The A90 Toyota Supra hasn’t had the easiest of rides, but things have just become a whole lot harder with the launch of the 2023 Nissan Z.

Still struggling to convince hardcore Toyota fans that the BMW-derived current generation Supra warrants the use of the Supra badge, the last thing Toyota needed was a Japanese rival with a purer bloodline.

Actually, that’s the second last thing it needed. The last thing it needed was for that rival to undercut the Supra so dramatically it leaves the 3.0-Supra looking like a bad joke, makes even the four-cylinder Supra look expensive, and might persuade GR 86 buyers to dig a little deeper into their pockets and upgrade.

We should say at this point that Nissan hasn’t confirmed final prices for the new Z, but a spokesman told CarScoops that they’re expecting it to start “from around $40,000” in base Sport trim, which we presume will translate to $39,995.

Related: 2023 Nissan Z Coupe Is Coming For Toyota’s Supra With 400HP And A $40,000 Price Tag

A Performance-grade Z with better brakes, stiffer suspension and an LSD will likely nudge towards the mid-forties, and a Z Proto launch edition riffing on 2019’s Z Proto concept with bronze wheels and yellow brake calipers will cost more again.

The 400HP Nissan Z Should Be Cheaper Than The Base 2.0 GR Supra

That compares with a base price of $43,090 for the four-cylinder Supra 2.0, and $51,090 for the Supra 3.0 that gets an extra pair of cylinders, adaptive dampers and an active rear differential. Step up to the 3.0 Premium with its Brembo brakes, 12-speaker JBL stereo and 14-way leather seats, and you’re within touching distance of $55k.

Yes, but the Supra comes as standard with an automatic transmission that’ll cost you extra on the Nissan, Toyota will happily point out. And that is correct, while also conveniently overlooking the fact that plenty of Supra buyers and would-be Supra buyers would rather have a manual transmission if only Toyota would give them the option of one.

Z Wins The Power War

But the real kicker for Toyota is that the Z makes more power than both versions of the Supra. The BMW engines fitted to the Toyota coupes are great. The B48B20 in the 2.0 makes 255 hp and 295 lb ft of torque, while the 3.0’s B58B30 churns out and more wholesome 382 hp and 369 lb ft in U.S. trim. Not bad, but the Z sends 400 hp to its rear wheels courtesy of a VR30DDTT twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 also found in the Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400.

Related: Toyota’s GR Supra “The Pitch” Spot Takes A Playful Jab At Conventional Marketing

The Supra 3.0 does make 19 lb ft more than the 350 lb ft Z, but it’s going to need more than that small win to win buyers. We really like the Supra, but faced with trying to sell a car that isn’t in its first flush, of youth or universally loved, against a more powerful, less expensive rival, surely Toyota is going to have to cut its prices.

Same Supra, Less Money

But can Toyota even do that? The 3.0 Supra already costs almost $13k less than the mechanically similar BMW Z4 M40i, and it can’t push the 2.0 model too far downmarket for fear of cannibalizing GR 86 sales which will start from around $30,000.

And there’s one more thing. Back in March when we first saw leaked images of the production Nissan, someone who claimed to have inside knowledge, and who accurately predicted the car would be called Z, not 400Z, suggested it would start at $34,995.

Related: First Drive: 2022 Toyota GR 86 Packs A Stronger Punch And Looks Good Doing It

Maybe it was pure speculation, maybe it was a wind-up, or maybe Nissan really is making us wait before unleashing a Mortal Kombat-style ‘Finish Him!’ manouver on the Supra. Even if the twin-turbo car can’t come in that cheap, a naturally aspirated V6 Z with around 300 hp priced at $35k wouldn’t just kill the Supra 2.0 and GR 86 stone dead, it would turn hot hatch and Miata buyers’ heads, too.

Nissan Says, “At This Time”, It’s Only The V6 Turbo

We asked Nissan about the possibility of future four-cylinder, or naturally-aspirated six-cylinder models and got the kind of ‘no comment’ answer you’d expect. Or did we?. “At this time we are only sharing information on our V6 twin turbo on both Sport and Performance grades,” a Nissan spokesperson told us. “At this time.” Are we reading too much into those three words?