Toyota GR Supra | A90

We had the pleasure to have one in the shop and it was a blast to work on the car. While there is a routine to what we do, here at Carzwerk, every car is different and the new Supra brought certain challenges. 

Being the first Supra, there was a learning curve, but this is why we’re here – to always push boundaries and to get the best out of the car. For this particular project we’re doing new car preparation work including a thorough paint correction process and full paint protection film wrap in beautiful matte. 

The car was picked up from a Toyota dealer and it spent quite a bit of time in the showroom, so extra attention was needed on the paint inspection. Having said that, the inspection brought out a lot of imperfections. One always thinks “hey… it’s a brand new car. How could it have scratches and swirl marks?”. We’re sorry to burst your bubble, but every new car has imperfections, no matter what brand it is and the Supra is no stranger to these imperfections. We’ve thoroughly inspected the car and took pictures to document the journey of the car while at Carzwerk. Identifying the imperfections is the very first step and we’ve done multiple runs around the car in our attempt to identify every single spot. 

The following step in the process is the where the creative part ends and the actual work begins. We need to prepare the paint for the paint protection film application. Bring out the polish machines, we’re having a party! More pictures followed, to properly document the journey of the car. The before and after pictures speak volumes about why proper paint correction is the heart of the whole process.

The next piece of the puzzle is the PPF application or Paint Protection Film application. While this might be tedious, we’re trying to be better with every car. As always, all the work we’re doing is manual and we’re always trying to wrap as many panels as we can with one piece of film. Like mentioned before, the Supra came with its share of challenges; some panels are more difficult and some are easier and in this case, the hatch is a very good example of a single film piece panel. The front bumper was probably the most difficult piece, because of the very unique profile. One might say that the doors are the easiest panel to put film on, as they are pretty much rectangular in size, but the devil is always in the details. In this case, the door handles posed a real challenge. While we were able to completely wrap the doors, so that you don’t scratch the inside of the door handle, putting the handles back on was an adventure. The rear diffuser was another challenging piece that required a lot of attention. But all of these made the learning curve we were telling you about earlier fun. 

PPF application done and we’re onto to a creative piece again. While the actual coating portion is indeed work, there’s always a creative part to it, in figuring out how to apply the coating in the most uniform way. We don’t want water beads to go in all directions when the car is idling in the rain. We want beautiful beads to come together for those awesome pictures, the car maker didn’t even think of. Good things come in small packages and the Kamikaze collection never disappoints. The Kamikaze coating was the perfect companion for the matte film.

Wrapping up our journey with the car, the Supra appeals to both young and not so young, to both racers and daily drivers and finally, to enthusiasts that appreciate a well built car. Yes, we know that some of you will say that it’s a BMW in disguise, but that’s OK. Ultimately one needs to be happy with their choice, needs to enjoy the car and find the car’s limits at their own pace.

There are a couple of other car manufacturers that would have done things differently, with respect to the body work, and/or to the choice of materials, and/or doing a better job at covering their own brand, but ultimately this is JDM… HA… that’s not the JDM you’re thinking of, but Joint Development Manufacturing. 

In the end, we would like to ask every one: “What car manufacturer do you think Toyota should’ve asked to design the new Supra?” In our humble opinion, we think that Toyota themselves should’ve taken the project and deliver a true JDM masterpiece. They did take their time (maybe a bit too much) with the LFA and it’s a beautiful piece of machinery. Time will tell if the Supra developed with BMW will age beautifully. One’s thing for sure, we know the one we worked on will!

-FA

#ablastfromthepast