Toyota Supra Mk4 · JZA80

The Mk4 range, and which ones are turbo

There are only two engines and the badge tells you which you are getting. The 2JZ-GE is the naturally aspirated 3.0 straight-six, around 220 to 225 horses, a smooth and tough thing. The famous one is the 2JZ-GTE, the sequential twin-turbo 3.0 with the cast-iron block that shrugs off power figures the factory never dreamed of. In Japan the grade name is a hard rule: SZ and SZ-R are the naturally aspirated cars; RZ, RZ-S and GZ are the twin-turbos. No exceptions, so read the grade, not the chassis code.

RZ: the one you picture

The RZ is the halo: twin-turbo, six-speed Getrag, the enthusiast's Supra. One nuance the internet gets wrong: the earliest RZ (1993 to 1995) was also offered as a four-speed automatic. It only became six-speed-only from mid-1995, once the RZ-S arrived to be the turbo-with-an-auto-option. If you want the purist car, it is the six-speed RZ.

GZ: the turbo nobody remembers is a turbo

The GZ is the luxury grand-tourer of the range, and half the internet insists it is the naturally aspirated one. It is not. Toyota's own parts catalogue lists the GZ with the 2JZ-GTE twin-turbo, the same engine as the RZ, just wrapped in leather and toys. Mostly automatic, though the catalogue even shows an early six-speed GZ. If you want the turbo drivetrain with the creature comforts, this is it.

SZ-R: the clever budget pick

The naturally aspirated SZ-R is the sporty NA, with the bigger brakes and a limited-slip diff, and it has one party trick: from 1996 it is the only non-turbo grade that came with a six-speed. It is the affordable, sweet-handling way into a real Mk4, it will not bankrupt you, and if the boost bug bites, a 2JZ-GTE drops straight in.

Roofs and gearboxes

Two body styles: the fixed-roof Liftback and the removable-panel Aerotop (the targa). Worth knowing: in Japan the Aerotop was automatic only, so a manual removable-roof car is a US “Sport Roof” thing, not a JDM one. On gearboxes, the strong Getrag six-speed lives behind the turbo (a V160 on export cars, V161 on the Japanese ones and the NA SZ-R). The naturally aspirated cars otherwise use the W58 five-speed, and the four-speed automatic was offered on just about everything.

The export cars

America got it plainly badged: the Supra Turbo (2JZ-GTE, 320 hp, six-speed or auto, sold through 1998) and the base naturally aspirated car. The European turbo was the strongest on paper at around 326. All of them are still JZA80 underneath; the extra power over the JDM car is real hardware, the steel turbos and bigger injectors, not just a remap.

So which Mk4 do you actually want?

If you came for the legend, you came for a twin-turbo, and the six-speed RZ is the purist's answer. Want the same drivetrain with the luxury kit, chase a GZ. On a tighter budget, an NA SZ-R six-speed is a genuinely lovely driver that leaves room for a turbo swap down the track. Whatever you go for, the numbers on these have gone silly, so buy the straightest, most honest car you can and let someone else pay for the crashed and boosted-to-death ones.