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If you ever have a chance to drive a 2021 Toyota Supra, do it. While it might not be the quickest car for the money, its sure does present a good value as an overall road-going performer. We liked the way that it handles and how comfortably it rides given its sporty nature. And despite the fact that our tester came with the turbocharged 2.0-liter engine, we found that it has plenty of thrust when it comes to accelerating off the line.

Speaking of acceleration, many sports cars on the market today have a handy feature known as “launch control,” which assists in accelerating from a stop much quicker. But does the 2021 Supra have it as well?

What is launch control?

Launch control is technically software that’s put in place to help a car accelerate quickly and smoothly with the least amount of wheel spin possible. Have you ever seen a toy car accelerate quickly from a stop? That’s essentially the idea behind when launch control in a real-world application as well.

Of course, simply mashing the accelerator at a certain RPM is half of the equation, but managing the car’s traction is the other. By sending a lot of power and torque to the wheels, your car will most likely have a tough time getting going due to the limited amount of traction that the tires can handle.

2021-Toyota-Supra-Rear
2021 Toyota Supra | Joe Santos

That’s where launch control comes into play; the built-in software is meant to eliminate wheelspin and hop while maximizing the car’s usable power, weight transfer, 0-60 mph time,  and traction, Car Throttle reports.

Fortunately, every 2021 Toyota Supra comes with traction control and we found that it works especially well with the turbocharged 2.0-liter model.

How do you activate launch control in the 2021 Supra?

Activating the launch control feature in the 2021 Supra is easy as pressing a couple of buttons and standing on the brake pedal. To explain the process more thoroughly, here are the steps to activating the launch control feature:

  • Make sure that the car is adequately warmed up before activating the launch control feature
  • Come to a complete stop and then push the “ESC Off” and “Sport” buttons on the center console
  • Press the brake pedal firmly while simultaneously pressing on the accelerator pedal
  • Liftoff the brake pedal while keeping a steady pressure on the accelerator to keep the car accelerating

Just remember that you’ll have three seconds to launch the car at the programmed RPM that’s built into the system. If you mess up the process, then you’ll need to start over again.

Also note: The launch control feature is intended for off-road use only, like on a race track. We don’t recommend trying this feature on public roads, especially if you’re around other cars.

When would you use launch control on the 2021 Toyota Supra?

The launch control feature is made to help the Toyota Supra accelerate as quickly as possible, so it’s good to use it on a track or a drag strip. Sure, you could technically use it on the street, but do so at your own risk. For testing purposes, we did try it on the Toyota Supra 2.0 while on a private road and it worked well.

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The Supra 2.0 has around 100 hp less than its Supra 3.0 stablemate, but we felt like the 255 hp that it comes with was very usable in daily driving situations and made the launch control feature much more effective due to the manageable horsepower

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