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The A90 MK5 Supra had big shoes to fill after the legendary MK4. For the time being, the new car appears to be doing just well. It has already become a sought-after enthusiast car. And being a JDM sports car, there is absolutely no shortage of aftermarket support.
The BMW-derived B58 six-cylinder engine makes the MK5 Supra already quick out of the box. But the power output can easily and reliably be increased as the engine is turbocharged. Here is our Stage 1 guide to make your MK5 Supra much more fun to drive.
A90 Supra Performance Mods
- Upgraded downpipes (catted to keep it 50-state-legal)
- Intake kit to hear the spool and induction noises
- Cat-back exhaust and coding out the fake noise
- ECU tuning for the real power gains
- Braking upgrades to improve control
You can start simple with exhaust and intake mods. A good intake kit won’t make much of a difference in terms of power, but hearing the induction and turbo sounds loud and clear will quickly become addictive.
The MK5 Supra has an artificial exhaust note in the cabin, and there are ways to eliminate it with coding. So we’d say, get rid of the fake noise and fit a cat-back to give your Supra a real exhaust note. Don’t expect huge power gains from intake and exhaust unless you add ECU tuning.
Upgraded downpipes will give you noticeable gains in power, as they are the most restrictive part of the stock system. Catless downpipes are the way to go for real power, but catted ones will keep your car 50-state-legal while removing some restrictions to free up more horsepower.
A piggyback tune ties the bolt-ons together and unlocks noticeable extra power without voiding your warranty. With a good piggyback and upgraded downpipes, you’re looking at around 400-420 horsepower at the wheels.
Piggybacks are often plug-and-play solutions that avoid the headache of getting your ECU unlocked for flashing, which is still nearly impossible in the US except for a couple of shops overseas.
2020 MK5 Supra ECU Tuning
If you own a 2020 Supra, you’re in luck. The 2020 model year’s ECU is unlocked so you can flash a tune, custom or off-the-shelf. A Stage 1 tune combined with downpipes puts the MK5 Supra around 420–450 WHP. That’s strong, reliable power.
Push things further, though, and the ZF automatic transmission becomes the weak point. At 500 WHP, you’re playing with fire there. Around 600 WHP or more with a bigger turbo, you’re really pushing your luck with the ZF.
Match Your Brakes to the Power
Even with a simple piggyback tune, you’re adding close to 100 HP at the crank. That means upgrading the brakes is a good idea. You don’t need to go all-in with a big brake setup at this point. A set of performance rotors and pads all around, supported by stainless steel brake lines and performance fluid will be more than enough. This setup will give you stronger stopping power both on the street and at the track.
MK5 Supra Handling Upgrades
- Lowering springs to keep adaptive dampers
- Thicker sway bars to eliminate body roll
- Wheels & tires (mandatory after lowering!)
The A90 Supra comes with a fancy adaptive suspension that allows you to adjust the stiffness to your liking. You can always go all-in and get a delete kit, but the adaptive dampers are one of the best features of the new Supra. Plus, those delete kits combined with a full suspension setup come with a hefty price tag.
Photo by Skyler Sawyer on Unsplash
A set of lowering springs with not-so-aggressive rates would give you the edge on handling, lower the car just so that it looks better, and still keep the stock adaptive dampers in tact. A good (but comparatively pricey) option is HKS Hipermax Touring springs. They mount on the stock shocks with a perch, give you height adjustment, and preserve adaptive dampers.
You can get thicker sway bars to eliminate body roll and make your A90 Supra more planted on the road or on the track. Eibach offers a kit that combines the Pro-Kit springs and beefier sway bars front and rear. A good one-and-done solution for a Stage 1 suspension upgrade.
Wheels and Tires to Finish the Setup
A lowered car on stock wheels almost never looks the part. Get yourself a set of lightweight wheels. A set of lightweight wheels solves that and improves your handling as well. Volk Racing and Gram Lights are classics that keep it all JDM and performance-focused. Match them with sticky performance tires and you’ll unlock the car’s handling potential.
Wrapping It Up with Fukin Tuned Throttle Response Controller
Almost every modern car, whether it’s a family sedan or a sports car like the MK5 Supra, deals with throttle lag. That lag comes from the drive-by-wire system, which replaced the old mechanical connection between the gas pedal and throttle body.
Performance upgrades can help, but they only go so far. If you really want to eliminate throttle lag, you need a throttle response controller like Fukin Tuned. It plugs into the drive-by-wire system, intercepts the factory signal from the pedal sensor, and sharpens it with a custom throttle map. The result? Instant throttle response without that sluggish delay.
Fukin Tuned gives you 4 modes and 36 settings to dial in the exact pedal feel you want in your modded MK5 Supra. It also comes with a nifty Anti-Theft mode that disables the gas pedal, becoming essentially a stealth kill switch for the gas pedal. The best part? It’s completely wireless, so you won’t have anything cluttering up your interior.
Fukin Tuned is the best way to tie up all the mods you’ve done to your MK5 Supra. Get your Fukin Tuned throttle response controller today!