[frenzy757]

Hey everyone,

I used to own an MK4 back in the day. I am currently “fun” carless. My past cars have been: Supra TT 6spd, 350z, e46 m3, 987.2 CS, 2 BMW 1m coupes, 981 GTS, ND2 MX5 and S2000.

I had this crazy thought as my father has an old 95 Supra TT Auto. I think it is a salvaged title due to a family member of mine driving it into a flag pole. We fixed it all up (we own a shop) and it runs well. It is 100% stock.

So my dilemma...should I take it, do a 6 speed swap and build it for DEs/weekend?

I am afraid they are a bit dull and not worth the $ in the end as a track car with all of today’s cars out there. Wondering if any of you still track your cars and have experiences with other cars how your experiences were?

I am not looking to set lap records, but would like to (drive skill being equal) be able to stay competitive in a session - as in I don’t want to be passed by everyone of equal skill level if that makes sense.

Interesting dilemma as if I had to pay current market values for a Supra, the answer would be a clear no, but the chance to get my old family car back and do a resto-mod sounds fun.

WDYT?

 

[supradjza80]

I think the supra is an absolute blast on a road course, extremely involving to drive and offers the driver great feedback when setup well. I also own an S2000 and think the cars both feel very similar on track, the s2000 being about 80% of the fun of the supra but with much less power. I think at 3-500 whp the supra could be made into a track weapon with proper aero work if you are willing to cut up the car like many people do in time attack.

Here are some videos of my car which is still used on track and quite quick. There are ten years of on and off track videos in this playlist. Car has always just been on a small to medium sized single turbo.

1997 Supra Turbo

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[frenzy757]

Thanks for the reply. How are the suspension/tire options and do you have any issues with cooling?

 

[supradjza80]

I run stock suspension arms and only recently updated the bushings on them. There are plenty of coil over options, i have ran Tein Type Flex and currently am running Reinharte R1's that are custom valved for my car. There are plenty of 18" wheels/tires to choose from. I run in the 265F/285R range normally on 200 treadwear street tires most of the time.

I have no cooling issues, running 400-600whp, however I have always had an oil coooler, power steering cooler and made my own front undertrays which I know a lot of people in the supra world have removed and left them that way, at least that was the trend 10 years ago. My oil temps on a 95 degree day this past year at Gingerman (there are videos of my sessions on youtube) peaked at 220F and coolant was 190-200F, this was on E85 and 515whp.

 

[ajh88]

T56 swap, plenty of cooling, and a small turbo and go have lots of fun.

 

['94Z32TT]

my only reservation has been the increasing value of the cars, which as you pointed out, is less of a deciding factor with your car due to the salvage title. With more power, bigger tires, etc I do think it could be pretty competitive with a lot of the newer options, and a lot of fun. That said, I'm not sure how well it will keep up with the big $$/latest tech modern options with the latest tech in traction control, DCT, etc like a GTR with equal drivers. I think it is still a decent platform with the right (a lot of) mods to help bridge the gap with newer technology.

 

[frenzy757]

How is the turbo lag on some of the single you guys run. It has been a while since ive driven the supra.

 

[CR820]

It must have been pretty far back that you owned this TT Supra... They're big, they can be fast, they can handle very well, and they can grip very well. How deep are your pockets, and what's your budget? All of this information is scattered across the website. These cars are damn close, if not the most, modded cars out there (If you look at percentages based on production.). There is a HUGE wealth of knowledge out there for you to explore. I run Tanabe Sustec Pro coilovers. They ride like shit, the car handles great, and it's basically a street weapon - what more could you want? You can make more than enough power on the stock auto, or you can make a LOT of power on the stock 6mt. You can fit a massive set of tires in the rear compared to most cars, and you have endless wheel options. There is a million options for aero, with OEM or close-to OEM being the majority favorite.

You seem to have an ownership history of pretty nice cars, so here's how I will put it. I work for BMW, I drive M cars almost every day, and I ride in M cars almost every day. I drive a lot of our competitors vehicles as well - 911, Cayman, AMG anything, Miata, etc. There is no way that I would ever be afraid of my Mk4 being "dull". I would say that any other car you would consider buying would be "dull". The new M5 is really REALLY fucking fast, handles well, and stops well. Cool. There's no character to these cars anymore. There's nothing that sets them apart from the rest. My Supra doesn't make a ton of power, but I would take it any day. I'm always smiling when I drive it, the neighborhood kids love it, and the sound is intoxicating. I can feel every bump that I go over, I can feel every turn I go through, I can feel when my foot cracks the throttle open. I can feel every aspect of the car, and I don't feel like I'm playing a video game.

You're asking a lot of strange questions that, quite honestly, are very common knowledge. If you have had a TT Supra ownership history, you should know this. These are the most rewarding cars I have ever driven. I didn't buy my Mk4 as an investment, I bought it to go fast and have fun. It performs both duties very well. Go buy another Porsche and be another one of "those guys" or build an actually badass weapon. I'd pick the latter, personally.

 

[frenzy757]

It has been more than 10 years since I had considerable seat time in the Supra. I did search and there are a lot of info, but many of those things are years old hence I wanted a more up-to-date opinion on the matters. I ask because like you mention things cost a lot of money, so I am evaluating all my options for my next car and build.

Thanks for your help on the matter, but I wouldn't say any of my questions are "strange" - things like turbo lag was a real issue back then and I didn't know if anything had really changed in 2020. Again I searched, but a lot of the resources are years old. So it is nice to get a fresh perspective of people who are still tracking this platform.

 

[Mr Ree NZ]

I wouldnt hesitate to snap up your family Supra, not just for nostalgia, but because theyre still the most badass, analog experience you will ever drive on a track these days.

The cars are stout, and the auto is stout if you dont want to find the drug money you will need to buy a V160.

My suggestion would be to buy a small(ish) new gen turbo like a GTX3582 or Precision 6266/6466 etc, some quality coilovers, a bigger intercooler, and oil cooler, and get out there and have LOTS of fun.

Who cares if it cant quite keep up with the latest and greatest cars from 2020? I guarantee that regardless of laptimes, you will be the one wearing the biggest grin, and your car will be one of the most admired cars at the track each time you take it out.

Life is too short to not track a Supra

 

[te72]

Most of my competition experience is from autocross. NB Miata is quite excellent, but sure to be a bore on anything but a winding mountain road or small track. Built a Mk3 for road course duty, and... still working on that particular car's quirks and generally prissy attitude it has with me haha. It's a damn good autocross car for a heavyweight though, and I suspect it will be a damn good road course car too.

My first "track" experience outside of Gran Turismo (hey, say what you will, Nissan thinks pretty highly of us geeks ), was driving my wife's Mk4 at Speed Vegas at our Supras in Vegas event earlier this month. Her car with stock twins (intake, intercooler, full exhaust, about 380whp), stock TT brakes, and some old JIC coilovers (two of which are blown), was an absolute hoot and a half... right up until the point it got warm on me, due to the aforementioned "let's take all the ducting out of the front end because giant intercooler" trend that woefully claimed this car too.

I'll say this much, if I weren't beyond balls deep into my Mk3, I'd be building a Mk4 right now. My recipe for what I suspect would build a nicely sharp Mk4 track car:

-VVTI head swap, for widest powerband
-G30-770 Garret turbo, likely in the largest AR offered
-T56 Magnum swap (see Grannas Racing, Joel is great to work with)
-OS Giken diff setup appropriately for the T56's gearing
-Rebuild ALL the suspension with a reasonably firm (but not rock hard) poly bushing choice
-Coilover along the lines of a KW Variant 3, soooooo many options out there for this one
-Stock TT brakes with steel braided lines and an appropriate pad choice OR... a full AZ Performance kit.
-A very, very well ducted front end. Perhaps a vented hood, for good measure, as well as a full cooling system refresh
-Fuel system and engine management appropriate to the level of tuning you'll be needing, again, plenty of options here
-Set of 18x10.5 RPF1's and R888R tires for that ridiculous grip


Looking at that... I could see that list VERY easily hitting the $30k mark in parts alone, assuming you don't open the engine, which, frankly... I'd advocate against. If the G30-770 presents a risk of damaging stock rods, dial in the boost with a soft wastegate spring and tune the boost controller to ramp it in by rpm. I had a nasty boost leak in my first single setup, and torque just kept climbing climbing climbing, didn't peak until over 6k! Was like driving a Ferrari, in how smooth it just kept adding more and more with the rpms...

So, is it worth it to you to throw a new Miata's price into a ~25 year old Toyota? Personally... I wouldn't hesitate. Just don't open the engine, that's when things start getting really expensive and for little return.

 

[supradjza80]

I have plenty of videos that show how VVTi, a 6266 dbb .84T4 Divided housing, on a boostlogic manifold, with both stock and BC272 cams respond on E85 and pump gas on my youtube. With VVTi and e85 the car is quite responsive and explosive in the mid range power band.

 

[frenzy757]

Thanks everyone! Ill check out your vids @supradjza80

Good to hear these are still fun on track. I am not out there to beat everyone on there, just don't want to be driving with my left hand out the entire time like i was in my s2k given equal drivers =)

I just recall these being sort of numb/wet noodle/sloppy while turning compared to even my e46 m3 stock. So thinking with refreshed suspension and probably better tire and some weight loss, I can get that sharpness that I liked from my old cars.

 

[te72]

I just recall these being sort of numb/wet noodle/sloppy while turning compared to even my e46 m3 stock. So thinking with refreshed suspension and probably better tire and some weight loss, I can get that sharpness that I liked from my old cars.

For what it's worth, my Mk3 feels every bit as sharp as my Miata, if not more so. I credit the poly bushings. I had no idea a Supra could feel that sharp. Of course there will be eventual compromises in NVH, but I'm sure you can find a solid balance between handling and being able to enjoy the car on the street too.

 

[binster]

I had my Auto Supra on BPU+ out on Blackhawk Farms almost 10 years ago and at Texas Motor Speedway at TX2K back in 2013. I was smitten. Though the car is heavy once you get the rpms up (keep OD off) it runs really well. I wanted to go single and spent the last several years rebuilding and resto-modding the Supra. It's delivering almost 800rwhp at 26psi on E85 with a built ATF Stage 3. I'm anxious to see how it runs now on road courses. Eventually I may do the Tremec 6 speed swap down the road. For your situation I say see how it is with the Auto and then decide how much you want to build out the car.