the release date of the project under tight lips. Likely because the Supra hasn't actually been delivered just yet. But when it does start to hit driveways, I can't wait to see what owners have in store, especially with a bit-o-nostalgia under the hood.
