TLW

just had a couple of questions

why do they hold their value so well?

does anyone use it as a daily driver (reliability)?

what are the best years for supras ?

last one are the non turbos fast ?

thanks

aliga

iTrader: (147)

supraforums.com

jet864

1. Weren't extremely common and as of more recent, they have blown up in popularity and everyone wants one to mod.

2. I believe they are pretty reliable. If they can be as durable as they are (800 or so hp on stock bottom end) I bet under normal conditions they'll last pretty long.

3. 93-96 i believe (someone help me out) 97 was VVTi so no more turbo

4. Non turbos are 2jz-ge same as IS300, GS300, SC300 but they can be modded for an NA-T set up and well yes, those are VERY fast.

James

hamid

they were made 93.5-98, all years have turbos and non turbos.... i am 100% sure of that, but in 1996 they only made automatic turbos so no 6 speeds. 95 bellow obd1 96 and up obd2, hardtops are extremely rare and i believe stopped in 1995... dont know what else to tell you other than they are incredibly bad a$$ and probably my most favorite car of all time. The NA supra is as fast as an sc300 of the same year i would assume...

Hamid

TLW

thank you very much

guys

great info

MGS4

this vid might interests you

http://auto.joins.com/upboard/pds/pd...car_Battle.asf

lex400sc

On top of being discontinued and thus now limited in quantity, they didn't sell well at the time because they were $60,000 sports cars made by Toyota, and the lean, mean Corvette was faster, cheaper, louder, domestic, and turned more heads. The movie Fast and the Furious recently repopularized the Supra to the mainstream and thus boosted (no pun intended) the seller's market also. They hold value so well because they are the ideal tuner car: a gazillion aftermarket options and capable of a streetable 8-second quarter mile and 1500 hp in a small 3.0 liter motor. Also people who own them baby them well, as in low miles, low abuse, and low turn-over rate. They are only ten year old cars, but they are already treated as classics.

Reliability isn't the issue. Most people that own Supras have a commuter car also because they don't want to put miles on their Supra, or they are very highly-tuned, expensive, cherry, powerful machines and it isn't worth the risk to commute in them daily. My buddy had a 1994 Supra turbo, original owner, and he sold it last fall for an NSX, but when he sold it, it only had 30k miles on it.

93.5 - 95

No.

LexusLuver

The Corvette was never faster than the Supra. Except maybe the ZR1. This changed with the LS6 powered Z06. Topspeed in Supras were always quicker minus the 155mph governor, it is believed to be around 180mph.

All Supra TTs sold in the US are mostly identical. Additional colors were added each yr. Realistically no yr is better than the others. There however were many minor changes.

After 95 hardtop MKIV TTs were no longer sold in the US. Hardtops currently sell for a little more. They are about 80lbs lighter and offer slightly more rigid structures. As a rule the stiffer the frame to hang the suspension the better. Targas are also know to have leakage issues.

In 96 the 6spd Getrag wasn't available due to emission regulations. Also the brakes were upgraded for shorter record setting stopping distances. Anyone familiar with Toyota knows their brakes have been superior for yrs w/the competition finally caught up.

The Supras final yr in the US was 98. It along with the Skyline R34 fully ended production in Aug 02.
98 was a huge yr for the Supra when it set the record for fastest tuned production car at the Ring w/a 7:47 time.

With numerous Japanese high performance cars on sale, Supras had trouble selling. They also were very expensive, and took a major price cut in 96, with a base price of $38k they still had trouble selling. They're easy to mod nature wasnt noticed till quite a few yrs.

Supras are heavy. They have the useless rear seat, enclosed sub, excessive sounddeadening, thick window panes. Supras were intended as true GTs. The SCs are based on the Supra platform, but went on sale earlier.

The MKIV market is finally cooling off, and prices are settling to more realistic levels.
They are highly sought after becasue bolt-on Supra's are basically faster than anything outside of the Viper from a roll. Only bolt on 03Cobras are as quick.

As far as reliablity is concered Supras are nearly bulletproof. The 2JZ-GTE I6 is solid and easy to tune. Its redline is nowhere near the factory's ECU limit. They rev up to 8000-8500rpm reliably even w/major power upgrades. Also the drivetrain can withstand high hp loads. If it wasnt for the Getrag the Supra aftermarket probably wouldnt exist.

southernsc

they stopped importing supras in 1997, and stopped making them in 2000. i went to tokyo in 2001 and saw the last production line of the supra at the toyota show case. other than some lights, a few new electronics and gizmos nothing changed. though the 97+ i think is better than any other years

mmarshall

What drove the Supra out of the U.S. market was three basic things, all of which resulted in poor sales:

1. High insurance rates, combined with the fact that the car was simply overpriced, especially the twin-turbo. They were going for 45-50K at a time when the Nissan 300ZX, Dodge Stealth, Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4, and Mazda RX-7 twin-turbos were all going for 5K or so less. Toyota slashed the price from 50K to 38K around '95 or so but it still did not help.

2. Declining popularity of coupes in general and the explosion of trucks and SUV's...which we still see today.

3. The fact that the Japanese manufacturers COULD have dropped the prices on these turbo sports cars, and maybe decontented them a little, but simply REFUSED to do so. (Toyota excepted) . They took the position that they would simply sell as is or be yanked from the U.S. market...and the rest is history.

It is interesting to notice that the new Japanese sports cars today that have replaced them (Honda S2000, Nissan 350Z, Mazda RX-8, etc.....) are EXACTLY in the price range that SHOULD have been there 10 years ago and WASN'T.....30-35K for top-line versions.

southernsc

that and 97+ emissions passing was not cost friendly for the power that the supra was meant to have

-J-P-L-

Here in Massachusetts, I literally see maybe one last generation Supra
every 4-5 months. I'm not kidding. I actually spend 2 1/2 hours driving
a day averaging 120 miles and still never see a Supra around.

This is the primary reason why their still so expensive. Everyone wants one,
but where are they?

How about you guys, how many do you see on the road? And Where?

MrJohnTan

I see about 3-4 in a given day when im actually driving around here in socal. I want one, but I could not find a stock TT that was clean and within my price range. So instead, i opted to buy an SC and ill eventually drop the TT motor into it.

mmarshall

Supras pretty much have to be garaged for a typical Massachusetts winter....they just are not a good snow (or rain) car. The high power (especially the twin-turbo), nose heaviness, rear-drive, and dry-weather high-performance tires are a real handful on slick surfaces....even with the electronic traction aids. The stiff suspension, hard-riding tires, and low air dams don't help any with winter potholes either.

-J-P-L-

True, but even during the entire spring & summer I'm lucky to see 2.
I actually see more Dodge Vipers than Supras.