Beef

The 280bhp restriction applies only to the Jap cars - the official UK models come with a healthy 320bhp

The car you described sounds similar to Nick_M's car - he posts here occasionally. We don't have our own BB , hence all our loitering

As for buying, they are currently going really cheap - an early twin-turbo can be had for under 10k I know that cos I'm getting one

As for the colour you described, I believe it's sometimes called Storm Blue, or Sapphire Blue. Did it look like this:



Insurance isn't too bad, but not great. Normally cheaper than a scoob of the equivalent year though. Extremely moddable, a simple exhaust and fuel-cut defencer can give sub 13sec 1/4mile times - with an auto. Branners (another loiterer) has such an example.

Keith (Supra Turbo - '89 MK3)

[This message has been edited by Beef (edited 26 February 2001).]

steve McCulloch

Driving down the M5 from the Lakes this Sunday I saw one of the nicest looking cars I've ever seen - a fantastic blue, with silver window tints, HKS exhaust on an L plated Supra - and it had some amazing alloys

Part of the Supra club I think

IWatkins

Steve,

Might be the same car, but I quite often see a Supra of the same description on the M5 Southbound. No, don't know the owner.

Supra is a jolly nice car and if you are into tuning etc. has bags of potential. I think the jury is still out as to whether the auto or manual is better (shows how good the auto is). Of course, RWD so can be fun and is also a quite big/heavy car.

Bits and bobs availability is not a problem, most of the Jap tuning companies make parts for the Supra before any other Toyota.

Supra owners are a good bunch, so I guess if you get serious about it, that would be your first port of call.

Cheers

Ian

brickboy

Supposed to go like sh*t off a shovel ... even with the 280bhp restriction. The torque is awesome -- about 300lb-ft and get this -- over 200lb-ft from just 1500 rpm! Respect is due.

Car magazine tested one against a BMW M3 (the six-pot one) in '95, I think, and rated the Supra as a better driver's car.

Milky

How good are the brakes on the Supra's ???

Steve has a slight problem with stopping distances !!!


Darren.

Paul Frank

Darren

hmm, it really stands out from the crowd doesn't it Darren?

. . . . and so even easier for the fuzz to see him & nick him

Paul
PS you know it's a wind up don't you . . ? (<B><I>girlfriend</B></I>? naaaww)

[This message has been edited by Paul Frank (edited 26 February 2001).]

Beef

Jap spec ones are ok, but can fade with track use - only 2-pot calipers up front with smaller discs. Still fills up the inside of a 16" though.

However, the UK spec anchors would stop a lorry, being gargantuan 4-pot oversized dinner plates. They barely fit inside a 17" rim, and even then the standard rims were specially designed to accomodate the behemoth stoppers. Aftermarket rims can sometimes be a problem, as they are simply incapable of squeezing the calipers in - even on some 18" wheels

Specialist pads are however available for both models which improve breaking almost beyond measure, and combined with race brake fluid virtually eliminate fade even with heavy track use.

GaryC

2-pots!! Steve, you'd be screwed

You'd have to start braking before you set off

RichS

Quite fancy a Supra.

What are their bad points?

Rich

Beef

Heh - they're not that bad, and generally pretty good when anywhere but on a track.

Paul Frank

c'mon be fair Gary

early braking is better than late braking

Beef

Bad points? Dunno what you're talking about

Weight - they ain't light. 1.5tonnes at least. Despite that, the handling is still excellent, although not as razor sharp as a scoobs.

Running costs - jap-specs *must* be fed on SUL, ideally with octane booster. UK's are happy on parrafin , but prefer SUL.

Insurance - not cheap. both Jap's and UK's weigh in a group 19, but as an example it would cost me (aged 21, 2yr NCB) £1000 for a UK, and £1200 for a Jap, full comp, with aftermarket exhaust.

Tyres - 225/50ZR16's up front, and 245/50ZR16's at the back will set you back anything from £120-£200 a corner.

Boot space. V.small - if you need to fit prams/pushchairs in, you'd be best off trying beforehand.

Rear seats - for decoration only Seriously - trying to fit an adult in the back of one of these is a bad idea, unless you like eating the steering wheel. Kid's will fit, as would a baby seat.

Servicing - again, not cheap, and needed every 6-9k miles. However, virtually all Toyota dealers will service Jap-spec cars without charging a premium, and quality of work is usually expectional. Some parts can be annoying to get, but often have Lexus GS300 equivalents (which it shares a chassis with).

Other than that, not a lot really. Engines are damned near indestructible, with no real weak points. Can often last for 100k's of miles with regular maintainence. Jap specs can often be a lower spec than their UK counterparts, but things like climate control, traction control, ABS etc are all standard equipment. Couple of minor niggles have shown to be quite common - but are usually cheaply and easily fixed.

[This message has been edited by Beef (edited 26 February 2001).]

Beef

If you (or anyone) would like to ask more questions, you can join our mailing list here:

Branners

Sounds like it was Ibrar's car. Its a total respray using Kawasaki blue. Last time I saw it it was still running 16" wheels and he hadnt had the tints done, sounds like it has the lot now!!

As for owning a Supra, it depends what you want from a car. I like the Supra because they are quick, easily modified and stand out from the crowd. Im sure you will all admit the Scoob is no longer quite as 'exclusive' as it once was.

My Supra has had the cats taken off and a Blitz exhaust put on and its best 1/4mile time is 13.08. I am regularly putting in 113mph 1/4 mile speeds but I just cannot get any grip at the moment. S-02s should sort that out!!

Its difficult to say just how fast the Supra is on track days as the driver makes a huge difference, but on the track days I have been on the Supra will easily stay with Elises and Scoobs through the corners and out accelerate them on the straights. Wet tracks make it a bit tricker but still possible to drive fast.

2 pot brakes are a problem, but Im running special brake pads which a Supra club member (and race car preparer) had specifically made. Outstanding braking hot or cold and even after 12 fast laps of Donno still no fade at all which is amazing on such a big car. 4 pot or 6 pot upgrades are the way to go but the offset on aftermarket wheels have to be exact otherwise they wont fit. The standard 4 pot brakes held some sort of record for production cars for a while so they must be pretty good.

Insurance seems to be the killer at the moment. Mines due for renewal in April and Im expecting at least a £300 rise. Expect to pay over £1000 for a standard import, less for the UK specs.

However, the Supra is NOT a scoob, you cant throw it into a corner in the wet and hope the car will save you. Buy a Supra if you want a car that is blindingly fast in the dry, fun in the wet and gets noticed for all the right reasons (out of 500 members only 1 has had their Supra TT stolen in the 2 years that I have run the club and it came back within a week due to a tracker being fitted).

I suppose the other point is reliability. Out of all the Supra TT owners there has never been a gearbox or drive train failure, the only 2 engine failures have been due to too much boost (in excess of 28psi), and the only turbo failures have been on imports which use ceramic turbos and even then there have only been a handfull of failures when the boost was turned up too high.

We have 1 owner who does in excess of 25,000 miles per year in his car, most of it at 18psi and nothing has ever failed on the car.

JB

steve McCulloch

Blimey

Someone doesnt like all the attention the Supra's are getting so they've moved the topic into an area where hardly anyone will read it!

Beef - this is the colour - but the car looked much, much nicer than this example. The alloys were at least 18inch and the car looked lowered.

The car was awesome - I know about the straight line speed of these cars - one went away from me at 160mph in (a Silver one) - so game over!

This was on the M5 southbound (not the 160mph - but were we saw the car!) - girlfriend said it looked much nicer than my Scoob - had to agree - then again I never wash my car

I will have a long look at the Supra site - bought time I bought a faster car!

Presumably you can gte reasonable performance increases for a small amount that will obliterate almost any Scoob

Thats what bugs me about the Scoob - to get decent performance - ie 400lbs costs about £15k


[This message has been edited by steve McCulloch (edited 26 February 2001).]

MAJ-R

I THINK THIS IS THE SUPRA YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT AND IT IS FROM BIRMINGHAM AND IT CERTAINLEY DOES LOOK VERY PHAT!!!!

steve McCulloch

Yep... thats the one!