Some keyboard warriors are still in denial that the new Toyota Supra A90 is powered by the B58 engine from BMW and not some successor to the legendary 2JZ that drove the previous Supra into the 1,000hp orbit.
Granted, the 2JZ had plenty of potential and the aftermarket went to town with it but the thing is, the engine’s been out of production for close to 20 years and Toyota doesn’t have nor will waste money developing a new straight-six to power its flagship sports car.
As much as the JDM fanboys might have trouble accepting, BMW are currently the connoisseurs of straight-six engines and shared their B58 for the co-developed car. It’s got a lot to live up to but believe us, there’s nothing to scoff at the most powerful non-M engine in a 3 Series and one of the 2019 Wards 10 Best Engines.
Now, most of you would’ve have heard of engine builder, race team owner and all-round tuning legend Stephan Papadakis of Papadakis Racing. He started out by defying physics to achieve previously unheard of times in front-wheel drive drag racing in the early days of American sport compact drag racing.
If there’s anyone to realise the B58’s potential, it’s him… and he’s already impressed with the mill from just a quick teardown. Narrating his own engine teardown, there’s plenty of intelligent design cues, modern tech and most certainly potential to hit 1,000hp with the B58. Ultimately, the aluminium-block engine is intelligently designed without much complications for tuners to work their magic on.
He notes the stock forged steel crankshaft looks 1,000hp ready, which is coincidentally the figure he’s aiming for. The teardown is just the beginning of his video series on YouTube that’ll document the quest to 1,000 ponies with the engine.
Papadakis loves to push himself and challenge his limits, admitting that the B58 is pretty alien to him and having to refer to the manual a couple of times in the teardown. Nonetheless, having extracted 1,000hp from a 2.5-litre 2AR Toyota engine found in minivans and SUVs, nobody will say he isn’t capable of it.
Previous tuning work on the B58 has demonstrated its potential with BMW itself churning out 382hp from the same engine in the Supra’s Z4 sister. While the Supra makes do with “only” 335hp, dyno runs have revealed Toyota underdeclared the output. UK tuners Litchfield have already extracted 420hp from the Supra with just a retune and no hardware tweaks.
If Papadakis does hit the 1,000hp mark without too much effort, it might just make the 2JZ-swapped Supras look a little silly.