G
Guest
·Hi everyone!
First a short intro, if you don't care goto to ***here***
I'm an ex BMW guy, having worked my way through several 5 series ending with an E34 M5. Each one saw its share of track schools, the first one being at Mt Tremblant in the rain, in an '89 525 - a 3800 lb car with 168 hp and all season tires but with a 5 spd and M5 suspension. I learned more in those 3 days than I have in all the previous years of driving.
The M5 made me learn something else though - street car and race car don't mix. My engine was modified to hell and back short of FI. The engine was never dynoed (forgot to ask the builder before he put it in the car) but the guys who designed the cam and piston profiles say they get between 370 and 390 hp on my setup. I've hit 285 on the highway (with the car simply running out of gearing) and it did great on the racetrack, walking 996 Carrera4Ss. But then I got a ride in an instructor's supercharged E36 M3 and while straightline speed was the same, the lines he could take through some corners would make my car plow off the turn like a bulldozer. I did all my track days at big HP tracks like Tremblant and MoSport but at MoSport, turn 5 has many lines through it and the one he took my car was simply incapable of unless I wanted to drift 5b. It really got me thinking. I put over 20,000 in my car including the engine mods, suspension, racing buckets etc but it was still never going to keep up with this almost stock M3 with a supercharger around a racetrack. I have also completely outgrown street racing garbage and almost never go more than 20 over the limit (kmh). So having a car with this much power on the street made no sense anymore - 6 throttle bodies make the first mm of throttle an on/off switch and an 8 lb flywheel and kevlar clutch added up to make stop and go traffic a nightmare. It was great for the track and great for the street but perfect for neither.
So the M5 was sold, after I told everyone it would never happen. It did. My current ride is an '05 4Runner V8 I picked up last Christmas and I absolutely love it. I can't say enough about how nice this truck is and unlike every other new car I've seen including my dad's Honda Odyssey, it didn't have a single minor defect from the factory. I moved from Toronto to Vancouver and the roads here are amazing. There's plenty for the 4Runner's amazing offroading capability to tackle but every now and then driving through stanley park I'll take a racing line through the big uphill hairpin and I can't resist anymore, I need a track toy. Plus my fiance also really wants to learn how to drive fast.
I have always loved the Mk4 Supra. As far as I'm concerned it is one of the best looking bodies ever made, up there with the 993, 550 Maranello, XJ220, gen 1 Viper etc. Chris (aka slow) gave me Steve I's contact and it turned out that I could get one in Japan for far less than I ever though possible. Unfortunately with all my other bills, I cannot spend much on a track car, I'd rather just rent some compact and swap the tires left to right before returning it. I also found out from the ministry of transportation that if I declare it as salvage or parts car upon shipping it here, then the 15 year import rule does not apply.
***here***
Heretofore, I have only been considering an older 3 series for a track car, or perhaps a 944 turbo. But for the price of a JDM Supra, having around 300hp/torque out of the box and having the Supra body is an almost impossible proposition to resist. So my plea to you guys is to tell me everything you see pertinent in convincing me that I should, or should not, get a Mk4 Supra TT as a dedicated track car. With an appropriate track car diet, can it be made what someone would call light in the GT world? Although, I don't really see it as being all that heavy to begin with. People rave about the E46 M3 and its track performance, and it weighs almost 3800 lbs and only has 333 hp and 262 ft lbs of torque. The C5 Vette is the current king of GT racing and while being all balsawood/fiberglass and aluminium, it weighs over 3200 lbs.
I've tried to read what I could find on here but I have the attention span of a cockroach. The boiling powersteering fluid is really strange to me, I have never heard of a car having that problem. Brake fluid - sure, tranny fluid - on tow trucks yeah... but PS fluid?
Any thoughts/suggestions/philosophies are welcome! Hit me...
First a short intro, if you don't care goto to ***here***
I'm an ex BMW guy, having worked my way through several 5 series ending with an E34 M5. Each one saw its share of track schools, the first one being at Mt Tremblant in the rain, in an '89 525 - a 3800 lb car with 168 hp and all season tires but with a 5 spd and M5 suspension. I learned more in those 3 days than I have in all the previous years of driving.
The M5 made me learn something else though - street car and race car don't mix. My engine was modified to hell and back short of FI. The engine was never dynoed (forgot to ask the builder before he put it in the car) but the guys who designed the cam and piston profiles say they get between 370 and 390 hp on my setup. I've hit 285 on the highway (with the car simply running out of gearing) and it did great on the racetrack, walking 996 Carrera4Ss. But then I got a ride in an instructor's supercharged E36 M3 and while straightline speed was the same, the lines he could take through some corners would make my car plow off the turn like a bulldozer. I did all my track days at big HP tracks like Tremblant and MoSport but at MoSport, turn 5 has many lines through it and the one he took my car was simply incapable of unless I wanted to drift 5b. It really got me thinking. I put over 20,000 in my car including the engine mods, suspension, racing buckets etc but it was still never going to keep up with this almost stock M3 with a supercharger around a racetrack. I have also completely outgrown street racing garbage and almost never go more than 20 over the limit (kmh). So having a car with this much power on the street made no sense anymore - 6 throttle bodies make the first mm of throttle an on/off switch and an 8 lb flywheel and kevlar clutch added up to make stop and go traffic a nightmare. It was great for the track and great for the street but perfect for neither.
So the M5 was sold, after I told everyone it would never happen. It did. My current ride is an '05 4Runner V8 I picked up last Christmas and I absolutely love it. I can't say enough about how nice this truck is and unlike every other new car I've seen including my dad's Honda Odyssey, it didn't have a single minor defect from the factory. I moved from Toronto to Vancouver and the roads here are amazing. There's plenty for the 4Runner's amazing offroading capability to tackle but every now and then driving through stanley park I'll take a racing line through the big uphill hairpin and I can't resist anymore, I need a track toy. Plus my fiance also really wants to learn how to drive fast.
I have always loved the Mk4 Supra. As far as I'm concerned it is one of the best looking bodies ever made, up there with the 993, 550 Maranello, XJ220, gen 1 Viper etc. Chris (aka slow) gave me Steve I's contact and it turned out that I could get one in Japan for far less than I ever though possible. Unfortunately with all my other bills, I cannot spend much on a track car, I'd rather just rent some compact and swap the tires left to right before returning it. I also found out from the ministry of transportation that if I declare it as salvage or parts car upon shipping it here, then the 15 year import rule does not apply.
***here***
Heretofore, I have only been considering an older 3 series for a track car, or perhaps a 944 turbo. But for the price of a JDM Supra, having around 300hp/torque out of the box and having the Supra body is an almost impossible proposition to resist. So my plea to you guys is to tell me everything you see pertinent in convincing me that I should, or should not, get a Mk4 Supra TT as a dedicated track car. With an appropriate track car diet, can it be made what someone would call light in the GT world? Although, I don't really see it as being all that heavy to begin with. People rave about the E46 M3 and its track performance, and it weighs almost 3800 lbs and only has 333 hp and 262 ft lbs of torque. The C5 Vette is the current king of GT racing and while being all balsawood/fiberglass and aluminium, it weighs over 3200 lbs.
I've tried to read what I could find on here but I have the attention span of a cockroach. The boiling powersteering fluid is really strange to me, I have never heard of a car having that problem. Brake fluid - sure, tranny fluid - on tow trucks yeah... but PS fluid?
Any thoughts/suggestions/philosophies are welcome! Hit me...