During its history the Toyota Supra

Toyota Supra

The Toyota Supra is a sports car/grand tourer that was produced by Toyota Motor Company from 1979 to 2002. The styling of the Toyota Supra was derived from the Toyota Celica, but it was both longer and wider. Starting in mid-1986, the Supra became its own model and was no longer based on the Celica...

 has enjoyed considerable success in a variety of different motorsports.

Drag racing

The Supra has a history of professional drag racing, mainly in Japan and the United States. The HKS

HKS Co., Ltd.

is a publicly traded company headquartered in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan specializing in the production and sales of aftermarket and accessory automotive parts and components.-Corporate history:...

 team have used both the Mk III and Mk IV to showcase its products, known as the HKS Drag Supra. This Supra was driven by Charlie Goncalves Catanho. It was mainly built on a custom chassis with a carbon fiber

Carbon fiber

Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...

 body, the Mk 3 version housed a de-stroked 2.89-liter twin-turbo 7M-GTE, good for 800 bhp at over 9000 rpm, giving a best quarter mile time of 8.09 seconds.

One of the first Pro Mod driver in import drag racing, Vinny Ten used a Supra to hold national records for drag racing in the United States between 1997 to 2000 as well as being the first in the US to build an 1000 bhp Japanese engine without the need of nitrous

Nitrous

Nitrous oxide is a chemical compound used as an oxidizing agent to increase an internal combustion engine's power output by allowing more fuel to be burned than would normally be the case.-Nitrous and NOS:...

 or alcohol fuel

Alcohol fuel

Although fossil fuels have become the dominant energy resource for the modern world, alcohol has been used as a fuel throughout history. The first four aliphatic alcohols are of interest as fuels because they can be synthesized chemically or biologically, and they have characteristics which allow...

. Ten also achieved the first for the Supra to break into the 12 to 8 second barriers as well as achieving a speed of over 120 to 160 mi/h. Ten has since taken his Supra into the six second barrier.
Craig Paisley, another pioneer of sport compact drag racing, also used a nitrous-assisted Supra, his first sport compact, to compete in the same category. He achieved a best of 8.2-second e.t.s at more than 160 mi/h and would switch to the factory supported Tacoma by 2002. Paisley was also the first sport compact racer to receive factory sponsorship and support. Toyota became the first Japanese car company to ever get involved with drag racing.

After years of competing in other cars, in 2002, HKS returned with the Mk IV version of the HKS Drag Supra, driven by Tetsuya "Dryhopp" Kawasaki, its 4.0 liter 1UZ-FE V-8, equipped with two prototype HKS GT3540 turbos, HKS rods and billet crank and stock valves, producing in total of 1479 bhp.

In 2003, the Supra was to compete in the NHRA

National Hot Rod Association

The National Hot Rod Association is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and host events all over the United States and Canada...

 Sport Compact Series, but the car became ineligible when the category it was to enter in, Pro V8, was axed at the beginning of the year, therefore it was permitted to perform demonstration runs throughout the season, where at a round at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Englishtown, the Supra took the car's record time of 6.893 ET at 193.13 mi/h, eclipsing its best in Japan of 7.277 posted at Sendai Hi-Land Raceway

Sendai Hi-Land Raceway

Sendai Hi-Land Raceway is a 2.525mile motor racing circuit in 12 Hayasaka, Shinkawa, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture 988-3434, East Japan. On October 17, 2010, the Japanese mountain race track hosted the sixth race in the 2010 Super Taikyu Endurance Series.- External links :*...

.

In 2002, at NHRA's Street Tire Class, the unibodied Titan Motorsport Supra of Mark Mazurowski broke the all-season record breaking dominance of Ari Yallon's Rotary Performance RX-7 to take the title and became the fastest uni-body Supra in the world with a time of 9.42 second and 157.56 mi/h at Maple Grove Raceway

Maple Grove Raceway

Maple Grove Raceway is a quarter-mile dragstrip located near Mohnton, Pennsylvania, just outside Reading. It opened in 1962 as a 1/5-mile dragstrip. It was eventually lengthened to its current quarter-mile length in 1964. The track has been sanctioned by the National Hot Rod Association for most of...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, despite a quicker time at Houston Raceway Park

Houston Raceway Park

Royal Purple Raceway is a quarter-mile dragstrip in Baytown, Texas, just outside Houston. It opened in 1988 and hosts the NHRA's O'Reilly Spring Nationals. It has a seating capacity for nearly 50,000 spectators, with additional grandstand seating brought in during major events...

 of 9.002 at 160.40 which was unrecorded.

The Supra won all but the first round, losing at a final to Yallon. With the cancellation of the Street Tire Class, Titan would move to the Pro RWD class with a 2JZ-GTE powered Celica The Supra was used by BF Goodrich to advertise its Drag Radials tires which it was equipped with.

Many cars that appeared in the series would appear in the NDRA (NOPI Drag Racing Association) BF Goodrich Tires Pro Street Tire series.

In the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Steve Whittaker used a 900 bhp Mk. III built around a Pro style chassis to achieve a best of 8.207 @ 169.89 mph.

Sw and boost logic were able to achieve a 241 mi/h pass on the Texas Mile and a 7.99 quarter mile pass with the stock getrag v160 transmission.

However in 2009 a 246 mi/h pass was made in the mile and a 7.91 quarter mile pass with the stock getrag v160 transmission.

At TX2K10 (a national supra meet that takes place annually in Texas), Boostlogic made a quarter-mile pass with their drag car with a time of 7.59@189 mph. The car was driven by Kean Wang and now currently stands as a world record time.

Touring car

During the Group A

Group A

In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed...

 period, Toyota used the MkII for Division 4 category touring car racing

Touring car racing

Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars. It is notably popular in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Scandinavia and Britain.-Characteristics of a touring car:...

, especially in JTCC

Japanese Touring Car Championship

The Japanese Touring Car Championship , is a former touring car racing series held in Japan...

, ETCC

European Touring Car Championship

The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...

, BTCC

British Touring Car Championship

The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...

 and ATCC

Australian Touring Car Championship

The Australian Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the V8 Supercar Championship Series awarded the trophy and title of Australian Touring Car Champion.-History:The...

 with the AE86

Toyota AE86

The AE86 generation of the Toyota Corolla Levin and Toyota Sprinter Trueno is a small, lightweight coupe introduced by Toyota in 1983 as part of the fifth generation Toyota Corolla lineup. For the purpose of brevity, the insider-chassis code of "AE86" is used to describe the whole range...

 competing in Division 1.

The MkII Celica Supras, debuted in 1983, although relatively underpowered to be a serious contender against the Rover SD1

Rover SD1

Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of large executive cars made by British Leyland or BL through its Specialist, Rover Triumph and Austin Rover divisions from 1976 until 1986....

 and BMW 635CSI

BMW E24

The BMW E24 series was the first BMW 6 Series coupé, produced by the German automaker BMW between the 1976 and 1989 model years. The 6 Series name reappeared with the BMW E63 chassis beginning in the 2004 model year. The E24 borrowed heavily from contemporary 5-series cars .- Model history :The...

, managed to be competitive despite this, being driven by drivers such as Win Percy

Win Percy

Winston "Win" Percy is a former motor racing driver from England. He competed in many classes of motorsport during his long career, but is perhaps most famous as one of the greats of touring car racing. Joe Saward of Autosport magazine once described him as being "often regarded as the World's...

, which he took it to win a BTCC round at Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch

Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...

 

When its star driver, Percy was tempted away by rival Tom Walkinshaw

Tom Walkinshaw

Tom Walkinshaw was a Scottish racing car driver and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing...

 and his TWR

Tom Walkinshaw Racing

Tom Walkinshaw Racing , was an auto racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976 by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw.-History:TWR started by modifying BMW 3.0 CSLs, but soon was contracted to head Mazda's works program in the British Touring Car Championship. The TWR developed RX-7, with Win...

 prepared Jaguar XJS

Jaguar XJS

The Jaguar XJ-S is a luxury grand tourer produced by the British manufacturer Jaguar from 1975 to 1996. The XJ-S replaced the E-Type in September 1975, and was based on the XJ saloon. It had been developed as the XK-F, though it was very different in character from its predecessor...

 V12, Toyota GB took on Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. The 125cc class uses a two-stroke engine while Moto2 and MotoGP use four-stroke engines. In 2010 the 250cc two-stroke was replaced...

 star Barry Sheene

Barry Sheene

Barry Stephen Frank Sheene MBE was a British World Champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.-Early life:...

, following his retirement from motorcycle racing, for the 1985 BTCC

British Touring Car Championship

The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s...

 season, but the car was outclassed by the newer turbocharged cars and Sheene's performance was hampered by past motorcycle racing injuries. Nevertheless, he drew in the crowds and would retire from professional racing at the end of the season.

When the Mk 2 was replaced by the Mk 3 Supra, like the Mk 2, it had varying degrees of success but both TOM'S

TOM'S

is a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport. Their head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. They are currently heavily involved with Super GT racing and Formula 3 racing...

 and SARD

SARD

is a Japanese tuning company and racing team from Toyota, Aichi, mainly competing in the Super GT series and specialising in Toyota tuning parts.-History:...

, who competed only in 1988, fared better domestically with the TOM'S team winning on its debut in 1987. In all, eleven MA70 Group-A turbos were built by TRD

Toyota Racing Development

Toyota Racing Development or TRD is the in-house tuning shop for all Toyota, Lexus, and Scion cars. TRD is responsible both for improving street cars for more performance and supporting Toyota's racing interests around the world. TRD produces various tuning products and accessories, including...

 Japan for racing.

The reason for lack of success was due to its larger engine capacity requiring it to run at a higher curb weight
required by the regulations and also its a lack of development. As the Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500

Ford Sierra

The Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....

, then the more advanced Nissan Skyline GT-R

Nissan Skyline GT-R

The Nissan Skyline GT-R is a Japanese sports car based on the Nissan Skyline range.The first GT-Rs were produced from 1969–1973. After a 16 year hiatus since the KPGC110 in 1972, the GT-R name was revived in 1989 with the Skyline R32. This car was nicknamed "Godzilla" by the Australian motoring...

 became the car to have. The Supra was abandoned at the end of the season in favour of the Toyota Corolla AE101 in 1991, and only a few were kept in competition by privateers until the end of the season.

Rallying

Although the Celica and Corolla Levin represented Toyota in rallying

Rallying

Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

, the touring car spec Celica Supra was used occasionally in Group A with modifications to make it drivable. The Celica Supra managed to finish second in category at Circuit of Ireland Ulster Rally, Scottish Rally

Scottish Rally

The Scottish Rally is the highlight of the Scottish Rally Championship. Taking place in June of every year, the warm weather and unique forest stages draws competitors from around the world....

 and the Welsh Rally during the 1983 British Open Rally Championship, driven by Per Eklund

Per Eklund

Per Eklund, born on June 26, 1946 in Skönnerud , Eda Municipality of Värmland in Sweden, is a Rally and Rallycross driver who lives in Arvika. His nickname is "Pekka". In rallying he never made it to the very top but he has been very successful in his later rallycross career.- Saab works...

 and Dave Whittock, allowing them to successfully defend their championship title.

Toyota sold the car off after the 1985 season.

Following the demise of Group B

Group B

Group B was a set of regulations introduced in 1982 for competition vehicles in sportscar racing and rallying regulated by the FIA. The Group B regulations fostered some of the quickest, most powerful and sophisticated rally cars ever built. However, a series of major accidents, some fatal, were...

 and upon insistence by Toyota management, its rally entrant Toyota Team Europe used the Supra to specialize in African rallies while the lighter Celica took the job for the other rallies. The Supra 3.0i made Toyota's Group A

Group A

In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed...

 debut with the Supra which was capable of producing 290 bhp, despite its weight and size being a clear disadvantage, driven by Björn Waldegaard, it led the 1987 Safari Rally

Safari Rally

The Safari Rally is considered by many to be the world's toughest rally. It was first held from 27 May to 1 June 1953 as the East African Coronation Safari in Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika, as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II...

 until its final day when engine overheated. The Supra
scored its only win in the Hong Kong - Beijing Rally with the same driver. The NA version was shortly replaced by the 400 bhp turbo version, which on its debut at the Rallye Côte d'Ivoire

Rallye Côte d'Ivoire

The Rallye Côte d'Ivoire is a rally race held annually in Côte d'Ivoire in Africa. In common with other races on the continent, it is known for its arduous conditions and high attrition rate among competitors. It was part of the World Rally Championship for drivers and manufacturers from 1978 to...

, the Supra led but the team withdrew when their hired Cessna 340

Cessna 340

|-See also:-References:* Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982–83. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1982. ISBN 0 7106-0748-2.* Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1988–89. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Defence Data, 1988. ISBN 0 7106-0867-5....

 crashed, killing the team manager, Henry Liddon and his assistant, Nigel Harris

Nigel Harris

Nigel Harris may refer to:*Nigel Harris , British economist*Nigel Harris *Nigel MacArthur, British broadcaster under the pseudonym Nigel Harris...

, plus a pilot and navigator. TTE would return for its African attempt for the following two years but was unable to repeat its performance and was replaced by the Celica which achieved better successes there.

IMSA

The Mk III Supra, which replaced the MK II Celica, competed in the IMSA Camel GT series

IMSA GT Championship

IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.-History:...

 by Kent Racing and All American Racers

Anglo American Racers

All American Racers was an American auto racing team and constructor based in Santa Ana, California. Founded by Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby in 1964, All American Racers initially participated in American sports car and Champ Car races as well as international Formula One events with cars named...

 in 1983 in the GTU (Grand Touring, under 3.0-liter) category, later in the season, AAR inherited the racing program of Kent Racing, although superior to the AAR cars, the semi-tube frame car Kent Racing used housed a 300 hp, 2030 cc, 16-valve DOHC engine. Feeling that the car needs to be developed, it underwent further redesign by aerodynamicist Hiro Fujimori.

For the 1985 season, AAR specially adapted a 2.1-liter turbocharged 4T-GT engine to one of their GTU car to be used at the GTO category, which scored a win at Laguna Seca, that car would later be used for engine development. Despite heavy copmpetition against the RX-7s, by the time they progressed to the higher GTO category in 1986 with a Celica, they had taken 10 GTU victories.

U.S. Super Lap Battles

Matt Andrews piloted Curtis Chen's MKIV Supra to a win at the 2008 Super Lap Battle Finals in the Street RWD division with a time of 1:57:711.
Previously his car took home overall street class in 2006.

Magazine Challenges

Matt Andrews and Al Rhee piloted Curtis Chen's MKIV Supra in the road racing and drag racing tests representing Super Street Magazine for the 2010 Castrol Syntec Top Car Challenge. The Team came in first place followed by a Modified R35 GTR.

JGTC/Super GT

Since first appearing in 1995, Toyota has raced the JZA80 Supra as a GT500 race car in the JGTC

Super GT

The Super GT series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship or JGTC , is a grand touring car race series promoted by the GT-Association...

 series. Beginning with a four cylinder 2.1-liter turbocharged 4T-GTE mounted onto a stock bodyshell with wide arch body kit

Body kit

A body kit or bodykit is a collection of exterior modifications to a car, typically composed of front and rear bumpers, side skirts, spoilers,paint jobs, and sometimes front and rear side guards and roof scoops. There are many companies that offer alternatives to the original factory appearance of...

 and spoiler.

Over the years, as demands for expensive GT1 race specials became common, the JGTC regulation drifted away from FIA

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...

 rules, as a result, the Supra has progressively underwent numerous changes over the years, most noticeable, the numerous body changes and by the late 1990s, the Supra used a developed version of the 3SG

Toyota S engine

The Toyota S Series engines are a family of straight-4 engines with displacement from 1.8 L to 2.2 L produced by Toyota Motor Corporation. The series has cast iron engine blocks and alloy cylinder heads.-Table of S-block engines:-1S:...

, which was developed from the IMSA engine and similar to the 3SGTE engine found Toyota Corolla

Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla is a line of subcompact and compact cars manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has become very popular throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. In 1997, the Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, with over 35 million...

 WRC car

World Rally Car

World Rally Car is a term used to describe racing automobiles built to the specification set by the FIA, the international motorsports governing body, and used to compete in the outright class of the World Rally Championship...

. By the early 2000s, for the benefit of torque

Torque

Torque, moment or moment of force , is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist....

, the Supra moved on to 3UZ-FE V8 engine

V8 engine

A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....

.

Altogether, the Supra has taken the title four times in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005. Despite being out of production since 2002, factory teams continued to use JZA80 Supras with continues successes. The car's swansong competitive year was in 2006, when it was used by Toyota Team Tsuchiya and Toyota Team SARD, since then, the Supra has since being replaced by the Lexus SC

Lexus SC

The Lexus SC is a personal luxury coupé that was retailed by Lexus, and built from 1991 through 2010. It features a front engine, rear-wheel drive design and seating for up to four passengers. The first generation SC debuted as the V8-powered SC 400 in 1991, and the I6-powered SC 300 was added in...

Le Mans

The JGTC specification Supra made its Le Mans

24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...

 debut in 1995

1995 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 63rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 17 and 18 1995.-Race:The 1995 race was won by a McLaren F1 GTR entered in the GT1 category. The car was already well known for dominating the BPR Global GT Series with customer teams, but the car that won was...

 by the factory backed SARD

SARD

is a Japanese tuning company and racing team from Toyota, Aichi, mainly competing in the Super GT series and specialising in Toyota tuning parts.-History:...

 team which it finished 14th, the team returned again for the following year

1996 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 64th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 15 and 16 1996.-Race:The 1996 race was won by a car that was considered by Porsche to not be a factory-backed entry, instead run by Joest Racing...

which they did not finish.