Originally Posted by RyanV

The thing with buying a non turbo Supra is that they still aren't cheap. $10k is a lot of money period.

If you take a non turbo and go na-t or GTE there's things that will need upgraded.

I won't talk to the automatics...and I wont estimate labor

1.) If its a 5spd W58...it probably wont last unless you drive like grandma so it will need upgraded. $2k for a R154 with clutch...and if its a 95+ you will need a Soarer R154 or shifter extension which cost $350 everywhere...

Want V160 6spd? Add roughly $4-6k for trans,new clutch,driveshaft

2.) The rear end in the non turbo might have an LSD, but the gearing is going to suck on the highway after you turbo it..been there done that..you'll need the TT auto Supra 3.76 or 3.92 gears $500-1k for entire pumpkin or you could find the gearset you want and swap that in which would be cheaper.

3.) OVCP intake manifold and sparkplugs is just a *****...its one of the main reasons I went GTE..I can do GTE plugs in 10mins taking my time

4.) Brakes...the non turbo brakes aren't adequate..you'll need an upgrade $1k

5.) NA-T demands fuel ecu or piggybacks $300-2k for AEM

6.) NA-T demands tuning if you want it reliable $300-1000...a stock GTE ecu is reliable out of the box, but I do carry a spare cause they're cheap

So you spend $10k on a non turbo then another $10k going na-t or GTE and upgrades...not including labor. Well you coulda bought a 6pd TT and the value of the car is still right there with you...almost.

7.) One important thing about an NA-T. You insurance company isn't going to pay out for all your mods or turbo kit on your non turbo supra..you'll fight for trade in value. If you have a turbo model to begin with you'll get more money and at 400hp you wont have to invest much to get there, so if you wreck it you wont be out lots of cash for the mods.

Some guy lost $90-100k on supraforums last year when the tuner wrecked his mkiv and he had over $100k invested and got the value of the car and lost his a$$ and his insurance probably skyrockted next cycle for the next 3-5yrs...and they were talking like the tuner should've had insurance to cover it but even if he did the insurance company woulda said F-you...you get book value or even worse..AUCTION black book value and then your ****ed.

SC300s aren't worth much cash value to banks like Supras tend to be. If you put $10k into an Sc300, then you wreck it..your screwed and will probably take a major hit to buy the car back and part it out or swap the parts over.

I also don't think taking a loan on to get a Supra is entirely a bad idea if you have another car to daily so the miles dont rack up too bad.. You just need to put down as much cash money as you can. You also don't want to buy a 150k mileage Supra for $15-25k and then have to do the control arms, turbos, clutch or ANYTHING else. That would SUCK...so you need to either find low mileage or one that has verifiable service records.

Good luck if you even read this post anyways...its long but it stuff to take into consideration