Toy Motor Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hi everyone, I'm new here so please be gentle!! My name is Bob Cunningham. I used to work for Toyota as a durability test driver and as part of my job I got to work on the Supra from 1991 to 1993 just prior to it’s release. Absolutely loved it and owned one for 8 years - brilliantly engineered with only a few achilles heels which I won't go into as everyone is no doubt aware of them given the expertise on display on this great site. God knows how I didn't find this place sooner - it's certainly a goldmine of information!! Anyways, I Left Toyota in 1995 and now work at an aluminium fabricators as a general manager (yes, much more boring but I'm getting old!). Technically I've driven in excess of a million miles in a Supra if you count the accelerated durability testing ha ha I learned a good deal about that side of things through my ownership and also learned a great deal of engine stuff through talking to engineers when I got the chance. One of my friends, Gary, recently bought one and he’s looking to go single turbo in the near future. However, Gary is so non-techie (mechanically and computer wise!) that I was looking for some advice and so signed up the this forum to help Gary out. Modifications were never really my strong point as everything was, obviously, focussed around stock setups. So here I am to meet you guys and hopefully learn about modding these wonderful cars and also to refresh my memory on maintenance and troubleshooting. Maybe I can even help out being ex-Toyota? Who knows! Bob. APRIL FOOLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraStar 3000 Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hiya Bob. Welcome home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian R Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 aboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham S Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hello and Welcome... So i'm sure we'd all like to know what were they like before they were released and how much changed through the durability tests etc?? You'll definatley find all you need here.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hi Bob and welcome:) I am sure you will be a great assett to the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fifty Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 1 miilion miles eh some of the b@ggers on here dont go further than the end of the street lol Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tDR Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hi Bob - welcome to the club! Great to have you on board and it'll be nice to learn some golden nuggets of information from you on the Supra - what Toyota were thinking throughout the development - myths on it being a detuned 450bhp engine etc etc. Cheers, Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Nice to see you here squire, would be interesting to hear any tales you might be able to share with us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian R Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Nice to see you here squire, would be interesting to hear any tales you might be able to share with us and answer that question Which was best j-spec or uk ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havard Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Welcome Bob. I wondered who had done the million miles that mine has obviously done!! H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colsoop Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hi and welcome. Can i ask you why the Supra was so over engineered ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Can i ask you why the Supra was so over engineered ? Shh, they'll want bits back if they hear you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go4longer Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 hi bob welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICHARDA Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Hi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Bob? Short for Kate? *grin* Welcome aboard dude, just jesting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Welcome Bob, not fancy coming back to the dark side yourself in supra ownership? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Welcome Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toy Motor Posted March 14, 2007 Author Share Posted March 14, 2007 Whoa! Busy place this, I didn't expect anyone to get back so quick! Thank you all for making me feel so welcome The model certainly evolved throughout the durability testing and a good deal of thanks has to go to the Soarer in that respect - we used them as discreet test mules mainly in the early stages of development for parts and concept testing including the 2JZ-GE and 2JZ-GTE powerplants and suspension / brake configuration work. The first Supra bodied test mules were heavily disguised but already highly evolved from all the parts testing we'd already done. That rumour about the power output has an element of truth - Toyota badly wanted to blow the opposition away with the release of the mkiv and early 2JZ-GTE's fitted into the Soarer test mules had in excess of 400ps. In the end, they detuned it a little mainly because of the Japanese manufacturers 'gentlemans agreement' that came about meaning a power cap of 280ps. We quoted that figure but really we had to fudge it a little - the production powerplants were producing in excess of 320ps! As far as this whole j spec / uk spec thing I've been reading about on here - they were different cars for different markets. The domestic model didn't need to do high speed stops (well, above 112mph anyways) so the emphasis was on low to medium speed response and driveability. The export market car (which the UK and US got) had an emphasis on medium to high speed GT style driveability - hence the different cams and smaller steel based turbines. Personally I always enjoyed driving the domestic model more - it felt so much more 'alive' on winding roads. As for the over engineered bit - that's partly down to the originally planned higher power output plus Toyota back then always erred on the side of caution to ensure reliability and the safeguarding of their reputation which was in it's infancy at the time, especially following the whole mk3 head gasket debacle. Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbeh Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Welcome Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SupraStar 3000 Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 interesting stuff Bob. You'll be treated like a god around these parts with knowlege like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshBhp Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonkin Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Welcome Bob. Your obviously a fountain of knowledge with regard to supras. Hope you enjoy your stay Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I think this man may need to write a tech article and the origins of some of the Supra's history... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edge Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 a new guru : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Welcome Bob. I imagine we'll all be sitting around waiting for more Supra tales and inside info. Hope you enjoy it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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