splurge

Just to clarify, whether you are in MANU mode or not, if the gear selector is in D, then it will switch between 3rd and overdrive (4th) as it feels appropriate. You can restrict it to 3rd only by turning overdrive off (which you do by pushing the lower button on the gear selector). You can't restrict it to overdrive/4th only... except by driving over about 130mph, of course This thread got me playing a bit, and I noticed this morning that it will also sometimes use 2nd gear in MANU mode / D if it really thinks it needs it, so it's not quite as MANU as you might expect.

Overdrive = 4th. The auto doesn't have a fith. Or a fifth

Thanks all for your advice. I'll get saving my pennies!

Hello, SNOW turns on the SNOW mode on the traction control. The Supra has an electronic throttle, so when this mode is on you have to push the loud pedal a lot further for the same effect. Hence, as you'd expect, it is very useful when it is SNOWing OFF turns turns the standard traction control off. It also turns SNOW off if the stupid thing has put itself into SNOW, as it tends to do if you pull off too fast MANU changes the way the gearbox works as follows: MANU OFF L - 1st gear only 2 - 1st or 2nd gear only D - 1st, 2nd or 3rd gear MANU ON L - 1st gear only 2 - 2nd gear only D - 3rd gear only The overdrive can come in on 3rd gear in either mode if you don't have it turned off. MANU is useful if you are really hooning it, or if it's very wet or snowy (because you can pull off in 2nd). The red button with the Japanese writing is the ejector seat. Nah, it lets you move the gear selector when the key isn't in the ignition.

Welcome on board, Magsy. It's always nice to see someone moving away from BMW Regarding your autobox question... I have quite a bit of experience of driving different auto boxes, and in my opinion that the BMW 328 auto is absolutely nothing like the Supra auto box. The BMW box is designed to be smooth and slushy and comfortable for grey-faced businessmen on their way to whatever dull job they do, whereas the Supe box is designed to bring a grin to the face of the demanding manic Japanese driving enthusiast. It will change at the right time; it will change down at the merest hint of you wanting to overtake someone; it will kick down very quickly, especially with the overdrive turned off; it will not unexpectedly change up when you are hooning it round a roundabout; it will work with you to get the best out of the car. In short, the Supra autobox is your friend. You get two less ratios than the manual (4 vs 6), but to be honest the Supra provides so much torque that you won't really miss them. So, to summarise my babbling, the Supra auto is great, and the Supra manual is great, too - I'm just saying don't judge the Supra auto on the basis of the BMW auto Drive both types, see what suits your style.

Oh dear, the car I said I'd never need to mod because it was plenty fast enough already... Just wondering how much have people been paying for their BPUs, as a total (downpipe, exhaust, BCC, boost controller)? And how much has it put on your insurance? I am putting together a long-term plan ™ for my little baby, and I think this could be the way forward. Cheers y'all

Ah - cool, thanks!

Thanks. I must admit, though, that I always thought the solar sensor was to counter perceived hotness due to it being sunny. The climate control system itself should cope with any actual changes to the interior temperature just by using the thermostat, surely? If it wants the temperature to drop and it's not dropping, then it just blows harder anyway. Still, you learn something every day.

Yep, bottom one is definitely the rear fog light - it's exactly the same switch as mine's got. Top one, as has been said, is a solar sensor. This detects how sunny it is and makes your climate control blow a bit colder when it's bright outside, because people think it's hotter in the car when it's sunny, even though it may not be, and prefer a slightly cooler environment as a result.

Mine's a mechanically-standard import TT. We did a two-way average on a flat private road with a stationary laser, and timed it at 5.2 with a full tank of 97 RON fuel and myself and one somewhat lardy mate in the car. It was dry, and the so-called traction control was off. Not sure that having overdrive on or off will make any difference - with kickdown you should still easily be in second gear at 60mph. You might be able to hold first gear slightly longer by using the manual mode, but then you'd have to time the shift just right.

I had the joy of hearing a similar device in action (couldn't say if it was the exact same thing or not). It sounded like the vehicle in question (a Nova, of course) had a demented washing machine in the back.

Thanks everybody for your advice. Well, I decided to take the plunge and do away with the spare tyre for the sake of audio quality. So, I took all the carpet out of the boot, and was expecting to find a shaped floor with a dip in it for the tyre, but instead I found a nearly-flat floor with the bits either side of the tyre bolstered up by huge pieces of styrofoam stuff. The one on the nearside, particularly, seemed to serve no useful function at all, so I removed that and plonked the sub in there instead, meaning that I can keep my spare after all. Unfortunately in moving the sub I, err, managed to bust it. Seems to be wired up properly, fuse is OK, but just no dice. Ah well, I knew I shouldn't have played around with it... I might get a can of that tyre fixing stuff anyway - I hate the hassle of changing the wheels.

Hi, My subwoofer seems to be too close to the fabric cover thing that stops people seeing what's in the boot. This causes the cover to vibrate, which unfortunately makes it sound like the sub is completely knackered. The obvious solution is to remove the fabric cover - unfortunately this makes the sub look pretty tempting to a passing thief. I was thinking of taking out the spare wheel and putting the sub in the convenient gap that would then appear. So, I was wondering, those people who have removed their spare wheels... how legal is it, and what do you do instead of a wheel? Have you had any notable problems or successes because of it? Cheers guys!

More top work, mate! You should change your middle name to LED

BP Ultimate is 97 RON. I have been using it in my J-Spec TT since I got it. Why? Because the BP garage is 1 mile away and the Shell garage is 40 miles away. I can confirm that I have not experienced any problems with Ultimate in the 750 miles or so since I started using it. On the other hand, I have a completely standard engine. So, my conclusion is, if you have a standard Supe of any description then you are fine with Ultimate, but even better off with Optimax. If you have a modded J-Spec you are probably going to want Optimax all the time, maybe with octane booster as well.

Late to the thread as usual, but just for information: Standard unleaded is 95 RON Premium unleaded is 97 RON BP Ultimate is also 97 RON (I though 98, but it isn't) http://subsites.bp.com/ultimate/uk/petrol/default.asp Shell Optimax is 98 RON http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=uk-en&FC2=/uk-en/html/iwgen/shell_for_motorists/fuels/zzz_lhn.html&FC3=/uk-en/html/iwgen/shell_for_motorists/fuels/questions_answered_0731-2003.html#6 Standard UK Supras can run 95 RON, but will like 97 better. Standard J-Spec Supras run on 100 RON in Japan, but the engine is perfectly OK with 98 and can cope with 97. 95 RON in a J-Spec is a bad thing. Hope this helps.

I wonder if their "override" was simply to stick a handy bit of scrap metal underneath the pin that tells the car you're in Park, thus engaging it permanently, thereby defeating the safety mechanism and allowing you to take the key out?

Right, the problem is now fixed. First of all, a big, big "thank you" to Emin (Supra TT Myster) for fixing it, and to Matt Harwood for his kind advice. OK Loks, sounds like your problem is the exact same thing that I had. I realise this is a very long description, but it's not actually too difficult to do once you understand how it works (that's why I got someone else to fix it ) and if you are looking inside your car whilst you're reading this. Before any of this, you need to take off the large plastic housing around the gear selector. Sounds like you know how to do this already so I won't go into it. What is the gear selector mechanism? The gear selector mechanism consists of the handle (the bit with the buttons on), mounted on top of the actual lever, which turns out to be a hollow tube attached to a pivot at the base of the whole unit. Inside this tube is a metal shaft, with an angled plastic component threaded onto the top of it. Pressing the large button on the gear selector handle operates a mechanism which causes the metal shaft to be pushed downwards. About halfway down the metal shaft is a crosspiece which sticks out about a centimetre either side of the hollow tube, by way of a slit cut into the side of the tube. Therefore, naturally, when you press the button on the selector, the crosspiece also moves downwards. Underneath the plastic cover through which the gear lever protrudes is a fixed, shaped metal component. This is shaped in such a way that it acts like a barrier to the crosspiece in certain places and thus prevents you moving the lever from P to R, R to P, N to R, and 2 to L (maybe R to N too, can't remember)... unless you are pressing the button, which moves the crosspiece underneath the barrier and allows you to move the lever. Clever, huh? When in P, the crosspiece also moves another pin that lets the electrical system know that you're in P, and thus allows you to get the key back. What was wrong with mine? The problem with my car was that somehow the metal shaft inside the hollow tube had got too low, which meant that the crosspiece was too low to be caught by the metal shape - therefore I could move the selector between all positions without having to press the button. This also meant that the crosspiece was too low to engage the pin that tells the electrical system that I was in P - therefore it wouldn't give me my key back. How do you fix it? The first step is to get the gear selector handle off the lever. To do this, look at the base of the handle where it joins the lever. It has a small plastic assembly that goes all the way round the lever. Yank or otherwise jimmy this assembly downwards, so that it detaches from the handle. Inside the area you have just uncovered, there are two screws that hold the handle on. Unscrew them and store them safely. Now you can just pull the handle off. Don't pull too hard though, because there are still some wires in it that go into the rest of the mechanism. The second step is to adjust the height of the angled plastic component which is threaded onto the metal shaft. This is easy, because it is threaded. So all you do is twiddle it with your fingers. Make sure you do multiples of 360 degree rotations, though, otherwise the angled bit at the top will be facing the wrong way. Once you have twiddled it a bit, put the handle back on. Now try moving the selector lever. If you can still move it without needing the button, then either you have twiddled the wrong way, or you haven't twiddled far enough. If you need the button to move it, then you are nearly there. The final thing to check is whether, with the key out of the ignition, you can still move the gear selector by depressing the weird red button with the Japanese logo. If this has stopped working then you have twiddled too far - take the handle off again and twiddle the angled plastic thing back the other way. Once you have twiddled just right, then you're done. I hope this is of some help! If not, I can certainly recommend a visit to Emin, who is now highly proficient in the art of gear selector fixing

Yep, High Wycombe is fine - thanks! I might be a bit later than 2pm 'cos it's 70 miles away from me, but I will be there some time between 2 and 3. The dash wasn't taken apart, but the gear selector, handbrake, and steering wheel were all taken off when they fitted the leather. If it's gonna be more than about £30, can you take payment on a Visa card?

Thanks! I am pretty stuck for tomorrow, but I could bring it around on Wednesday afternoon if that would be convenient? Where am I taking it to? Is there a good chance you could fix it while I hang around, or would it be a leave-it-and-come-back tomorrow sort of thing? Cheers again.

Laindon, just on the western edge of the glorious metropolis of Basildon.

Hello. I'm looking for someone in the Essex area who can fix my car. I am happy to pay you for fixing it! The key is stuck in the ignition - Matt H said that this was probably that the lock solenoid on the auto gearbox wasn't engaging properly any more (and hence the ignition didn't know that the car was in Park, and wouldn't let you have the key back). I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult to fix for someone who knows what they're doing (i.e. not me). Unfortunately, the battery keeps going flat, so I need it fixed a.s.a.p. If anyone reckons they know what's involved and is in the area, please post a reply or PM me, and we'll sort a price out. I am convinced that this is an electrical fault, because disconnection of the battery allows easy removal of the key. Cheers!

Elephant. But you can't get a quote online for an import TT, you have to phone them up. You can't get a quote at all for a N/A, we think - they don't seem to acknowledge its existence. I'm 26, have full NCD, and am paying £800-odd for 10,000 miles per year with protected NCD. Tesco have also been highly recommended, but they wanted £1600 from me. Pot luck really, I guess. As always, the best advice is just to ring round lots of companies. Good luck!

Curses, I'll have to say no - I have a wedding to go to on the 3rd. Not mine, I hasten to add...

Where is this Old Mill of wot you speak? I live in Essex but am originally from Herts and so would be happy to come up for old times' sake I also have a mate with an MR2 Turbo who lives in Beds. He has a strange theory that it is faster than a Supra, so it would be good to get him along as well.