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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Auto or manual what to do?


Guest Urky_89

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Hi guys, after much thought (and permission from the other half ) I have decided this will be the year I get a supra. Had my heart set on a manual but realistically it would stretch my budget to much so I'm thinking auto. Has anyone else been in this situation and has the auto been better than u thought it would be and kept you happy? I'm sure I would be over the moon with an auto all supras are beasts lol just wondered if anyone on here has been there and done it?

 

 

Hey bud. I was in your same position. I have now owned my auto n/a for about a month and I am not disappointed. Like it has been said there will always be pros and cons to both sides.

 

You certainly aren't disconnected from the car because you cant change gear. You do have a lot of involvement in what the box can do in regards to overdrive and the manual mode.

 

Having driven modern autos the A340E stands well above them the kick down really is responsive. But everyone has a preference but certainly give the auto a test drive I don't think you will be disappointed

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The tiptronic was only available on the facelift vvti.

 

The difference as I believe it to be is that the tiptronic has a second gate that you can shift into that allows you to shift up and down (also has buttons on the steering wheel) so more of a manual feeling.

 

Where as the manual mode only lets the gearbox to stay in 1st with L selected , 1st and 2nd with 2 selected and 1st , 2nd and 3rd with D selected. (I might be wrong as I am recalling from memory) but is still controlled by the auto ecu where as the tiptronic in M allows the driver to shift.

 

Sure someone more knowledgeable of the tiptronic will be able to confirm.

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Guest Andysdr

For what it's worth, here's my opinion! I've just bought a TT auto at the beginning of the year. The reason I bought it is my friend wanted to sell and I've always said give me first refusal. I think the big question over manual or auto depends on your plans, whether you want a huge power project or a weekend cruiser. The latter is what i personally want from it and would be over the moon with around 500bhp. I've been told (someone might correct me) that an auto with standard engine internals is good for upto 700bhp. I also prefer driving an auto : )

Andy

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For what it's worth, here's my opinion! I've just bought a TT auto at the beginning of the year. The reason I bought it is my friend wanted to sell and I've always said give me first refusal. I think the big question over manual or auto depends on your plans, whether you want a huge power project or a weekend cruiser. The latter is what i personally want from it and would be over the moon with around 500bhp. I've been told (someone might correct me) that an auto with standard engine internals is good for upto 700bhp. I also prefer driving an auto : )

Andy

 

The stock auto can handle around 500bhp with coolers and a decent ECU, the engine internals are good for 700bhp, after that really you should be looking at a built block.

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What is the difference between the manual mode and cars that have the tiptronic system? Descriptions I've seen make them seem identical?

 

Is the manual mode the same and the term 'tiptronic' is applied to the facelift cars? :conf:

 

The tiptronic is quite a different beast :)

 

Basically, when the VVTi TT engines were introduced, they discontinued the regular auto and replaced it with the tiptronic. The big, aircraft throttle like shifter of the auto was replaced by a conventional looking gearknob, with a different gate pattern. Unlike the regular auto, the tiptronic has two driving modes, 'auto' and 'drive'. Auto is self explanatory. :) In drive, the car will hold gears until you change it with the steering wheel mounted buttons. It is a decent upgrade over the regular auto, and combined with the livlier VVTi engine it really moves the game on. I was unhappy with the feel of the stock buttons on my tiptronic, and replaced them with a paddleshift setup. Considering manual VVTi TTs can fetch over £15k now, buying a tiptronic for £10k is somewhat of a bargain, as you can convert it to manual and it will still be a little cheaper than buying a comparable manual car.

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I wanted a 6 speed TT but they are just so expensive. I have an E46 M3 at the moment which has a 6 speed Getrag gearbox. Not sure how similar it is to the one in the Supra, but the M3 was also available with the SMG II gearbox. As the cars have got older the SMG II systems have become a big talking point as they seem prone to failures. How reliable is the tiptronic system on the Supra?

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The BMW SMG II system is a robotised manual box controlled with a software driven servo motor controlled by an ECU, manufactured by Getrag. It's a system similar to that used in Smart cars except it's a lot stronger and a good bit quicker. It has reliability issues due to the poor quality of wiring and connectors making it all work, the actual 'boxes are very robust. I would assume that that BMW's SMG suffers the same issues.

 

The Supra's auto boxes in regular and Tiptronic, are conventional fluid - coupled auto boxes with the Tiptronic functions being software driven.

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I've had two 6 spd manuals. One TT BPU and now 600BHP single. I love the manual box. It is a little agricultural, but then it can handle some serious power. On my current car I find slow moving traffic hard work, the first and second gear rev out quickly and I end up working the gears quite a bit. I believe my biggest issue here though is the heavy RPS clutch I have.

 

I have had the pleasure of driving a friends UK TT BPU auto and have to say I was very impressed. I think generally an auto BPU is a better responding car, certainly a more refined drive.

 

I've not been in a single turbo auto, but I assume the same is still true.

 

I think how the car is setup is very important to the feel of either the manual or auto experience.

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Guest Urky_89

Thanks for all the help, nice to be on a forum and get useful replies! Hopefully it won't be long until I have a supra parked out the front :D

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