Automatic MK5 Toyota Supra, No Problem: You Can Retrofit A Clutch For Manual Driving

Jun 01, 2023

You can convert an automatic Toyota Supra to get driven like a manual car without having to change the transmission - Adam LZ's car is the guinea pig.

When the Toyota Supra A90 came out in 2020 it got a mixed reception, but now that the car has been around for a few years the divisive looks appear to have gotten accepted by many.

The other bone of contention was the fact that it was available as an automatic transmission-only model, and luckily later the sports car got joined by a new manual-transmission option for the gearheads.

For those who have an early automatic car the option of swapping-in a manual gearbox would probably be expensive and difficult, not to mention rendering many of the car's systems inoperable.

Adam LZ popped up on his YouTube channel with a new project for his recently-salvaged, accident-damaged Toyota Supra: get it working like a manual without swapping-out the automatic transmission.

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When Adam LZ says ‘making an automatic a manual’ it isn't as simple as using the ‘manual mode’ with the gear changer or paddles, and he doesn't want to swap-out the trans entirely.

Thanks to Polish company HTG, there is another way – adding a clutch pedal and lots of electronics to essentially control the automatic gearbox like a manual which lets you dial-in the amount of slip you want: incidentally, good for drifting. The car is Adam's recently-acquired A90 Supra which is a good base for a drifting project with the right transmission, of course.

The video starts with Adam introducing Adam from HTG and looking at the overview of the project, soon after, the car gets opened up and the GCU controller is already talking to the car's OEM parts to see how they can make the project work.

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The gearbox has its pan removed from below and the hydraulics and actuators get removed, with the OEM control module also cut open in a risky operation to remove Toyota's chip. Most of the powertrain and transmission gets shared with the BMW Z4.

After some soldering the HTG controller is in then inside, and the rest of the cables and assorted parts get fitted to the car, along with a clutch pedal to later control the box. A great feature of the setup is the fact that the pedal will have incremental travel – not like an on-off switch – so that it behaves like an actual clutch and manual transmission.

Some driving around and clutch kicks in the compound seal the deal – you can convert an automatic Toyota Supra to a manual, and retain all the car's functions.

A MK5 Toyota Supra costs from $44,000-$58,000 online for the 2-liter Supra model and the 3-liter A91-MT Supra model respectively, and 2020 Supra models with an auto transmission like Adam's (minus the accident damage) are still holding their values well with most cars starting from around $45,000 online.

Hailing from Britain, the home of both MG and Aston Martin, Dave is no stranger to sports cars. Or a little rain. When he's not busy working his day-job or writing songs and pretending to be a musician; Dave indulges his obsession with cars by writing and researching diligently, so that he can inform and convert other people to the dark side.