Every autumn, the world’s automakers, tuners and auto parts companies converge on Las Vegas for the trade show extravaganza known as SEMA — or, as it’s formally titled, the Specialty Equipment Market Association Show — to show off the hidden potential in the rides rolling out of showrooms and parked in people’s driveways.
This year, many carmakers have chosen to focus on the fast-growing overlanding trend, with brands like Ford and Ram rolling out off-road trucks designed to conquer terrain all day and serve as a campsite at night. Toyota, however, has chosen this year’s SEMA show to highlight just how far they can push the all-new 2020 Supra — by building out its engine to make a stunning 1,000 horsepower.
The news that Toyota had cranked up the Supra’s inline-six to Brian O’Connor-worthy levels of power, oddly enough, was tucked away as a line item in the carmaker’s press release announcing its press conference schedule, hidden between mentions of the presence of the GR Supra Racing Concept that debuted at last year’s Geneva Motor Show and new Supras belonging to members of the Supra MK5 Owners Club.
It’s unclear what the carmaker did to up the engine — officially rated at 335 horses in stock form, though independent testing has suggested it could make far more — to such a Bugatti Veyron-rivaling output. Given the dramatic rise, though, it seems safe to assume it’s been rebuilt from soup to nuts. It’s an even more impressive feat considering the brand’s engineers were working at something of a disadvantage versus tuning, say, the Land Cruiser or LS 500, as the Supra’s engine doesn’t originate from their own factories; it is, of course, a BMW unit, the same one found in the BMW Z4 and M340i.
Sadly, it’s unclear whether Toyota has any plans to actually plop this mighty motor into a new Supra anytime soon. Still, this is the same company that built a 2,000-hp Land Cruiser for SEMA a few years back, then proceeded to drive it up to 230 mph. Nothing’s out of the question.
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