Test drive Toyota GR Supra vs Audi TTS Competition: Baptism of fire
A reborn Japanese legend with a German heart challenges the established Bavarian.
Comparison of six-cylinder and four-cylinder engines, rear or dual transmission, extroverted or purely sporty – with the Toyota Supra and the Audi TTS, two different concepts are directly confronted.
Japanese people do not usually have overly harsh expressions. So we look without too much anticipation at the press folder for the new Supra until we suddenly come across a bold statement that sounds like a promise.
Tetsuya Tada, head of the Supra development team, spoke about the process of change that the car and the entire industry are in today. For electric drive, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence. Behind the car as a high-tech transport solution of the future. Here, the hair of all those born with gasoline in their blood stand on end - until the moment when Tada throws a bridge for them. "The new Supra is the exact opposite of what society wants to fill a car with today." From these words, the hearts of motorists begin to melt like chocolate in a water bath - and I am sure, dear readers, that this also applies to your hearts.
Apparently, the new GR Supra is a driving car - the embodiment of that iconic sports car that disappeared from the big screen of life for 17 years, although it often appeared on movie screens - in the Fast and the Furious series. Now, finally, its fifth generation has been born.
The descending line disappears into the rear window, and a 180 degree turn takes us ahead of us in the hilly terrain. We reduce the speed from 100 to about 60 kilometers per hour, while shifting five steps into third gear, then turn the steering wheel. Supra points her red nose to the curve, as if trying to do it with her mouth ready to kiss until her ass starts to push outward and you turn the corner, pointing at the car with your feet on the gas pedal. Like a soccer ball in a corner kick. Speed increases, and with it, driving pleasure grows exponentially. The Supra kicks off the next combination of bends, absorbs treacherous road irregularities only when changing direction from right to left, maintains light but clean rear-end control, pivots and reduces turning radius.
Dribbling against the nailed
Enter the city, reduce it to 30 and look at the 8,8-inch center display from the BMW range. As you know, Toyota Supra is the sister platform of the Z4 roadster. Rotate the large wheel on the center console with your right hand to zoom in on the map. You are looking for the nearest winding country road. Because you want to experience how this sports car goes through the bends over and over again.
The Audi TTS Competition has a different understanding of road pleasure. The shortened 18cm model with dual transmission does not twist corners, but seems to overcome them. On a secondary road with the Audi TTS, you enter a bend as if you were driving into the grass. When cornering, the car clings to the pavement with all its might and resists understeer even at high speeds. To turn the car, the electronics brakes the inner steering wheels and thus helps the outer wheels move faster. A little later, the Audi TTS pulled away from the turn as if in an ass. Slip? Even the question itself is outrageous.
Audi's compact sports car strives for excellence. For example, through calm behavior on the road. In corners, its body leans slightly less than that of the Toyota Supra. And despite its 20-inch wheels, the TTS absorbs bumps a little more gracefully. Symbol? Here it is! Or build it with small details, such as the typical Audi 'knock' when doors are opened. Due to ergonomics in the interior. Through materials. Thanks to the quality of workmanship. Here you sit in sports seats and immediately feel at home. At the same time, the sports seats of the Toyota GR Supra keep your body as strong and kill just as little at the same time.
At the Audi TTS Competition, you dine in a trendy restaurant; in the Toyota GR Supra, you are in an Asian imitation of a Bavarian brewery. On the center console with decorative carbon fiber, Audi designers have placed just a few buttons next to the rotary and push controller. Air conditioning controls are integrated in the ventilation nozzles. You can control dashboard layouts with the 12,3-inch high-resolution screen without distraction. If something has to be digital, so be it!
Both models work great on minor roads, but are also good for long transitions. Audi has slightly better GT qualities. All in all, the TT is a sports car that can be driven every day – with compact dimensions and good all-round visibility from a deep seated position. In this regard, the Toyota GR Supra is not quite on the same level. And here you are sitting on your elbow above the road, but looking back you see relatively less. However, there is a rear view camera for parking maneuvers.
The trunk of the Audi TTS Competition holds 305 liters. Or a purse, a gym bag, a few drinks plus various small things. The luggage compartment of the Toyota GR Supra consumes 295 liters - also enough for a weekend trip without giving up anything essential. In an Audi, in a pinch, you can fit a few more things on both seats. In extreme cases, even children. On the Toyota GR Supra, the second row was abandoned and a transverse reinforcing plate was installed instead. And this is good. Without halves - the car is double, which means it is universal.
Balance against a heavy front
In both cars, despite the tight base settings, the chassis is adjustable from suitable for everyday use to the race track. To do this, Toyota GR Supra needs only two modes - Normal and Sport - and one more for free combination. In Sport Individual, the characteristics of dampers, steering, engine and transmission can be adjusted in two steps. In the Audi TTS Competition, the range of driving modes is even wider and, in addition to Comfort and Sport, includes Efficiency and standard Auto. In addition to Audi, the driver is given the freedom to customize the driving modes.
Six cylinders for three liters of displacement, 340 hp and 500 Newton meters, prepared according to the traditional old recipe of the Bavarian engine factories - Supra enters the ring with an advantage in engine power. In addition, the rear transmission excites the taste buds.
The Audi TTS Competition contrasts with this with a filtered output of 306 horsepower and 400 Nm. The sports coupe with 2+2 seats transfers the driving force to four wheels. It also has an advantage in tires - with the magic word "Corsa" for the compound. With his help, the Pirelli P Zero turned into almost disguised half-reviews. However, the Toyota GR Supra boasts a Michelin Pilot Super Sport. They suit her handling and playful ass, but don't have the grip of Pirelli tires.
You can see it in slalom. The Supra passes between the pylons with its stock at 70,4 km/h, with the rider having an almost even weight distribution. 780 kilograms load the front axle, 721 - the rear axle. Percentage: 52,0 to 48,0. In borderline mode, a Japanese sports car tends to shake backwards. Therefore, it is better to drive through the doors with a calm gas supply than to cause restless reactions on the rear axle of the petra by pushing and releasing the pedal too hard.
The Toyota GR Supra tempts the driver in you. It is more agile, agile thanks to the short wheelbase and at the same time lies firmly on the road thanks to the wide track. Audi is only interested in dry numbers. And in slalom they speak in his favor. True, the Audi TTS Competition emphasizes but hides the heavy front end behind special tires. The result is 71,6 kilometers per hour. Despite its 1440 kilograms, the Audi model is 61 kg lighter than the Toyota, but weighs 864 kilograms on the front axle, that is, 60 percent.
And when stopping the Audi TTS manages to get a slight advantage. Tires help him again. However, when accelerating, the hour of the resurrected Japanese legend strikes. In 4,4 seconds, the Toyota Supra hits 100 km/h and is thus three-tenths of the size of the Audi TTS – thanks to the clean-running Launch Control that transmits the brutal power of the six-cylinder engine. Before dividing by 200 km / h, the lead increases to 2,3 seconds. The Supra consistently dominates elasticity measurements.
For long and pleasant journeys, the extraordinary six-cylinder turbocharger is more than enough power, because the turbocharger with two separate gas channels responds quickly and widely distributes the peak torque between 1600 and 4500 rpm. It is acclaimed for the automation of the ZF hydraulic converter, which combines the tranquility of a deep lake with the fast speed of a mountain stream. On the contrary, the sound of the muffler is in harmony with the aggressive exterior. Even the leaders of the Porsche 992 were staring curiously in their rearview mirrors when a Toyota GR Supra appeared behind them. And the oncoming people raise their finger through the windows. In the hotel parking lot, people circle a Japanese sports car as teenagers surround Justin Bieber. The exterior of the car is eccentric, but not superfluous.
Toyota GR Supra held back in motion. Cracking on degassing is relatively quiet. It seems that it is heard only when it is somehow appropriate. The Audi TTS Competition is more casual in this regard, sniffing and screaming through the quad-exhaust system – although not as enthusiastically as before the facelift. Its turbocharged four-cylinder engine is brisk throughout the rev range and, like the Supra's six, fits into the overall concept of the car - power is not too low and not too high.
Everything is decided at Hockenheim
In fact, as far as normal road traffic is concerned, the Audi TTS Competition can only be criticized: while I can read the corners accurately, the dynamic steering somehow filters out everything the front wheels do.
Things look different with the Toyota GR Supra – frankly. With this conclusion, we leave the road and go out onto the race track, where this duel will be decided. The Hockenheim Supra takes almost five seconds of TTS for various reasons. In the Toyota model, the driver turns off the ESP, and then really has free control of everything - steering, throttle and dynamic load changes - so the Toyota Supra can sit perfectly in the corner.
For its part, the Audi TTS is stubbornly understeered, albeit at a very high level, and almost always reaches higher speeds in corners, but when accelerating out, the car stops. First electronics, and then a weaker engine that develops significantly less traction than the three-liter Toyota GR Supra unit. And in the end - the victory of Japan, small, but well-deserved.
Conclusion
The collaboration between BMW and Toyota is paying off – for both parties. Around the inline six-cylinder turbocharged engine, Toyota has designed a frankly sports car for the driver. The Toyota GR Supra behaves precisely, working from the rear without getting too frisky. The Audi TTS Competition gets points for everyday driving performance, but overall loses out to the race, albeit by only two points. Equipped, the Audi TTS Competition costs £9000 more than a Toyota GR Supra. And who would you choose - an almost perfect German or a nimble Japanese car?
Text: Andreas Haupt
Photo: Lena Vilgalis
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