Prejudiced against Rice rockets?
Discussion
Well, are we?
It transpires that it is possible to get a 400 to 500bhp, rear wheel drive sports coupe for well under £10,000 to £15,000.
That price should cover finding a good one, and getting some subtle but not over the top tuning done. Much more is possible, but I think 450 bhp should be enough while also maintaining driveability.
The end result will be a fast and very reliable RWD car.
It is of course a Toyota Supra twin turbo.
I happen to not like a lot of Jap performance cars. Not keen on four wheel drive either.
But Supras do look like performance bargains. Its surprising that they are not discussed much round these parts.
Prejudice? Or are they a bit crap and I have not realised this yet?
It transpires that it is possible to get a 400 to 500bhp, rear wheel drive sports coupe for well under £10,000 to £15,000.
That price should cover finding a good one, and getting some subtle but not over the top tuning done. Much more is possible, but I think 450 bhp should be enough while also maintaining driveability.
The end result will be a fast and very reliable RWD car.
It is of course a Toyota Supra twin turbo.
I happen to not like a lot of Jap performance cars. Not keen on four wheel drive either.
But Supras do look like performance bargains. Its surprising that they are not discussed much round these parts.
Prejudice? Or are they a bit crap and I have not realised this yet?
Years ago, CAR did a big group test of coupes.
One of the testers (A racer, forget which one) reckoned the Supra was the car which would be easiest for a "normal" driver to drive close to the limit and for that reason, as fast in real terms as some motors with superior performance on paper.
I will see if I can find it.....
One of the testers (A racer, forget which one) reckoned the Supra was the car which would be easiest for a "normal" driver to drive close to the limit and for that reason, as fast in real terms as some motors with superior performance on paper.
I will see if I can find it.....
I think the Jap stuff is all incredible machinary.
At on eof my trackdays I meet up with a 300ZXTT owner who had tuned the car 10 years ago to 400BHP and said it had been reliable ever since and it was his daily car.
Jap cars in comparison to a lot of others are cheap to run, reliable, reliably powerful and they look a lot better than the boring stuff that come sout of Germany (although I like them, the cars from each manufacturer all look the same!).
Even the lower power jap cars are a lot of fun to drive too.
MR2s, CRX MK2s, MX5s etc.
And if you are into tuning, there isn't really an easier route to follow.
Of course the max power muppets have caught on to this a little, but never mind.
At on eof my trackdays I meet up with a 300ZXTT owner who had tuned the car 10 years ago to 400BHP and said it had been reliable ever since and it was his daily car.
Jap cars in comparison to a lot of others are cheap to run, reliable, reliably powerful and they look a lot better than the boring stuff that come sout of Germany (although I like them, the cars from each manufacturer all look the same!).
Even the lower power jap cars are a lot of fun to drive too.
MR2s, CRX MK2s, MX5s etc.
And if you are into tuning, there isn't really an easier route to follow.
Of course the max power muppets have caught on to this a little, but never mind.
Which is my point - the Jap chat supporters tend to keep themselves to themselves.
In general gassing, I was wondering if this is fair or not. After all, most of us would accept that while Japanese cars are not everyones cup of tea, they are in the main very well engineered.
Cars like Supras and Skylines are strong and powerful. Granted, the image can be suspect and some of the owners do monstrous things to them with bodykits and such like, but that does not take away the fact that a good Supra or Skyline is a strong, fast and effective bit of kit.
Perhaps some of the excesses of the max power brigade are blinding us to some decent performance cars. After all , a car like a modern Supra is much more sophisticated than any American muscle car, and at least the equal of anything German from a technical point of view.
I'll come clean.
I saw a lovely looking dark grey coupe this morning. As I approached it I realised that it was a Supra. Discretely sat on some nice looking anthracite wheels and with the huge spoiler removed. It looked good. Very good.
And that got me thinking...
In general gassing, I was wondering if this is fair or not. After all, most of us would accept that while Japanese cars are not everyones cup of tea, they are in the main very well engineered.
Cars like Supras and Skylines are strong and powerful. Granted, the image can be suspect and some of the owners do monstrous things to them with bodykits and such like, but that does not take away the fact that a good Supra or Skyline is a strong, fast and effective bit of kit.
Perhaps some of the excesses of the max power brigade are blinding us to some decent performance cars. After all , a car like a modern Supra is much more sophisticated than any American muscle car, and at least the equal of anything German from a technical point of view.
I'll come clean.
I saw a lovely looking dark grey coupe this morning. As I approached it I realised that it was a Supra. Discretely sat on some nice looking anthracite wheels and with the huge spoiler removed. It looked good. Very good.
And that got me thinking...
Prejudice against rice rockets? Try owning up to being a BMW driver round here!
They're brilliant cars too. My only niggle is that I just can't find an indicator stalk. I've heard that BM drivers use a lot of hand signals - perhaps I should try that instead, or use my horn and lights as a warning system.
They're brilliant cars too. My only niggle is that I just can't find an indicator stalk. I've heard that BM drivers use a lot of hand signals - perhaps I should try that instead, or use my horn and lights as a warning system.
Im skeptical about japanese cars because the car laws they have over there make it difficult to own an older car and seem to have lead to the creation of cars not designed to last very long.
We seem to be past the worst of the rusty cars era but the japanese ones seem to be stubbornly hanging on to the ability to decompose rapidly.
We seem to be past the worst of the rusty cars era but the japanese ones seem to be stubbornly hanging on to the ability to decompose rapidly.
I couldn't find a more cost effective way to do 260bhp + 4wd.
Purchase price of 8K. You can now get good ones for 6500. Easily tuned to 300 bhp (a forth coming presentation).
Run for 18 months. Net outlay on bits that have broken. Nothing.
Started every morning. Never even hiccuped. I leave it standing outside for 3 weeks at a time and she fires first turn when I come home.
The Four really is a forgotten performance bargin.
Purchase price of 8K. You can now get good ones for 6500. Easily tuned to 300 bhp (a forth coming presentation).
Run for 18 months. Net outlay on bits that have broken. Nothing.
Started every morning. Never even hiccuped. I leave it standing outside for 3 weeks at a time and she fires first turn when I come home.
The Four really is a forgotten performance bargin.
off Jap turbo nutter fried special rice. 
se6b said:
I just find Jap cars a bit lacking in personality. Its hard to warm to something thats so efficient and reliable. Having said that I'd love a 300ZX Twin Turbo.
Been in a FD (3rd Gen RX-7)? - inefficent and unreliable (according to the rumors), beautiful and brilliant performance.
had mine on track at Trax this weekend and not only is it great fun on the roads, it's great fun on track too!
Iain
iaint said:
I just find Jap cars a bit lacking in personality. Its hard to warm to something thats so efficient and reliable. Having said that I'd love a 300ZX Twin Turbo.
Been in a FD (3rd Gen RX-7)? - inefficent and unreliable (according to the rumors), beautiful and brilliant performance.
had mine on track at Trax this weekend and not only is it great fun on the roads, it's great fun on track too!
Iain
The later RX7 is indeed a very nice looking machine. Hints of Le Mans racer. There was a gorgeous black one that I used to drool over daily in Manchester. But, as far as I'm told they drink petrol like a Jenson Interceptor....and I know which I'd prefer.
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