trooper

323BHP and 315lb/ft. Right on the money. I've seen TVRs Dyno'd and they can come out like 60, 70, 80bhp down on book figures. And that's when they're running right.

Nope, never had it dyno'd. It feels like 280PS or there abouts as she's completely stock. (Apart from the CD player) My girlfriend doesn't think it's that fast but it's fast enough for public roads. My 28MPG was on motorway as is most of my driving. On the return journey I was driving pretty sedately to conserve fuel as I'd realised by then my credit cards were in my other jacket.

Toyota would be crazy not to produce a high end sports car. Whether it's called a Supra or not, they really need some glamour and the current Soarer is simply too boulevard (and ugly) to do that sufficiently well. The MR2 is just another roadster and the Celica is too ordinary and mundane.

Smaller injectors but more torque, interesting. What about MPG? I regularly get 27-28 MPG and the type of fuel doesn't seem to make any difference. I think I like my small injectors. The article also mentions trouser dimensions! I never have any trouble finding trousers that go all the way down to my shoes

Niel, O/D off may well alter the shift patern of the box too although I have no proof.

Moving my gear stick from "ordinary D" to M still uses all four gears. The LCD changes to show "D range" until I change gear with the Down button.

Another weight saving

There is obviously a difference between the pre-1997 cars and the post 1997 cars. Position D for me will use all 4 gears. Usually, like in my old Soarer, O/D off will disable fourth gear. I have never seen another function of the overdrive switch.

Yes, mine is the "face lift" model with the VVT and push button 'box. There is no O/D off button on my shifter that gives you third gear. I presume my gate is a maze type because there is no interlock button on the stick that has to be depressed to move it.

Interesting they mentioned an 80 litre fuel tank. I went away last week and discovered that I'd forgotten my credit cards (muppet) so I had to complete the journey without refueling. Made it home OK but at the pumps I only managed to get in 64 litres implying the tank is just 70 litres not 80 as I've seen in test reports (and my owner's manual). Is the Jap tank smaller than the UK one? Or are the reports wrong? Or does my fuel guage need calibrating?

I find the Supra auto 'box very good; smooth changes and free from hesitation. I used to have a Soarer V8 which also had a top quality box. My Jaguar XJ8 (with five gears!) was awful by comparison depite being much more modern. My only sugestions to improve it would be 1. A straight forward-back movement instead of the Mercedes-esk "maze change" 2. Indication by the gear selector as to which position you're in (why do I have to check the dash when I'm moving a lever by my side?) 3. Less fiddly TIPTRONIC buttons; they're pretty small and can be hard to find. 4. An easier way of selecting 3rd gear. Currently I have to select M for manual and then DOWN for third. Why two operations? Phew, sounds like quite a critisism but it's not. It's a very good piece of engineering. It can also take 400BHP. Which is nice.

That's right, a show like that would be pretty dull but what I think all motoring shows lack is ballance and varied content. We need to know about the new Focus cos millions of people will buy one. It would also be nice to have articles like Classic slot where they test the XK120 for example. What to look for when buying (god forbid) a five year old BMW320. Ans of course a whole show dedicated to the Supra

I've been following your woes Osso since the problems started. I've had my car a similar time. Did you not get any Warrenty with the car? My bloke gave my 6 months for free and an option to buy more when that expires. Newera surely can't afford bad press on this forum. People are always going to check out the web chat before going to a dealer. If you have no comeback, what about a 50:50?

These TV progs like TG and 5thG concentrate too much on pie-in-the-sky stuff like Lambos and other schoolboy wet dreams. Only very rarely do they feature a second hand car and lets face it, most cars sold are second hand. The AMV8 Vantage came close but still too exotic. The little Pug that cost nearly the same as my Supra. What a waste of money (the pug) I would love a supra to be featured on a look back in anger type thingy. It can still compete with many more modern machines but I just know that our Jezza would say something crass about it just to be "entertaining". He has an image to maintain.

What about Protech in Nailsea. Maybe that's not too far from you. They're much cheaper than your Toyota bods

I presume that's a typ error, otherwise that's the mother of all loans... 2034! So the word on the street is that my VVTi makes 340BHP? It's quick but not 340BHP quick. Maybe mine's not working as it should. I'll have to get it measured. It feels like 280 under my foot.

It's cool I walked into that one. It would be interesting to have readouts for all the different cars to see how close all the manufactures were. I see models from 2.0 to 4.3 all with 280PS, it seems likely that some aren't telling the whole truth.

280PS (276BHP) is the maximum power output agreed between the Jap manufactures and the powers that be. As the rest of the world is so so power crazy right now with 400BHP to 550BHP the norm, I think that agreement will be disolved. Here's hoping!

The VVTi is rated at 280PS same as the non-VVTi This is what Toyota say, I've never seen any independant measurements. The torque should be 338lb.ft compared to 318lb.ft Applies for Jap cars only.

I notice that yours is a GZ. This means that it may well have the leather rear bench. Us lowly RZ owners will usually have the "easy wipe" vinyl.