The 4th-gen Supra is arguably the best Japanese car from the late '90s. Toyota blessed the world with this sports car during a period when modifying Japanese stock cars into the most badass machines ever seen was the coolest thing on earth. It is so well-liked in the import performance tuning scene because of the JZA80 powertrain. The 2JZ-GTE is one of the best six-cylinders ever. It's incredibly strong and overbuilt, making it a breeze to modify and upgrade.
No Japanese engine from its era, not even the RB26, can match the 2JZ's capability for producing big power. 600 hp can be yours with very few mods, and with good aftermarket stroker kits, bigger turbos, and nitrous-oxide injection, you can achieve close to or over 1000 hp. A tuner icon, the JZA80 Supra created a tuning community and cult-like following like no other.
While Supra JZA80 builds from around the world are amazing, those from the land of the rising sun are on an entirely different level. Built by Japanese garages, here are the 10 most badass versions of the Toyota Supra.
10 1999 Top Secret GT300 Supra - 780 HP
Codenamed "the GT-300" as it uses a much lighter 3G-STE engine instead of its original 2JZ- GTE, this ultra-modded Top Secret Supra became the stuff of legend in the 2000s. Hardcore JDM fans will remember Smokey Nagata drove it in the UK in 1999, reaching 197 mph on the A1 in the rain. Thanks to the engine running lean, the hood almost getting blown off around the 190mph mark, rain, and police showing up, he never improved.
Though police arrested the Top-Secret founder and locked him up in jail for the night, the feat blew his tuning shop to global fame when videos of the high-speed run went viral. What's impressive is that the Top Secret GT-300 Supra could make up to 780 hp, impressive considering the 3G-STE is a four-cylinder engine.
9 2018 Garage Revolver/Varis Toyota Supra Revolver - 800 HP
Co-built by Varis and Garage Revolver, this one-of-a-kind Toyota Supra build is simply stunning. It's sleek yet muscular, making it quite the looker. Unveiled in 2018, it sported the JZA80 Supra's first completely new widebody kit in years. Unsurprisingly, it won a top award in the 'Tuning Car' category at the 2018 Tokyo Auto Salon.
Its modified 2JZ-GTE engine produces 800 horsepower, ensuring that it has the performance to back up its looks. With the ingredients to be one hell of a Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line racer, it's a Supra you wouldn't want to race.
8 Esprit JZA80 Time Attack Supra - 800 HP
In discussions about the best Japanese tuner cars, especially Toyotas, Esprit is a name that will always come up at some point. The Japanese tuning shop built this JZA80 Supra strictly for Time Attack at the Suzuka circuit.
The Esprit JZA80 Time Attack Supra makes a healthy 800hp, and because it tips the scales at only 2900lbs, it can lap the famed Japanese track in around 2'04'4s. Adorning it is a wild, heavily-aerodynamic body kit, including a massive GT-inspired rear wing.
7 2003 Top Fuel Drag Pro Toyota Supra JZA80 - 862 HP
Meet the Top Fuel Drag Pro Toyota Supra JZA80, a unique Mk4 Supra that could intimidate and beat many far more costly sports cars in 2003. The engine bay housed a fully-tuned 3.0-liter 2JZ-GTE capable of doling out 862hp and 647lb-ft of torque.
At the time, it could dispatch a quarter mile in 10.81 (137mph) rolling on street tires. Though it last made a major public appearance for Top Fuel in 2006 at the Exciting Car Showdown, it definitely left its mark on the Toyota Supra tuning scene. It is currently housed at Top Fuel in their collection of ex-demo cars.
6 2001 AB-Flug Supra S900 - 900 HP
ABFlug's spectacular aero parts and outrageous body kits made it a household name in the late '90s JDM tuning scene. A tuning masterpiece, the 2001 AB-Flug Supra S900 would boost its reputation as a tuning giant.
It packed a reworked 3.1 liter 2JZ engine, coupled with an HKS T51R Kai turbo, making it pump out 900 hp. The juice was enough to help the 2001 AB-Flug Supra S900 run a 1/4-mile in 10.1 seconds in 2001, topping out at 220 mph. These figures were very respectable for the time. It remains ABFlug's most popular creation.
5 2007 Top Secret Twin Turbo V12 Toyota Supra (MK4) - 1000 HP
The 2007 Top Secret Twin Turbo V12 Toyota Supra (MK4) is among the best Top Secret tuning creations. It shares the same gold livery as the shop's other prized builds. Under its hood lays a 5.0-liter twin-turbo 1GZ-FE V12 engine, lifted from the luxurious and Japan-only Toyota Century. It's capable of around 1000hp thanks to aftermarket mods and some nitrous boost.
The Top Secret V12 Supra hit 222 mph in 2008 at Italy's Nardo Ring with "Smoky" Nagata (Top Secret founder) behind the wheel. However, it's no longer in the Top Secret garage, with the Trap Team acquiring it in 2017.
4 JUN Auto Akira Supra - 1184 HP
JUN Auto built the Akira Supra to decimate the competition at the Bonneville Salt Flats (Utah) National Speed Trials in the E/BGCC class in 2001. It reached a top speed of 249mph on the dry lakebed, earning the fastest Toyota record.
This feat made the JUN Auto Akira Supra a legend in the Japanese tuning scene. The record was thanks to a reworked 3.2-liter 2JZGTE with two TRUST T78 turbochargers that could produce 1200 ps (1184 hp) in full attack mode.
3 Veilside Toyota Supra JZA80 - 1281 HP
VeilSide's JZA80 was a drag monster. What else is there to become when at heart, is a ZJZ-GTE with a pair of top-mounted turbos sending 1281 hp to the rear wheels?
It's one of VeilSide's first demo cars and brought the shop international attention thanks to its crazy aftermarket exteriors many JDM enthusiasts couldn't resist. The Veilside Toyota Supra JZA80 would manage to record a 9-second pass at Sendai Hi-Land Raceway in Japan, one of its only documented achievements.
2 Scorch Racing/Blitz Drag Toyota Supra (JZA80) - 1,497 HP
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Blitz first showed this modified Toyota Supra at the 2008 Tokyo Auto Salon. It resulted from a partnership between Blitz and drag racing specialists Scorch Racing. The project's aim was big horsepower (1,497 hp) and to make it a torque monster (1,101 lb-ft), which they planned to achieve with some nitrous oxide injection.
The Scorch Racing/Blitz Drag Toyota Supra would reappear in 2010. On its first practice day, it clocked nine seconds flat without all upgrades implemented (only 800 hp). In 2013, it became Japan's drag race champion by winning the JDDA-EAST PRO COMP class series. Its best quarter-mile times are 8.340s and 8.252s, posted in 2014.
1 HKS Drag Race 2001 Toyota Supra - 1,455 HP
Japanese aftermarket-tuning aficionados will tell you HKS is one of the best in the business when it comes to mean drag racing machines. Its tuned cars have often come, broken records shaking competitors to their roots, then disappeared into the night like a Ninja and were never seen again.
A good example is the HKS Drag Race 2001 Toyota Supra built explicitly for the strip. It only made a few passes, including running a 7.277-second quarter-mile at Japan's Highland Drag Raceway in 2001 before HKS retired it. Powering it was a 4.3-liter Toyota Celsior-based 3UZ-FE V8, churning out a staggering 1,455 hp.
Sources: Speedhunters, Motortrend, Top Speed, CarThrottle, Blitz, Jun Auto, VeilSide, YouTube, Stickydiljoe, TheNaritaDogFight, DSport.