Toyota GR Supra 3.0 Review: 50/70

The Buyer's Guide

We scored the car as a 2021 or newer GR Supra 3.0 (the 382-hp straight-six), and it landed at 50 out of 70, with a verdict of Buy the 3.0, plan to tune it, and know the running cost.

This car is for someone with the budget for real speed, who wants a legendary, over-built engine they can cheaply double the power of, and who can live with two seats and premium-car running costs. If you want most of the fun for a lot less money, the GR86 comparison at the end is where to look.

All money figures use a fixed set of assumptions so they can be compared to other cars we cover: 12,000 miles a year, premium fuel at $4.00 a gallon, and insurance for a 35-year-old driver with a clean record and full coverage. Insurance numbers are published averages, not personal quotes. Prices are from Kelley Blue Book.

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The Deal

• Buy-in$25,364 above the Board average of $16,636
• Per HP$54.3/hp above the Board average of $55.7/hp
• Resale 3yr87%
• TrendFirm

~ our estimate, not a measured or quoted figure. Why we mark figures

The Supra is the expensive one, full stop. At about $42,000 used it costs nearly double a GR86 or a Miata, and that price is the single biggest reason this Board score is not higher. If your decision starts from a budget, this is where the Supra asks the most of you.

What softens it is resale. The Supra holds its value unusually well, losing only around 13 percent over three years, so the real cost of a few years of ownership is far lower than the buy-in suggests. That makes it a smarter financial proposition than the sticker implies, but it does not change the fact that you need the money up front. One decision matters above all others here: buy the 3.0, not the 2.0. The four-cylinder is fine, but the straight-six is the car worth wanting, and it is the one every other section is about.

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The Drive

• 0-601.6s below the Board average of 5.5s
• Pwr/Wt2.6 lb/hp below the Board average of 11.5 lb/hp
• Power90 hp above the Board average of 292 hp
• HP382 hp

This is quicker and more powerful than anything else in the class by a clear margin, and it scores a 9 on the Drive, level with the Focus RS. The B58 straight-six delivers a smooth, endless wave of torque that makes the Supra effortlessly quick in every situation, and the sub-four-second sprint to 60 is a genuine tier above the GR86 and Miata rather than a small improvement.

So the buyer question is simple: do you want real speed? If the answer is yes, and the engine's character carries the experience even at legal speeds. The one honest note is that it is BMW-engineered underneath, which fuels a debate about authenticity, but it drives beautifully, and that same engineering is what makes it so reliable and so tunable later. If outright pace is what you are after, this section alone may make your decision.

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The Upkeep

• Economy2 mpg above the Board average of 22.8 mpg
• MPG25
• Insurance$1,996
• Fuel/Tires/Svc$1,920 · $650 · $800

The Supra is one of the pricier cars in the segment to run, at roughly $5,346 a year. There is a genuine surprise on the upside: it returns better fuel economy than a GR86, around 25 mpg combined, because of its tall gearing. But everything else runs higher. It wears wide staggered tires, insurance is up there, and its BMW-derived mechanicals mean parts and service cost more than a Toyota badge would suggest.

For the buyer this car is aimed at, none of that is a dealbreaker, and it is worth knowing the fuel line is friendlier than you would guess. But if keeping monthly costs down is a priority, the Supra is a clear step up in running cost from the value cars in the class, and the BMW parts prices are a real, ongoing factor.

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The Risk

• In shortno catastrophic common failure; minor oil consumption / coolant / gasket items, at BMW parts prices
• ConcernOil/coolant/gaskets
• VerdictBulletproof engine

This is where the Supra flips the usual worry. On most performance cars the engine is the thing to fear. Here it is the best thing about the car's reliability. The B58 is one of the most over-built modern turbo engines, with a bottom end good for 600 to 650 horsepower and a long track record of high-mileage durability. Unlike the GR86 and its rod-bearing concern, there is no engine landmine to gamble on.

The caveats are minor and predictable. Some 2020-2021 cars sip oil, so check the history. Coolant tanks and a couple of gaskets can weep over time, and pre-2022 cars get normal direct-injection carbon buildup. The genuine ongoing cost is simply that it is BMW underneath, so repairs run pricier than the badge implies. For the buyer weighing this against a GR86, the trade is clear: you give up nothing on engine peace of mind and you take on BMW ownership economics instead. For most people, that is the easier risk to accept.

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The Daily

• Seats2
• LayoutHatchback

The Supra is more livable than its focused looks suggest. It carries more than anything else in this segment thanks to its hatch, and it is a comfortable, refined grand tourer that is easy to spend hours in. For a solo owner or a couple, it makes a surprisingly good everyday companion.

The ceiling is the seat count. It is a strict two-seater, so if you regularly need to carry passengers, the GR86's back seat gives it a real edge here. But if it is just you or the two of you, the big hatch and the road-trip comfort make the Supra one of the easier fast cars to live with day to day. Decide whether two seats is enough for your life, because that single fact is what caps this category.

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The Limit

• Lateral g0.07 g above the Board average of 0.95 g
• Grip1.02 g
• Braking151 ft
• HardwareAdaptive dampers, e-diff

On pure capability the Supra leads the segment: 1.02 g and a 151-foot stop, backed by adaptive dampers and an electronic diff that make it seriously quick on a track or a great road. If outright ability is what you want, this is it.

The trade is character and one real track limitation. At around 3,400 pounds it leans grand-tourer, rewarding commitment over the light-car playfulness of a Miata. And on hard track sessions its charge cooler can heat-soak and drop it into limp mode, so a heat-exchanger upgrade belongs on the list if you plan to run it seriously. For a canyon and occasional-track buyer, it is superb out of the box. For a dedicated track-day car, budget for that cooling fix.

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The Mods

• In shorttune + downpipe = ~420 whp from ~337 stock
• Cost → Power$1k → 420whp
• Ceiling500 whp
• AftermarketShared BMW B58 ecosystem

This is the Supra's superpower and the strongest reason to buy one. A tune and a downpipe take it from about 337 wheel horsepower to roughly 420, for around a thousand dollars, on the stock engine, with the reliability to hold it. Bolt-ons reach about 500 whp on the stock turbo, and the famously stout bottom end will take 600-plus. A tune and downpipe make ~420 whp for about $1k.

If you are a builder, this is close to the ideal platform, because the same over-built engine that makes it reliable also makes it nearly bulletproof under boost. The one thing to check before buying is tune support for your specific year, since the 2020 cars are the most tuner-friendly and some later ECUs were locked for a period. For the buyer who plans to modify, the Supra's mod value is what pulls its whole ownership case together, and it is the argument that turns a pricey car into a reasonable one.

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The Verdict

Buy the 3.0, plan to tune it, and go in knowing the running cost. Skip the 2.0 if speed is the point, and skip the car entirely if you need it to be cheap to buy or cheap to keep.

This car is for you if you want a 3.9-second car, and a legendary engine you can cheaply and reliably make far more powerful. It is not for you if your priorities are low purchase price, low running cost, or carrying passengers, in which case the GR86 or the Miata will serve you better. The Supra is a capable machine; whether it is the right buy for you depends entirely on whether speed and tuning potential are worth the premium.

The Long Read: Should You Buy a Used Toyota GR Supra 3.0?

So you wanna buy a Supra. Here is the contradiction that runs the whole video: it is a high buy-in, and cheap to make fast. That one tension explains its price, its appeal, and why it lands exactly where it does on our Board. Let me walk you through it.

We scored the car as a 2021-or-newer GR Supra 3.0, the 382-horsepower straight-six, and it landed at 50 out of 70. That is a tie with the GR86, reached by the complete opposite route, and it is a fascinating result for a car that outruns everything else in the class. Here is the story, category by category.

How much does a used Supra 3.0 cost?

A 2021 Supra 3.0 runs about $42,000 on the private-party market, with clean retail cars closer to $46,000, and a new one now stickers near $58,000. So there is no getting around it: this is nearly double the price of a GR86 or a Miata, and that price is the single biggest reason its Board score is not higher.

The saving grace is resale. The Supra holds its value remarkably well, shedding only about 13 percent over three years, so you get most of your money back. In practical terms, the true cost of owning one for a few years is far lower than the sticker suggests, which softens the sting of that high buy-in.

One trim decision matters more than anything else: get the 3.0, not the 2.0. The four-cylinder 2.0 is a perfectly nice car, but the straight-six 3.0 is the Supra people actually want, and it is the one this entire review is about. Also worth knowing, the manual transmission only arrived for 2023. Before that it is the eight-speed automatic, which is excellent, so do not rule out the earlier cars if you are open to two pedals.

What is the Supra 3.0 like to drive?

This scores a 9 on the Drive, level with the Focus RS, and it earns every bit of it. The B58 straight-six makes 382 horsepower and 368 pound-feet, the car weighs about 3,400 pounds, and it runs to 60 mph in the high three-second range. That is a completely different tier of speed from anything else in the class, not a small step up.

The engine is the star. It is smooth, endlessly willing, and delivers a brutal wave of midrange torque that makes the car feel effortlessly quick everywhere. Yes, it is BMW underneath, and yes, that fuels the whole "is it a real Supra" debate. Address it and move on, because on the road it drives sublime, and the shared engineering is exactly what makes the next few sections so good.

Is the Supra 3.0 cheap to own?

Not really, and this is where the price keeps costing you. Running costs come to about $5,346 a year, near the top of the segment. There is one genuine surprise on the upside: the Supra actually returns better fuel economy than a GR86, around 25 mpg combined, thanks to its tall gearing. But that is where the good news ends.

Everything else runs pricier. It wears wide staggered tires, insurance is higher, and because it is BMW-derived, parts and service cost more than a Toyota badge suggests. None of it is punishing, but this is a car you feel in the wallet every month, and if low running cost is a priority, the Supra is one of the more expensive ways to own a sports car in this class.

Is the Toyota Supra reliable? The truth about the B58

Here is where the Supra flips the usual script. On a lot of performance cars, the engine is the thing to worry about. On the Supra, the engine is the best thing about its reliability. The B58 is an over-built modern turbocharged engine, with a bottom end good for 600 to 650 horsepower and hundreds of thousands of miles of routine service under it. This is the rare case where the reliable choice and the fast choice are the same engine.

The caveats that exist are minor and cheap by comparison. Some 2020-2021 cars consume a bit of oil, so check the history. Coolant expansion tanks can crack, a couple of gaskets can weep over time, and pre-2022 cars get the usual direct-injection carbon buildup. The one real cost is that it is BMW underneath, so when something does need fixing, the bill runs higher than the Toyota badge would suggest.

So the honest verdict is that there is no landmine here. Unlike the GR86 and its rod-bearing worry, the Supra asks you to accept BMW ownership economics, not to gamble on your engine surviving a track day. That is a very different, and much easier, thing to live with.

Can a Supra be your only car?

Better than you might expect from a car this fast. It has 10.2 cubic feet of cargo under its hatch, more than anything else in this segment, and it is a comfortable, refined grand tourer that is pleasant on a long drive. For a solo owner or a couple, it works as an only car far more happily than its focused looks suggest.

The ceiling is the seat count. It is a strict two-seater, so anyone who needs to carry passengers regularly will find it limiting in a way the GR86's back seat avoids. But if it is just you or the two of you, the big hatch and the road-trip comfort make it one of the more livable fast cars you can buy.

Is the Supra good on track?

The numbers lead the segment. It pulls 1.02 g on the skidpad and stops from 70 mph in 151 feet, with adaptive dampers and an electronic differential that make it seriously capable on a good road or a track day. As a point-and-shoot weapon, it is superb.

The honest catch is character. At around 3,400 pounds it is the heavy hitter of the group, and it leans more grand-tourer than the featherweight cars, so it rewards commitment rather than the flick-of-the-wrist playfulness of a Miata. And there is one real track note: the charge cooler can heat-soak and pull the car into a limp mode during hard sessions, so a heat-exchanger upgrade is on the list if you plan to run it seriously. Fast and grippy, then, but more missile than scalpel.

Best Supra mods: why the B58 is a tuning legend

This is the payoff the whole review has been building toward. A tune and a downpipe take the Supra from around 337 wheel horsepower to about 420, for roughly a thousand dollars. That is Hellcat-level power, on the stock engine, with the reliability to hold it. Bolt-ons get you to about 500 whp on the stock turbo, and the bottom end will take 600-plus.

The aftermarket is elite, shared with the entire BMW tuning world, so support is deep and proven. One buyer's note worth knowing: the 2020 A90 cars have the most tuner-friendly ECU, while some later years were locked for a while, so confirm tune support for the exact year you are looking at. The bottom line is that the speed here is cheap. The money is at the dealer, not at the tuner, and once you factor a tune, the Supra's speed-per-dollar suddenly looks a lot more reasonable.

Toyota Supra vs Toyota GR86: which should you buy?

These two tie on our Board at 49, and they get there by opposite routes. The Supra is far faster, far more powerful, and the far better tuning platform. The GR86 is much cheaper to buy and run, has a usable back seat, and asks less of your wallet every month. The Supra wins how it drives and how it builds; the GR86 wins value and practicality.

So the choice is about budget and intent. If you have the money and you want real speed with an engine you can double the power of cheaply and reliably, the Supra is the answer. If you want most of the fun for a lot less cash and a bit more everyday usability, the GR86 makes the stronger case. Neither is wrong, they just serve different buyers.

Supra 3.0 buy or skip: the verdict

Buy the 3.0, plan to tune it, and go in with clear eyes about the running cost. Skip the 2.0 if it is speed you are after, and skip the car entirely if you need it to be cheap to buy or cheap to keep.

The Supra finished at 50 out of 70 as a 3.9-second car at 1.02 g, held back only by a price and a running cost the value-focused cars undercut. But this Board ranks best buy, not best car, and on outright ability the Supra is the machine of the group. Factor in the tune, and its case gets stronger still. For the buyer who wants speed and a legendary engine, it is a compelling performance car at anything like this money.