One-Man Welcoming Party: A Full Varis GR Supra

It’s pretty clear that the enthusiasm for the very first GR Yaris in town is quite big. With every single part fitted to it in a span of a week, everyone watches in awe as Autoplus takes to modifying their hot hatch with much gusto. The weekend following all this fanfare marks an opportunity to take the freshly tuned Yaris on its maiden voyage, and it turns out it would be welcomed by a very fitting tour guide to show it around town.

While the GR Yaris is an AWD hot hatch meant to meet homologation purposes for the FIA World Rally Championship, the GR Supra stands as Toyota’s halo sports car that carries the legendary nameplate into the 2020’s. The distinction between the two sporting vehicles is pretty clear: Each has a specific direction and approach towards achieving a higher level of performance. Either way, both cars are a welcome addition to the handful enthusiast-centric vehicles available in the market. We’ve already taken a closer look at the Autoplus GR Yaris, but this Supra that joined us for the morning is no slouch either.

Let’s not forget that with such a diehard following comes a slew of aftermarket tuning shops ready to offer the latest parts for the Supra – it has built its following thanks to the same industry after all. This particular Supra sports the full Varis Arising I Aero Suite, an aggressive kit that brings the A90 much closer towards the JDM tuner aesthetic.

Its aggressive wraparound carbon lip kit is finished off with a rear diffuser that has enough pointy edges to prick the odd foot that gets close, and a set of white Advan GT Premiums wrapped in Advan Neova AD08-Rs lend further towards the sporting tuner vibe. For proper cohesion and road-holding capability a set of KW V3 coils drop the coupe a fair amount to fill the wells and further bring out the Supra’s best handling.

No big boy Supra is complete without a massive GT Wing hanging out the back, and the Varis Arising kit for the A90 bestows a sizable 1520mm wing with thick mounts and base plates that allow the wing to be mounted on the center of the curved tail section.

There’s a bit of a challenge with altering/designing the bonnet of the A90 considering its clamshell shape that incorporates a good part of the front fenders. From the looks of it Varis has pulled this off nicely with all the vents in the right places. The two-tone exposed carbon center vent as well as the fender well vents on the side give enough functional ducting while bringing more focus to the bits that have been altered from the stock piece.

By this point we’re sick and tired of the “iT’s nOt A sUpRa bEcAuSe iT’s A BmW” spiel so we won’t even bother going there. Considering though that the B58 has been around a few years before the Supra made its debut, there’s already a few recipes to make quick power out of the German straight six with minimal modifications and bring it way past its “335 HP” advertised power.

This starts with one of the best intake brands for European vehicles: Gruppe M. Its full carbon fiber intake systems are always much revered pieces in any engine bay and is certainly functional for bringing more air towards the motor. The intake charge from its factory turbocharger is then cooled by a Fluidyne heat exchanger which lowers intake charge temps enough to have meritable horsepower gains.

On the exhaust side of things an AMS Race Downpipe and an HKS Catback both free up flow and combine to create quite a racket – enough to piss off the neighbors surely. All these with an ECUTEK tune, Autoplus tells us, is good for about 450whp. That’s more than enough to balance out the Supra without going overboard and compromising anything else with regards to daily drivability.

Surely the A90 Supra has lots more to prove to live up to the legend of its predecessors, yet with the way the aftermarket has opened its arms to the platform it seems like it’s off to a pretty good start. And with an example like this A90 rolling around town that’s sure to make a good reminder of all that’s good about the Supra name.

Words by Aurick Go

Photos by Jaime Miguel Echavez

2020 Toyota GR Supra

Engine and Driveline

Gruppe M Intake/Airbox

Fluidyne Heat Exchanger

AMS Race Downpipe

HKS Catback Exhaust

ECUTEK Tune by Speedworks Engineering

Wheels, Brakes, and Suspension

Advan GT Premium White

Advan Neova AD08R

KW V3 Suspension w/DDC

Interior

Stock

Exterior

Varis Arising I Aero Suite:

• Front Chin
• Canards
• Side Step
• Rear Diffuser
• Wing
• Hood