Dude, is that a Supra?? We caught up with Ross and his big single turbo, Toyota Supra Mk4, arguably modified to perfection.
There are few cars as iconic as the Toyota Supra Mk4. Cemented in car culture with almost god-like status, every car enthusiast dreams of one day owning one. The sad reality is, with demand for Japanese classics growing every day, prices are exponentially growing alongside it. As a result, most now are priced out of owning one. Which is sad in a way.
That wasn’t an issue for Ross, who bought this Toyota Supra Mk4 11 years ago from Japan. Imported by JM Imports, it was a genuine twin-turbo, 6-speed manual example, which nowadays is the dream combo.
Initial modifications on the Toyota Supra Mk4
With so much untapped potential available, Ross wasted no time getting started with modifications. Initial tuning saw 400hp thanks to some clever trickery that allows the sequential turbos to spool alongside each other, rather than sequentially. At the time, that felt enough for Ross.
While the timeless styling of the Toyota Supra Mk4 will always be respected, there’s something quite special about a kitted Supra. Naturally, Ross felt the same so went about spicing things up. First came the Ridox bodykit, which includes a front bumper and splitter, canards, sideskirts and extension plates as well as the diffuser. Of course, it’s all carbon fibre, too, which works so well against the black paintwork. Speaking of which, the side skirts are much larger than you think, Ross has in fact had the carbon fibre blended in with the black paint, so the top half is finished in black, while the bottom is polished carbon.
Now comes the big wing. We love a spoiler here, provided they’re fitted to the right cars… this one gets a huge approval. It’s an APR wing, but Ross wasn’t happy with the way it sat on the car. Instead, he designed and had custom-made brackets to prop it up to adjust the angle.
Modified Toyota Supra Mk4 engine mods
With all the looks, it wasn’t too long before Ross got the dreaded “how much power is she running mate?” question at an event. While 400bhp is a lot of power, it doesn’t cut it in the Supra world, or so everyone who doesn’t own one will say. Ross well and truly caught the bug and headed down the big single turbo route. It’s a BorgWarner S366 turbo, which gets going from around 2,000rpm but hits optimum boost from 4,000rpm onwards. Controlling the 1.35 bar of boost is done via a Syvecs S6 ECU.
Believe it or not, apart from injectors, cams and Syvecs, the engine is completely stock. As a result, power is capped at around 720hp as to not destroy itself.
Interior
Despite being bashed for the quality of the interior, Japanese manufacturers sure know how to design one. The Mk4 Supra might just have the best cockpit of any car, with the whole dashboard surrounding itself around you in the drivers seat. Everything you need is within arms reach. It feels right. Needless to say, it’s Ross’s favourite place to be. There isn’t too much going on in here, the most notable change being the addition of a screen in the dashboard. This controls the anti-lag, launch control and other parts of the car’s diagnostics.
Chassis and wheels
To get the look just right, Ross has dropped the Mk4 Supra on BC Racing ER coilovers, which are accompanied by air cups at the front. This does a brilliant of job of not only sharpening up the handling, but also adding practicality in allowing Ross to lift the nose up for speed bumps etc.
With great power comes great responsibility. So when you have 720hp on tap, you better have the brakes to handle that performance. Thankfully, there are some lovely K-sports behind those Work wheels to keep the job in hand. Speaking of those wheels, they’re 18-inch all round, 10 inches wide at the front and 11 inches wide at the rear.
Plans for the future
Like any project car, a build is never truly finished. For Ross and his modified Toyota Supra Mk4, that’s exactly the case. “I’d like more power in the future”, Ross says. To do that, he plans on building the engine with stronger, forged parts to allow for just over 800bhp. “Around 800/850 would be a nice number”.
Elsewhere, tidying it up is the order of the day. Ross wants to repaint the whole car, as well as underseal it properly, replacing every nut and bolt he comes across. We can’t wait to catch up with Ross in the future at our Japfest event in 2025 to see what’s changed.
