RE: Toyota Supra (Mk3): PH Used Buying Guide
Discussion
My old man had one of these and still goes on about it today. Claims he had one of the first in the country, a two tone 3.0L n/a, and drove it straight from the dealers on a road trip to see his sister in Belgium. If he's to be believed then this is "one of the best cars Toyota ever made!".
Vocht said:
My old man had one of these and still goes on about it today. Claims he had one of the first in the country, a two tone 3.0L n/a, and drove it straight from the dealers on a road trip to see his sister in Belgium. If he's to be believed then this is "one of the best cars Toyota ever made!".
It is possible. Many who have owned these cars rate them highly. Myself i want one too, targa top please. However i own mk4 and i can't afford to have another old lady with expensive taste...I drove one back in '86 when they came out and then again early 1987 when I bought a Corolla SR coupe (Rare car in its own right) and visited the local Toyota dealer
My 18 year old son wants one very badly if I see I good one i may be tempted myself
Spent some time in a Toyota dealership yesterday and was lamenting the range, they have nothing remotely interesting for the average car guy nowadays, what a shame
My 18 year old son wants one very badly if I see I good one i may be tempted myself
Spent some time in a Toyota dealership yesterday and was lamenting the range, they have nothing remotely interesting for the average car guy nowadays, what a shame
My Dad had a white Mk2 2.8. He knew I loved that back in the early 80s, so in 1995 which I was 26 or so, when he spotted a MK3 Turbo in the Exchange and Mart, he quickly showed me the ad.
I went to see the car in South Kensington. It was advertised as the very last UK registered MK3 Turbo - 1993K. It was immaculate in and out aside from a small dent in the bottom of the drivers door and bird lime damage on the roof (it was street parked). The owner (very wealthy) was after a late black Celica GT4 which I didn't really understand. He had it up for £19,500 which was very steep even considering condition and the 13,500 miles. I got him down to 15,500, had the roof and door repaired and had what was my most satisfying motoring until my current 981s.
For someone in their mid 20s, you really felt like you had a bit of a super car. I had no issues with a skittish rear end. It handled beautifully (maybe later ones were better) as long as those soft GoodYear Eagle F1s had at least 50% life left in them. I do know that the non Eagle ZR Goodyears were awful - noisy and too rigid.
I had taken out the Toyota 6 yr extended warranty of the car when I bought it and servicing for the later Supras was mainly done at early Lexus dealerships from memory. The branding got a bit odd in a similar way to the mk2 still being identified as the Celica Supra. Having said that, my parents had a superb Celica ST from 1972 with Cosmic wheels and that still had the old dragon like badge with parts branded Toyoda. It was way ahead of it's time looks wise.
I had the valve stem oil seals replaced under warranty and also (not because of failure) the head gasket. The dealer did that as though it was some kind of recall. It was replaced with a metal one. I also had the metal trim around the windscreen replaced because the black came off on the corners. They did that under warranty as well (not like dealers today). The replacements never lost their black.
The late MK3 Turbos only had one spec which made them special. It was all leather, with climate control and decent CD audio. The carpets were so thick in comparison to most modern cars. That carpet went up the lower non leather part of the doors as well. With this elegant but under the covers almost industrial build, it wasn't light, but the engine and chassis were more than up to the job.
Performance was superb and when you did let the tyres drop below 50%, it would snake beautifully on a dry road pulling away. You had to watch those big rear arches in the wing mirrors to ensure you didn't hit the cars on either side of you at lights.
After 6 years, I got a little nervous about heavy engine repair bills without warranty, so I made a big big mistake. I ordered my first new car - a BMW328 Sport E36. It was marketed, like today as the ultimate drivers car. As a car it did everything well, but like so many cars of it's type, it was really just a slghtly heavier better built more luxurious Escort / Cortina. It's early traction control was crap and there was no real sense of acceleration or speed. It also made no decent noise (except if you were outside on a roundabout when one tried it's 'dohnuts' around a roundabout - like the ad BMW had out for it at the time - 1999). Handling was nothing like as transparent as the Supra. I never really felt like taking it to the edge, because there wasn't the feedback there to know where it was. With the Supra (and again, this maybe later model years), it provided beautiful feedback. On one occasion a scary guy in an SD1 started hounding me around the dual carraige ways across the south side of Bracknell. I stupidly took the bait and after the 3rd or perhaps 5 roundabouts he gave up. Very childish and more than a little stupid for someone with little high speed handling experience.
The Supra was far better built, for more luxurious, felt faster, way more powerful and had an awful lot more driver feedback / involvement. It was an event every time I went out in it. I went to a Supra Owners Club meet in Basingstoke once. The car was admired by many. Wasn't really my scene hanging around a McDonalds talking about the car though.
My Dad bought the Supra off me and kept until 5 years ago. It still had no rust, and ran it's original exhaust. Aside from regular servicing, nothing needed doing. He sold it then with some sadness, after buying his 987 Boxster S.
After the BMW I was so underwhelmed (particularly as my Dad continued to enjoy the Supra trouble free for 13 years) that I got a mint 406 Coupe. Very delicate, very pretty, but surprisingly fun. I then had 2 ST220s which I enjoyed a lot and an MX5 (roadtested with the roof down and didn't realise until I drove it home I was slightly too big for it) before getting the Boxster. As I say, before the Boxster, nothing else came close to the Supra Turbo.
The Supra Turbo was hugely over engineered, much like the Mk4 (which I was far too conservative for me at the time, but would love one of the last UK spec MK4s now) and from memory (could well be wrong though), that over engineering was because of it's brief stint as a Rally Car before Toyota moved to the GT4. It never hit the 1000 BHP Mk4 Beast levels, but I believe with no internal changes, you could reliably get to 400BHP and some reached 700. Mine was always stock, but that 254lbft on a steep straight hill was enough to put a smile on your face today.
Nostalgia really kicking in now.
As has been said, much underestimated, either by people that never owned a good one, or people that compared with the wrong sort of car (it was after all a high speed luxury GT when GT actually mean Grand Tourer (always drove me mad seeing little hatch backs called GT or GTI)).
Paul.
I went to see the car in South Kensington. It was advertised as the very last UK registered MK3 Turbo - 1993K. It was immaculate in and out aside from a small dent in the bottom of the drivers door and bird lime damage on the roof (it was street parked). The owner (very wealthy) was after a late black Celica GT4 which I didn't really understand. He had it up for £19,500 which was very steep even considering condition and the 13,500 miles. I got him down to 15,500, had the roof and door repaired and had what was my most satisfying motoring until my current 981s.
For someone in their mid 20s, you really felt like you had a bit of a super car. I had no issues with a skittish rear end. It handled beautifully (maybe later ones were better) as long as those soft GoodYear Eagle F1s had at least 50% life left in them. I do know that the non Eagle ZR Goodyears were awful - noisy and too rigid.
I had taken out the Toyota 6 yr extended warranty of the car when I bought it and servicing for the later Supras was mainly done at early Lexus dealerships from memory. The branding got a bit odd in a similar way to the mk2 still being identified as the Celica Supra. Having said that, my parents had a superb Celica ST from 1972 with Cosmic wheels and that still had the old dragon like badge with parts branded Toyoda. It was way ahead of it's time looks wise.
I had the valve stem oil seals replaced under warranty and also (not because of failure) the head gasket. The dealer did that as though it was some kind of recall. It was replaced with a metal one. I also had the metal trim around the windscreen replaced because the black came off on the corners. They did that under warranty as well (not like dealers today). The replacements never lost their black.
The late MK3 Turbos only had one spec which made them special. It was all leather, with climate control and decent CD audio. The carpets were so thick in comparison to most modern cars. That carpet went up the lower non leather part of the doors as well. With this elegant but under the covers almost industrial build, it wasn't light, but the engine and chassis were more than up to the job.
Performance was superb and when you did let the tyres drop below 50%, it would snake beautifully on a dry road pulling away. You had to watch those big rear arches in the wing mirrors to ensure you didn't hit the cars on either side of you at lights.
After 6 years, I got a little nervous about heavy engine repair bills without warranty, so I made a big big mistake. I ordered my first new car - a BMW328 Sport E36. It was marketed, like today as the ultimate drivers car. As a car it did everything well, but like so many cars of it's type, it was really just a slghtly heavier better built more luxurious Escort / Cortina. It's early traction control was crap and there was no real sense of acceleration or speed. It also made no decent noise (except if you were outside on a roundabout when one tried it's 'dohnuts' around a roundabout - like the ad BMW had out for it at the time - 1999). Handling was nothing like as transparent as the Supra. I never really felt like taking it to the edge, because there wasn't the feedback there to know where it was. With the Supra (and again, this maybe later model years), it provided beautiful feedback. On one occasion a scary guy in an SD1 started hounding me around the dual carraige ways across the south side of Bracknell. I stupidly took the bait and after the 3rd or perhaps 5 roundabouts he gave up. Very childish and more than a little stupid for someone with little high speed handling experience.
The Supra was far better built, for more luxurious, felt faster, way more powerful and had an awful lot more driver feedback / involvement. It was an event every time I went out in it. I went to a Supra Owners Club meet in Basingstoke once. The car was admired by many. Wasn't really my scene hanging around a McDonalds talking about the car though.
My Dad bought the Supra off me and kept until 5 years ago. It still had no rust, and ran it's original exhaust. Aside from regular servicing, nothing needed doing. He sold it then with some sadness, after buying his 987 Boxster S.
After the BMW I was so underwhelmed (particularly as my Dad continued to enjoy the Supra trouble free for 13 years) that I got a mint 406 Coupe. Very delicate, very pretty, but surprisingly fun. I then had 2 ST220s which I enjoyed a lot and an MX5 (roadtested with the roof down and didn't realise until I drove it home I was slightly too big for it) before getting the Boxster. As I say, before the Boxster, nothing else came close to the Supra Turbo.
The Supra Turbo was hugely over engineered, much like the Mk4 (which I was far too conservative for me at the time, but would love one of the last UK spec MK4s now) and from memory (could well be wrong though), that over engineering was because of it's brief stint as a Rally Car before Toyota moved to the GT4. It never hit the 1000 BHP Mk4 Beast levels, but I believe with no internal changes, you could reliably get to 400BHP and some reached 700. Mine was always stock, but that 254lbft on a steep straight hill was enough to put a smile on your face today.
Nostalgia really kicking in now.
As has been said, much underestimated, either by people that never owned a good one, or people that compared with the wrong sort of car (it was after all a high speed luxury GT when GT actually mean Grand Tourer (always drove me mad seeing little hatch backs called GT or GTI)).
Paul.
There is nothing particularly complicated about the 1JZ's twin turbos, except that they take up enough space to make access a bit more difficult. They run in parallel, with no need for the complex plumbing required by sequential twins fitted to the 2JZ-GTE in the Aristo and Supra MkIV.
I have always believed that the 7M is the reason that the JZs are so over-engineered.
"Overdrive" in the A34x series gearboxes is just 4th gear, presumably so named to be familiar to US drivers who were accustomed to 3-speed autos with an added overdrive gear. Don't expect it to work like the Laycock overdrive on your dad's MGB.
I have always believed that the 7M is the reason that the JZs are so over-engineered.
"Overdrive" in the A34x series gearboxes is just 4th gear, presumably so named to be familiar to US drivers who were accustomed to 3-speed autos with an added overdrive gear. Don't expect it to work like the Laycock overdrive on your dad's MGB.
Edited by gareth_r on Friday 2nd March 11:14
As always, a great article from Lewis!
The Supra was always a car I overlooked, I was more of a Capri man back then. Me having my flirtation with Porker 944 Turbos probably didn't help! However, it seems these Supras do have a following and are alot of car for the money! One to watch for sure with their cult following.
The Supra was always a car I overlooked, I was more of a Capri man back then. Me having my flirtation with Porker 944 Turbos probably didn't help! However, it seems these Supras do have a following and are alot of car for the money! One to watch for sure with their cult following.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I was thinking to myself "that doesn't sound too bad, low milers and any old car can have those issues"! That was until I read about the oil pump? Was there a flaw with the oil pumps to warrant a £2k bill?SebringMan said:
I was thinking to myself "that doesn't sound too bad, low milers and any old car can have those issues"! That was until I read about the oil pump? Was there a flaw with the oil pumps to warrant a £2k bill?
It was the drive to the oil pump. IIRC the whole engine would need to be stripped to sort out the pulley.It was moving backwards and forwards in the engine making a loud knocking noise when running. It had done about 130k by then.
Before I got it at 80k, it had blown a head gasket and needed a new Crakshaft as well (under warranty).
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