My Toyota Supra RZ-S
Discussion
Hi, thought it was about time to finally share with you guys my Pride and joy. I have owned the car since March 17 and have loved every moment of it.
First a bit about my previous driving history. I purchased a Toyota MR2 four years ago, and contracted a severe case of 'Japcaritis'. Since then I've owned another MR2 (which I still have), a Nissan 350Z and a Nissan Skyline R32 GTR.
It was the change from 350Z to Skyline that prompted the search for a Supra, as I quickly discovered the older Nissan was more 'race car for the road' than road car - having daily'd the 350Z for over a year I guess I'd become accustomed to a nice comfy GT car, plus the MR2 I still own was by this time fully stripped and being used as a track weapon. I did not need 2! It also spent more time in the garage having things fixed in my ownership than it did on the road.
So with the Skyline gone the search for the Supra started. So first thing was first, I bought a 1.0 Seat Arosa!
Now armed with a new daily driver that was cheap to run and more importantly, reliable (Nissan
) I started viewing Supras around the country. After about a month of scouring classifieds, as is so often the case, the right car appeared more or less on my doorstep! I immediately contacted the seller, and went to view it the next day.
Safe to say, the car was everything I had hoped it would be, and I put a deposit on it the very same day.
When I first purchased the car it had some 'questionable' styling mods. The eyelid things were liberated immediately, and I wasn’t a fan of the Bomex front bumper, so a new (old) front bumper was sourced, as well as a more aggressive front lip.
Other than that all I have done to the car is keep it clean, replaced the old Japanese rubber with some new Falkens, and swapped out the milky headlight for a refurbished one. I’ve tried to keep modifications to a minimum, and I think the car is a great example of a nearly stock Supra – a rare thing nowadays.
The car only gets used on weekends, and I think I must have been to nearly every major show in South East England this summer, as somehow I’ve managed to rack up 10000 kilometres since I’ve owned it. I've also done a couple of track sessions, and a drag day with mkivsupra.net at Santa Pod last weekend.
Anyway, here is the spec:
Toyota Supra RZ-S
70000 miles (112000 kilometres)
Manufactured at the Motomachi plant, Japan in June 1996
3.0 twin turbo 2JZ-GTE engine
199 Alpine Silver
Toyota Racing Development aero package
Larger 323mm 4 pot front and 324mm 2 pot rear brake option
ABS
Traction control
4 speed automatic (with overdrive)
Torsen LSD
Active spoiler
Climate control
Driver and passenger airbags
Optional rear sub woofer
1 of 71 silver, facelift, automatic, twin turbo cars produced worldwide
Imported from Japan in August 2015
The car has a few subtle modifications including:
Tein Sport Mono Flex coilovers
Blitz Nur Spec R catback exhaust and 1st catalytic converter removed
Blitz turbo timer
HKS SSQV blow off valve
BBS LM wheels
368.6 bhp and 332.1 lbft torque
And finally, a few pictures of the car in it's current form:
|https://thumbsnap.com/vAOBarhT[/url]
[url]
First a bit about my previous driving history. I purchased a Toyota MR2 four years ago, and contracted a severe case of 'Japcaritis'. Since then I've owned another MR2 (which I still have), a Nissan 350Z and a Nissan Skyline R32 GTR.
It was the change from 350Z to Skyline that prompted the search for a Supra, as I quickly discovered the older Nissan was more 'race car for the road' than road car - having daily'd the 350Z for over a year I guess I'd become accustomed to a nice comfy GT car, plus the MR2 I still own was by this time fully stripped and being used as a track weapon. I did not need 2! It also spent more time in the garage having things fixed in my ownership than it did on the road.
So with the Skyline gone the search for the Supra started. So first thing was first, I bought a 1.0 Seat Arosa!
Now armed with a new daily driver that was cheap to run and more importantly, reliable (Nissan
) I started viewing Supras around the country. After about a month of scouring classifieds, as is so often the case, the right car appeared more or less on my doorstep! I immediately contacted the seller, and went to view it the next day.Safe to say, the car was everything I had hoped it would be, and I put a deposit on it the very same day.
When I first purchased the car it had some 'questionable' styling mods. The eyelid things were liberated immediately, and I wasn’t a fan of the Bomex front bumper, so a new (old) front bumper was sourced, as well as a more aggressive front lip.
Other than that all I have done to the car is keep it clean, replaced the old Japanese rubber with some new Falkens, and swapped out the milky headlight for a refurbished one. I’ve tried to keep modifications to a minimum, and I think the car is a great example of a nearly stock Supra – a rare thing nowadays.
The car only gets used on weekends, and I think I must have been to nearly every major show in South East England this summer, as somehow I’ve managed to rack up 10000 kilometres since I’ve owned it. I've also done a couple of track sessions, and a drag day with mkivsupra.net at Santa Pod last weekend.
Anyway, here is the spec:
Toyota Supra RZ-S
70000 miles (112000 kilometres)
Manufactured at the Motomachi plant, Japan in June 1996
3.0 twin turbo 2JZ-GTE engine
199 Alpine Silver
Toyota Racing Development aero package
Larger 323mm 4 pot front and 324mm 2 pot rear brake option
ABS
Traction control
4 speed automatic (with overdrive)
Torsen LSD
Active spoiler
Climate control
Driver and passenger airbags
Optional rear sub woofer
1 of 71 silver, facelift, automatic, twin turbo cars produced worldwide
Imported from Japan in August 2015
The car has a few subtle modifications including:
Tein Sport Mono Flex coilovers
Blitz Nur Spec R catback exhaust and 1st catalytic converter removed
Blitz turbo timer
HKS SSQV blow off valve
BBS LM wheels
368.6 bhp and 332.1 lbft torque
And finally, a few pictures of the car in it's current form:
|https://thumbsnap.com/vAOBarhT[/url][url]Edited by jimjam92 on Wednesday 25th October 15:55
addsvrs said:
Always wanted one of these, your looks lovely, far better now with original front bumper. Bet these are hard to find now in original condition.?
Like you wouldn't believeJaybmw said:
How's the auto treating it ? Dull the experience?
The auto is actually really nice to use, any nothing like the 90s slushbox I think people assume it is. I honestly couldn't justify spending an extra £6k to get a manual car in the same condition, mileage etc. It is super smooth and changes extremely fast. A lot of people prefer the auto Supras for drag racing because being a 4 speed, the gears are much longer and it shifts faster than you can in a manual. I put this to the test this weekend at Santapod and was proved right, beating every single manual Supra I raced, all of which ranged from stock to (circa) 400hp. I even beat a 700hp car to the line, because even though we left at the same time, he span in first and second gear, whereas I just launched and went. (He did come past after we'd crossed the line Pretty quickly mind).
The auto box has it's own ecu meaning it is in sync with the engine, so will go up or down gears according to throttle input as well as rpms. Furthermore it also has a manual mode, where it will lock the gears until you shift using the selector. 1998 onwards cars also had buttons on the steering wheel for going up and down the gears.
The only thing you can't do (for obvious reasons) is clutch kick. I'm not much of a drifter anyway so never mind.
As for holding the power, the v160 six speed is famous for holding a thousand horsepower. This box is 'only' rated up to 600-700, I guess I'll just have to make do
Edited by jimjam92 on Wednesday 25th October 16:51
Edited by jimjam92 on Wednesday 25th October 16:53
Edited by jimjam92 on Friday 27th October 10:52
TheDukeGTi said:
That bumper was seriously ruining an otherwise beautiful car. Top work with the standard item. Looks superb.
Thanks, I don't think it looked too bad with the Bomex bumper, just a little too 'Fast and Furious' for my taste. Swapping to the original wasn't as straightforward as I had hoped, as the 2nd hand one I bought was pretty badly beat up. It needed filling, sanding, repainting and new holes needed to be cut to fit the facelift style grille and side repeaters. cb1965 said:
These are still epic looking cars and yours is now especially epic looking. Love it and I often find myself staring at them in the classifieds but a lot of them seem too 'barried' these days. Well done for finding a top example and keep us all informed.
Yes I looked at a few that were probably not too bad, and running decent power figures, but this one was so close to stock which is such a rare thing for Supras that I couldn't pass it up. My plans now that it is looking right are to do the BPU (basic power upgrade) mods to it to get it over 400hp. Importantly this will not change how anything looks under the bonnet.
The car looks so much better with what you've done to it. I've always wanted a mk4 Supra and nearly had one years ago when I agreed a swap with my FD RX-7, but the deal fell through. My dad used to go on about these all the time when they came out, so they have always stuck with me, as such things mentioned by one's father tends to (the other being a mk2 Golf GTI 16v, mentioned once in a car park, but stuck with me and so I've had about five). He also loved M3s, so I've had a few of those, but for some reason never the Supra. I've been tempted to buy the best manual NA I can and turbo it, but your experiences with the autobox are interesting.
freenote said:
Nice car.
What’s the insurance like on the imports you’ve had?
I’m seriously thinking about something jdm. Miss my 200sx.
Not bad to be honest, can't remember what the MR2s were but I think under £1000 a year. Considering I was 21-22 at the time. The 350Z was £775 and the Skyline and Supra are both exactly £800.What’s the insurance like on the imports you’ve had?
I’m seriously thinking about something jdm. Miss my 200sx.
SuperVM said:
The car looks so much better with what you've done to it. I've always wanted a mk4 Supra and nearly had one years ago when I agreed a swap with my FD RX-7, but the deal fell through. My dad used to go on about these all the time when they came out, so they have always stuck with me, as such things mentioned by one's father tends to (the other being a mk2 Golf GTI 16v, mentioned once in a car park, but stuck with me and so I've had about five). He also loved M3s, so I've had a few of those, but for some reason never the Supra. I've been tempted to buy the best manual NA I can and turbo it, but your experiences with the autobox are interesting.
From spending time on the forums I would say stay away from the W58 five speed manual that the NA's came with. It is reportedly a very weak box and will not stand up to the punishment of turbo power. 350-400hp seems to be it's limit, and I know owners that have broken them with less than that. Boxes that Supra owners tend to go for are:V160/161 - MKIV Supra Turbo - 1000+hp - 6 Speed
R154 - MKIII Supra Turbo - 700hp - 5 Speed
CD009 - Nissan 350Z - 600hp - 6 Speed
TH400 - Oldsmobile/Cadillac - 1000+hp - 4 Speed Auto (mostly in the states on drag cars)
A340E - MKIV Supra Turbo - 600hp - 4 Speed Auto
Apparently some BMW gearboxes have been used as well with good results.
Also worth noting that although turbo and non turbo auto Supras both use the A340E transmission, the one in the turbo car is larger in diameter to accept the larger torque converter and special flex plate, as well as other internal differences to handle more power.
jimjam92 said:
From spending time on the forums I would say stay away from the W58 five speed manual that the NA's came with. It is reportedly a very weak box and will not stand up to the punishment of turbo power. 350-400hp seems to be it's limit, and I know owners that have broken them with less than that. Boxes that Supra owners tend to go for are:
V160/161 - MKIV Supra Turbo - 1000+hp - 6 Speed
R154 - MKIII Supra Turbo - 700hp - 5 Speed
CD009 - Nissan 350Z - 600hp - 6 Speed
TH400 - Oldsmobile/Cadillac - 1000+hp - 4 Speed Auto (mostly in the states on drag cars)
A340E - MKIV Supra Turbo - 600hp - 4 Speed Auto
Apparently some BMW gearboxes have been used as well with good results.
Also worth noting that although turbo and non turbo auto Supras both use the A340E transmission, the one in the turbo car is larger in diameter to accept the larger torque converter and special flex plate, as well as other internal differences to handle more power.
Really, we should probably be talking in torque rather than power. I agree the W58 would be less than ideal, but would probably cope for a while and the turbo conversion on an NA is one of these rare modifications that actually seems to recoup its cost come resale time. Eventually I'd hope to go to V160, but these were about £3k last I looked and that was years ago. As you say, there are people making bellhousings to fit BMW gearboxes, which opens up an interesting option, though I've had a bunch of BMWs and their shifting action has always left something to be desired. The boxes involved are also usually for fairly low torque applications, e.g. S54s, and I wonder how they'd handle the torque of a turboed 2JZ. I'm not sure if people are using any of the diesel boxes, but they might be an option.V160/161 - MKIV Supra Turbo - 1000+hp - 6 Speed
R154 - MKIII Supra Turbo - 700hp - 5 Speed
CD009 - Nissan 350Z - 600hp - 6 Speed
TH400 - Oldsmobile/Cadillac - 1000+hp - 4 Speed Auto (mostly in the states on drag cars)
A340E - MKIV Supra Turbo - 600hp - 4 Speed Auto
Apparently some BMW gearboxes have been used as well with good results.
Also worth noting that although turbo and non turbo auto Supras both use the A340E transmission, the one in the turbo car is larger in diameter to accept the larger torque converter and special flex plate, as well as other internal differences to handle more power.
These Supras are getting a bit silly price wise though, that's the problem. As nice as they are, is a TT6 really worth the £20k they seem to be advertised for these days (I guess it is no more ridiculous than R32/R33 GTRs)? I've always wanted a mk4 Supra, but at £20k I'd be thinking C63 or ISF. I'm looking forward to the end of this ridiculous asset bubble, though I'm not sure how they're going to achieve it without massive defaulting on mortgages.
jimjam92 said:
freenote said:
Nice car.
What’s the insurance like on the imports you’ve had?
I’m seriously thinking about something jdm. Miss my 200sx.
Not bad to be honest, can't remember what the MR2s were but I think under £1000 a year. Considering I was 21-22 at the time. The 350Z was £775 and the Skyline and Supra are both exactly £800.What’s the insurance like on the imports you’ve had?
I’m seriously thinking about something jdm. Miss my 200sx.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff