The only gearbox you can get in a new Toyota Supra is an eight-speed automatic with paddle shifters. Since it debuted, there have been rumors of a manual-equipped model coming soon, and they have never gone away. Toyota wouldn’t comment on such allegations as recently as January, but a new leak adds more evidence to the pile that future Supra owners might be able to row their own gears starting with the 2023 model.
Screenshots posted to Imgur allegedly confirm the model while providing important details and dates. As always, a healthy dose of skepticism is needed with this kind of stuff, but we have reached out for Toyota for a comment. We will update this story when Toyota responds.
Gallery: 2021 Toyota Supra 3.0 Premium
The images reveal that only the six-cylinder 2023 Supra will offer the six-speed manual. The four-cylinder models will continue only to offer the eight-speed automatic. Toyota offering a manual with the six-cylinder would help differentiate it from its BMW stablemate, which is only available in select markets with the manual gearbox. And even then, BMW only offers it on the base four-cylinder model. A six-cylinder, manual Supra would stand out.
Toyota will also allegedly offer a special manual-equipped Matte White Edition model with an exclusive white exterior color and an exclusive tan leather interior. The Matte White Edition will also offer wireless charging and USB ports while commanding an extra ¥550,000 ($4,766 at current exchange rates) over the standard six-cylinder model. The six-cylinder Supra starts at $52,665 (the price includes the $1,025 destination charge).
If the images are accurate, we might not wait long to learn about the new model. An official press release will allegedly arrive on April 28, with its production schedule to start in Austria this July. Dealers will begin receiving the manual models in October, and they will go on sale that same month. Toyota has said the Supra will get upgrades every year, and adding a manual gearbox would be a big one. There are rumors of an ultra-hot GRMN variant, but that serve as the model’s last hurrah. Will the manual stick around for it?
Source: Imgur via r/cars
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