We’ve all heard about the Toyota GR Supra‘s incredible handling performance, but there’s only so much reviews can do to convey how precise these cars really feel. To demonstrate that, Toyota UK thought that the best way to do it is by reinterpreting wing-to-wing aerobatics stunts with the Toyota GR Supra, on the ground.
The “aerobatics” team was made up by a team of professional stunt drivers from Paul Swift Precision Driving, adorably named the “Road Arrows” in reference to the UK Royal Air Force’s Red Arrows. Armed with nine Toyota GR Supras – with a mix of both four- and six-cylinder models – the Road Arrows set out to demonstrate the nimble handling characteristics through a series of synchronised stunts.
The display was designed to mimic several famous aerial stunts, but obviously done on ground. Buckle up, because you’ll be wincing your way through the video starting from the very first sequence, with all nine cars passing each other head-on with just inches to spare.
Like the RAF, the Road Arrows Supras were also equipped with military-grade pyrotechnics for the customary smoke trails. We already know how difficult it is to drive the cars on the limit at all times, so you can only imagine how much harder it is when you’re driving practically blind from the smoke, especially with another RM500k sports car just centimetres away from you.
Gina Walker, a member of the driving team, explained what it was like driving the cars: “We had to work very closely to the car next to us and had to be really aware of our surroundings. It was a challenge to get it all perfect – our speed, our distance to the next car. We had smoke obscuring our view, so we had to trust in our training.”
The Road Arrows team only had a week to practice before filming began, and to think that the manoeuvres were choreographed using only toy car models on the kitchen counter! Fortunately, there were no damages to any of the cars during filming over two days.
Now of course, we know that stunt driving is a far cry in terms of difficulty when compared to the three-dimensional stunts and incredible G-forces that the Red Arrows pull. Still, it’s always good fun to watch cars engaging in stunts we’ll never get to replicate ourselves, and I think we can all have a bit of fun especially with the doom and gloom of the Covid-19 pandemic.
GALLERY
