First drive of a Supra today

Today I had my first drive of a Supra It was a VVTi model with a few mods to take it to about 350bhp and it had the tiptronic system. It's owner is interested in a part exchange with my S2000 and was kind enough to let me take it away for a few hours in the afternoon to see if it would float my boat.

My first impressions were that it felt soooo typically Japanese; solid; bombproof actually; well screwed together and nicely planted. It mootled around in the traffic effortlessly. Once warmed up I burried the throttle and it sunk two cogs and let fly The shove was comedy as it kicked at 4000rpm with the 2nd turbo and took a giant p*ss on 100mph. The car really has no respect for the cubed relationship between speed and air resistance. Sadly my fun was cut short (probably for the best) at an indicated 122mph when the speed limiter called a halt to proceeding. Dropping back to 80 if felt as comfy and solid as any German car only lacking the class and finish of german interiors.

I met up with my mate who follwed me down a sweeping a-road where there was time to test out its overtaking grunt and also the usefulness of the tiptronic 'manual' mode. Overtaking was simply astonishing - it passed anything with utter ease altough I'd have to say that if you were going to take on a real 'tight' little gap where you quickly nip round a slow car with limited space/time to do it then the S2000 is actually quicker with its instant urge. Even dropping the gears with the tiptronic system to ensure a held 4500rpm the few moments for the blower to deliver sees the opportunity missed.

My mate, who was driving a Civic Type-R, played the 'can you get passed' game on a nice long straight and the answer was.....Yeah, pretty bloody easily With that little big of lag it initially looked like a close one but once in its stride and higher in the rev range (where I presume VVTi takes charge) it effortlessly passed him and again settled to that easy going sedate cruise.

I didn't chuck her about through the bends as it wasn't my car but it certainly felt stable enough and held the road well although the nimble S2000 would corner quicker and change direction easier.

All in all it was an excellent experience and I'd say the car is really suited to sweeping a-roads with some 'challenging' traffic to overtake. You can either cruise along with the auto-box doing all the work or drop a few cogs and pass slower traffic with utter ease. The jury is still out on whether I'll talk money on the p/x though as I did miss the involvment of swapping cogs, heel-n-toe, etc and even by the end of the day I was getting used to the power and thinking that it needs more (such a slippery slope!)

What was actually amazing is that my Honda (modified with n/a mods) didn't feel slow afterwards like I expected it would. It didn't have the turbo kick or the lowdown grunt but working through the gears from 7000-9000rpm it felt like it would really give the Supra a run for its money up to 110mph or so. After that though it would be left for dead

As a final note I'd love to drive a de-restricted supra down an autoban just so see the slug passing 130-140 and 150mph.....and probably 160 too..

Glad you enjoyed it

I've had a proper play against an S2000, I can safely say there was not even the slightest contest lol even from low speeds. Then again I am fully BPU.

The supra was probably qucker than you reaslise, it takes high speed in its stride unlike some cars that feel faster than they are

Shame you found turbo lag, was it a UK model then?

Chilli VVti = non UK.

Saxo boy, a de-restricted stock Supra should hit over 170mph given enough road.

Chilli VVti = non UK.

 

Saxo boy, a de-restricted stock Supra should hit over 170mph given enough road.

ahhh of course, cheers, silly me just wondered about the lag, maybe compared to an N/A it seems laggy I suppose.

and de-restricted they can get into the 180s can't they?

Shame you found turbo lag, was it a UK model then?

Jap model and you have to remember that if you are sitting at 7500rpm in the S2000 waiting to floor it she picks up at full whack the very instant you touch the throttle. BPU'd is a whole different ball game but against this near standard Supra I'd keep it honest under 100mph. I'm hitting 0-100mph in about 13s and todays supra is probably about 12 so its fairly close. 100-130mph would be somewhat different!!!

Yeah, they are pretty close, my friend used to have a S2000, hes called 'UK_S2000' or something on S2Ki.com

My car is stock engine wise.. and we were close up to 100 leptons when we were driving, he was trying to follow behind.

Remember, 4.2-4.5k revs on a Supra is like your VTEC range, where the power really comes in.

The low noise levels inside the Supra always disguise how fast you're going too. Most cars scream their bollox off at 100 where as the Sup feels like it's idling. This can always be a bit misleading.

Go drive a BPU Sup to see what they can do. Also get the owner to take you out as they'd be more used to the box (If it's an auto/tiptronic etc)

Cool write up btw.

You had a bit of lag? Not sure about others but I have no lag at all when planting the foot on mine, especially if the RPM's are over 4K.

I have easy done 170 leptons on mine with plenty, and I mean plenty left to go.

Maybe it needs some work on it mate, does not sound like a de-restricted one to me. Guessing you mean de-restricted as in de-catted? If its not de-catted then you would find it a little laggy. Drive a de-catted one.

Thinking on it, cant be de-catted and de-restricted that much if only pushing 350.

Nice review.

About the lag; the car would feel much better and less laggy if it was decatted. I notice little to no lag on mine.

My '98 VVTi Tiptronic has done 172mph (GPS) and was still accelerating slowly.

Yeah a decat reduced the lag a lot on my scooby I'm not saying its a laggy car as such but you have to remember what I drove to pick the Supra up. There is zero response time between the S2000's throttle butterfly opening and the engine pulling.

It was just a small point that if you wanted to do a very quick nip around (i.e. borderline dangerous) then the S2000 gives you that little extra confidence to do it.

interesting review....what about a 6-sp manual for a proper driving experience

I think that is one of the Supras drawbacks it isn't really point and squirt and due to its size the sensation of speed is reduced.

It is definitely a GT car with higher speeds in mind (Try 80+) and can effortlessly soak up the miles as many members can attest to with trips to Europe and back.

interesting review....what about a 6-sp manual for a proper driving experience

LOL

Its a fair point Colsoop. It felt like a liscense loser in that most of the fun was at outragous speeds

Its a fair point Colsoop. It felt like a liscense loser in that most of the fun was at outragous speeds

I couldn't possibly comment

Yeah, they are pretty close, my friend used to have a S2000, hes called 'UK_S2000' or something on S2Ki.com

 

My car is stock engine wise.. and we were close up to 100 leptons when we were driving, he was trying to follow behind.

 

Remember, 4.2-4.5k revs on a Supra is like your VTEC range, where the power really comes in.

I raced a s2000- and I can say that it had no chance. Left it standing- I was running 0.9bar. Yes he was trying. No match for a stock supra

I raced a s2000- and I can say that it had no chance. Left it standing- I was running 0.9bar. Yes he was trying. No match for a stock supra

One man's trying is anothers failing. Getting the best from the S2000 is beyond 75% of the drivers that drive it. Change up 100rpm to early and you'll lose a car length - there lack of torque leaves no margin for error if you are on maximum attack.

Mines does the standing 1/4 in 13.75 seconds at 103mph. A bone-stock supra is quicker but it won't be 'leaving it standing'

Just see if you can try out a decatted BPU+ TT fellar. Whether it be a VVT-i or not. You will see a big difference. Just sounded like the one you drove did not have anything done to it and maybe needed a little work.

Mines does the standing 1/4 in 13.75 seconds at 103mph. A bone-stock supra is quicker but it won't be 'leaving it standing'

My old stock (UK) tt did pod in 13.875 (from memory) so your (slightly modded) Honda is very quick in my book........

i recently test drove an S2000 and a 350z ...big let down ... i really couldnt compare their performance to that of the supra ... they just feel 'nippy' the Supra properly throws you into your seat! To get any kind of performance out of the S2000 you sound like ur driving like a complete tool...taking the revs real high, where as the supra has power all the way through. Very different experience.

Just see if you can try out a decatted BPU+ TT fellar. Whether it be a VVT-i or not. You will see a big difference. Just sounded like the one you drove did not have anything done to it and maybe needed a little work.

Yeah, I don't doubt with 400bhp they are fun

To get any kind of performance out of the S2000 you sound like ur driving like a complete tool...taking the revs real high, where as the supra has power all the way through

That's the appeal though - it's hard work and you have to really try to get her to haul ass but the rewards are there when you do. As I alluded to in my report the Supra was great fun because of its easy going straight-line grunt but ultimately I missed that manic involvement and it's not like a 350bhp Supra was giving me soooooo much more pull to make up for it.

I'm not having a go at Supra's I think that should be obvious from my report but for outright performance it would need to be BPU'd before I'd consider that it could demolish my existing car and even then depending on the road the S2000 could run with it (tight twisty stuff).

I want my next car to be a 'significant' step forward in performance in that it must effortlessly pass my existing car. A BPU'd supra would do that an MR340 EVO with fuel pump, decat and remap (400bhp) would do that and a Stage 2 VX220 Turbo (245bhp/930kg) would probably do that. Today I'm leaning towards the later two of that trio not because I didn't like the Supra but because I feel it's maybe not the right time for me. I fear I'd get one and soon after I'd want a single turbo and 600bhp+ which I just can't afford!!

Nismo I fear with the Honda and Nissan you are suffering from turbo vs N/A feel. It took me a long time to get used to the lack of shove when I moved from my scooby to an n/a car. In fact, it's half the reason I'm wanting to go turbo again because my car to feel more savage than it actually is.

My old stock (UK) tt did pod in 13.875 (from memory) so your (slightly modded) Honda is very quick in my book........

Wow that is quick, not seen an S2000 at Santa Pod ever go over 100mph or under 14 secs.

My standard times were around 14.2 seconds at 99mph so cracking 14.00 or 100.00mph out the box requires a perfect (lucky) run.

My only mods are a decat pipe and cat back single exit T1-R exhaust and a spoon carbon snorkel to feed the stock airbox from the front of the car.

My only mods are a decat pipe and cat back single exit T1-R exhaust and a spoon carbon snorkel to feed the stock airbox from the front of the car.

those simple mods on the supra give you bpu and much more significant gains. Ok so you should change the plugs and fuel pump but that's no big deal.

Guess that's one of the beauties of turbo over N/A (easy mods give big gains) - not to mention that you get massive torque and power from low down without having to thrash it to the red line all the time to make it move.

I know you're enjoying that right now, I've have in the past too but the novely does wear off trust me lol and it gets tiresome in the end lol

According to my research (see my only other thread on this board) BPU is a lot more expensive than a £100 decat pipe and a £350 cat-back! In principle what you are saying stands true however