All Of Toyota's 1980s Sports Cars Ranked By Power Output
The 1980s were a golden age for JDM performance, thanks to a booming Japanese economy and automakers' desire to start pushing boundaries like never before. Toyota was leading the charge during this Japanese revolution, and during this time, it explored turbocharging, supercharging, homologation specials, and mid-engined layouts that would soon cement the company's status as a performance icon.
During this decade, the company developed a few different sports cars that offered performance at varying levels and price points. It believed that driving enjoyment should be accessible, which led to the creation of models like the MR2, but at the other end of the spectrum lie vehicles like the Supra , and its advanced turbocharged engines that allowed it to run with the best of them. To highlight these great vehicles, we've decided to take a look at all five of the brand's sports cars, ranking from least to most powerful, and showcasing how the automaker covered all performance bases.
This list comprises five of the brand's sports cars from the 1980s, ranked from least to most powerful. We've only picked the most powerful version released under each nameplate, so the list mostly consists of JDM vehicles.
Toyota MR2 Supercharged
145 HP
When Toyota originally envisioned the MR2, the brief was for engineers to design a fuel-efficient vehicle that was also enjoyable to drive. It wasn't supposed to be particularly flashy or even powerful, for that matter, and in the end, the 112-horsepower, four-cylinder base model definitely wasn't. However, the company did succeed in making the vehicle fun to drive , and once it saw how many awards it was garnering, it knew it needed to give the vehicle more power.
Instead of throwing a larger engine in or adding a turbocharger, the company made the curious decision of slapping a Roots-style supercharger onto the top of the 1.6-liter 4A-GE engine, moving horsepower up to 145, and torque to 137 lb-ft. A supercharged, mid-engined sports car is undoudtably going to raise eyebrows, especially when it can hurry to 60 mph in just 6.5 seconds. For a nearly 2,500-lb car in the late 1980s, this was impressive. Combined with its awesome angular, wedge styling, it's just about the most '80s car there is.
Toyota Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno GT-Z
162 HP
One of the most beloved Toyota sports cars of all time is the AE86 Corolla, sold here in the US as a liftback in a couple of different variants. Abroad, it was sold as the Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno, and it was beloved thanks to its great handling dynamics and eager powertrains . However, this new generation did come with one big caveat: it switched to a front-engined, FWD platform from a front-engined, RWD platform. We also never received the most powerful version of the car, so very quickly, interest in the US waned.
However, the body style of the new AE91 and AE92 models turned them into much more conventional sports cars, drivetrain notwithstanding. The AE92 versions were the ones housing the 1.6-liter inline-four, and the new supercharged GT-Z variant packed a punch like never before. This was the same engine also found in the MR2, but in 1989, Toyota found a little more power for it thanks to changes like adding a single-runner intake. The result was a supercharged, FWD sedan that produced a blistering 162 horsepower, much more than the meager 130 hp our most potent Corollas made.
Toyota Celica GT-Four (ST165)
190 HP
The ST165 Celica GT-Four was Toyota’s answer to Group A rally competition, and we know it here in the US as the All-Trac Turbo . While initially unveiled as a convertible, only a hardtop hatchback was entered into production, and it was given a massive host of upgrades that improved performance over the regular Celica models. First, while this generation was produced with a transversely mounted engine only powering the front wheels, the GT-Four was an AWD machine by name, one with a central diff lock and a potent turbocharged engine.
It utilized the 2.0-liter turbocharged and intercooled 3S-GTE engine, producing 190 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque. These are numbers we can finally start to get behind, but the car was held back by its rather hefty curb weight. No matter, as the five-speed manual and locking center differential meant the vehicle was completely at home on anything but pavement, and it proved its mettle when Carlos Sainz Sr. won the 1990 WRC Driver's Championship behind the wheel. Hopefully, we'll see this kind of success in the upcoming revival .
Toyota Soarer 3.0 GT
237 HP
Before we received the criminally underrated Lexus SC here in the US, Toyota was selling its predecessor in Japan. The Soarer was a classically styled coupe with that lovely front-engined, RWD platform, and the company introduced some nice upgrades for the second generation that arrived in 1986. First, while the body was a continuation of the design of the first one, it now offered curved glass all around the canopy with a flush design that we would later see played out more on our own version.
A 2.0-liter and 3.0-liter inline six were offered, with the latter also available with a turbocharger that pushed power to 237 horsepower from 1988 onwards. As a true GT, it offered comfort and sportiness in equal amounts, so options like a digital-instrument cluster and adaptive air suspension with electronic TEMS adjustment were available on the 3.0 GT Limited trim. Additionally, a five-speed manual was available with both engines on every trim, so you didn't have to give up hands-on engagement in the name of luxury.
Toyota Supra Turbo A
265 HP
The final vehicle on this list is, unsurprisingly, the Toyota Supra , except not the generation everyone is always ranting and raving about. The Mk III Supra is a vehicle that also deserves more love than it gets. This is because the company spared no expense, ensuring it would offer incredible performance thanks to a four-corner double-wishbone suspension and the most advanced engine in the company's arsenal. However, while the regular variants were great, the homologated Turbo A is the one you really want if you can afford it.
Only 500 units of the Turbo A were produced to get the A70 Supra into Group A racing, and all of them came in black over black wheels. Thicker anti-roll bars, vented brakes, and some small graphics were added, but the bigger addition came from the revised engine that now produced 265 horsepower. This is a respectable number today, and it made the 1988 Supra the crown jewel of the brand's sports car lineup. Only ever sold in Japan, these cars are impossibly rare and a true collector's item in the brand's motorsport history.
Sources: Toyota
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