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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Manual or Auto on a Twin Turbo?


kurkjones

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Hi all, new to the Supra scene and looking at an auto TT.

 

What you all think about the different transmission boxes and why? PRO'S/CONS of each.

 

Never owned an Auto car, and deepening on how I feel about it, might keep it or swap to a manual box. (Is this an option?)

 

Thanks.

 

:)

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It's all about personal preference really. If you don't feel like you have to be connected to the transmission and clutch, I'd recommend the auto as it's superb. I know I'm a madman for converting mine and there will be a lot of times where I will miss the auto box, but as mine isn't a daily driver, I feel I really need to be 100% in charge of the car for the driver experience.

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Hi all, new to the Supra scene and looking at an auto TT.

 

What you all think about the different transmission boxes and why? PRO'S/CONS of each.

 

Never owned an Auto car, and deepening on how I feel about it, might keep it or swap to a manual box. (Is this an option?)

 

Thanks.

 

:)

 

Depends on what you're using the car for, and your budget. These days you really need at least £15k for a nice manual. £10k will get you a really nice auto, and you'd pick one up from around £8k. They are much better suited to daily driving than the manual, but if it's only for summer weekends then go with a manual.

 

Also bare in mind that you can pick a used auto gearbox up for £200. A faulty 6 speed manual recently sold on here for just under £3000. You'd need around £6k these days to convert an auto to a 6 speed.

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Thanks for the input.

The car will probably just be a weekend/summer/show car. 1 previous owner since import into UK in 2000, only done 23k miles and the thing is immaculate.

I'd like to have fun in the car, but at the same time not ruin in.

Owning a Turbo MR2, manual ofc, on the Scottish roads seems enough fun if ever I need it, the agility and uncut feel in them things is immense, but I'm sure the Supra is a whole other machine.

Will think some more about it, but pretty set on this one as more an investment/enjoyable car.

 

Almost completely stock too, so at shows might get noticed for originality etc and would like to keep it that way.

 

Or does all that sound daft?

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I've had multiple of both transmissions, and the best thing I can say about the auto is that it never annoys me. It might not sound much of a compliment but I think it's the ultimate compliment really as I currently have two auto tt's and don't hanker after another manual.

 

This might be a factor of my age (42) the fact I've had one in the past and also now the high cost involved. I would sell the autos and buy a manual if I really wanted one but at present I might have to sell both and put a grand of two in to get a decent manual, absolutely not worth it to 'me' but others wouldn't have an auto at all.

 

The auto can come with an open diff, not terrible but I'd recommend a LSD upgrade, otherwise I'd keep it auto and stock'ish at least to start with and see how you get on. It may provide a capable but relaxing contrast to the mr2 and (again to me) seems a waste to spend likely more than your mr2 is worth to change the Supra's transmission.

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You can't convert a TT Auto to Paddleshift without fitting a Syvecs or similar.

 

If you have a manual MR2 as well, just keep the Supra as an auto. They will complement each other well :)

 

Thanks for this reply, pretty much summed up what I was hoping for!

 

And also thanks Scooter for your reply, if it really is that much more for a manual I would rather stick with the Auto box and a Manual MR2 Turbo!

What sort of settings are on the Supra's Auto box?

And is there any heads up on what signs to look for for a faulty box, not that I think these bombproof engines will have suffered much by 23k miles but just incase!

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If you plan anything other than the mildest mods, such as going single turbo, buy the manual. If you are happy with just the cats removed the

auto is a lovely car to drive. Forget buying an auto and then converting it to a manual later. Don't buy a VVTi Tiptronic if you want to go more

than 122 MPH or whatever the stock speed limiter is set to, they are a PITA to speed delimit properly

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What sort of settings are on the Supra's Auto box?

And is there any heads up on what signs to look for for a faulty box, not that I think these bombproof engines will have suffered much by 23k miles but just incase!

 

There is a manual mode but in general driving I hardly ever use it. There is a overdrive button on the shifter that effective drops to third which is great for motorway overtakes, as you can drop a gear without a large throttle input that would get you the same kick down shift. I sometimes select '2' around 30-40mph eg roundabouts again to avoid kick down and have the engine already in the sweet spot ready to accelerate and stop any unexpected downshifts.

 

Faulty boxes are rare, I'd check the operation of manual mode etc all work, look for delays and 'clunks' going from park to drive, drive to reverse etc also check the fluid is reddish not burnt/brown. The driving shifts should be very smooth even at max revs/full throttle.

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If you plan anything other than the mildest mods, such as going single turbo, buy the manual. If you are happy with just the cats removed the

auto is a lovely car to drive. Forget buying an auto and then converting it to a manual later. Don't buy a VVTi Tiptronic if you want to go more

than 122 MPH or whatever the stock speed limiter is set to, they are a PITA to speed delimit properly

 

You dont like single turbo auto's then Chris?

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Oh well. Thanks a lot for everyones responses! Glad to hear people saying that I should have the MR2 turbo as Manual and leave the Supra as Auto as that is what I was hoping for.

Also thanks for the heads up on testing the auto box. The car looks seriously straight so I am going to the car without any concerns, but always good to be aware of these things during the test drive. What date is it that this Club comes to Isle of Skye?

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I don't believe the boxes are up to the torque output in stock form, and also their mapping is rarely optimal on a highly modded engine like a single turbo conversion. I have too many scrap auto Supra boxes here from single turbo cars to feel they are a good combination.

 

In stock form theres only so much torque the stock auto will take, we had 560lbfts running through the stock autofor over a year before it broke. And had over 600+lbft on the boostlogic box, but now thats broken as it didn't like manual mode with the syvecs flappy paddles.

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