Member that new car I was looking into...

series1 · 08-04-07, 03:24

Don't know if you guys remember the thread about me asking you guys if a Dodge Viper is a good starter performance car... Well I listened to your advice and didnt get it but checked into others. I started looking into getting an STI or an Evo becuase they can still move and have great handling. I knew that I would still be wanting a rear wheel drive car later in the future though. So I decided If I need to learn how to control the power on a rear wheel drive car then I might as well get one with not as close to the power as a Viper but similar. Then one day the sunlight came out from above and I inherited this beauty and am proud to say she is all mine. Still need to detail it a bit better but I couldnt not touch it before I showed it to you guys. Unfortunately it is cloudy out today but the moment the sun comes out I will take pics outside and get some engine shots for you guys.

Our Garage looks sweet now because on one end is my Supra TT and on the other is a...

The Trans Am is a 2002 with close to 12000 miles and my car is a 1997 15th Anniversary with 34500 miles. As for as mods for the Supra goes the guy before me put on an intercooler, transmission cooler, exhaust, and he turned up the boost a bit on the turbos. It is really a fun car to drive because people just stare at you and it's pretty quick so. It is an automatic but I've searched and searched for Supra turbos with low miles and not a lot of performance upgrades and they are hard to find. Eventually I will swap out the auto for a 6 speed getrag transmission. Well enough info for now I'll post more later in the next thread. (Edited because pictures were screwed up)

series1 · 08-04-07, 03:37

Found another shot of the Trans Am so here it is.

Accumulator · 08-05-07, 09:33

series1- That Supra is a cool car, sounds like it was set up sensibly. I don't think the automatic is a bad thing at this point; you can concentrate on everything *except* shifting.

Heh heh...[Insert lecture about being more responsible than *I* was at your age here

]

Check out a used-book website and pick up Bob Bondurant's books on High Performance Driving and Police & Pursuit Driving. He covers a *lot* of stuff you'll find useful and the info will be good to have in mind before you do a driving school.

And yeah, you can still go to track events with automatics; my wife and I have done it and we weren't handicapped by the transmissions.

And heh heh#2...that black paint will be a real test of your wash technique; I strongly encourage you to get a foamgun

That's a mighty clean Trans Am too!

series1 · 08-05-07, 11:59

Thanks Accumulator! You have been a real help to me and I appreciate it. I will defiinitley be getting a foam gun with about 500 bucks worth of other stuff as well. I can already see how hard it will bet to maintain a perfect finish. The Trans Am isn't hard to clean at all since I have been taking care of it since it was new and since it isnt driven much.

shine · 08-05-07, 12:16

Wow, nice. 2 of my favorite cars!

ZoranC · 08-05-07, 12:45

First, congratulations! As a Supra owner myself I might be biased but IMHO Supra is much better choice than other candidates would be (reasons why lead to long discussion so I will not go into them) and I am absolutely positive you will fall in love with it. There is not many cars out there I would trade up for from Supra in slightly massaged form and all of them are quite a number of $ more expensive.

Also, I too own an automatic. Yes, it is not purist thing to have but my back is thankful in stop-and-go Los Angeles traffic, I will not find myself in situations where I realize both of my hands are busy and I desperately need to grow third one immediately to shift or otherwise I am in huge trouble (which is especiallly dangerous with turbocharged cars that will suddenly lose power if you let RPMs drop too quick), plus very rarely I have found it to be disadvantage and often enough it was advantage. Every time you shift you blow off which means you temporarily lose power to the ground. On automatic there is no interruption like that so in manual Supra vs auto Supra every time he shifted he would fall half of a car behind me. If you still want to "stick shift" your auto there used to be a guy that made piggyback for auto ECU that was allowing you to do "tiptronic". I don't know is he still around, you can try checking on Supraforums.

Have fun and drive safely!

P.S. Mine is black too! And it is for sale

Accumulator · 08-05-07, 04:37

ZoranC- That's a good point about the auto/turbo combo. Some such cars simply *work well* and can even have advantages over manual/turbo- I've had both that were swell and both that were awful; good to hear that the Supra is one of the good ones.

ZoranC · 08-05-07, 08:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accumulator

Some such cars simply *work well* and can even have advantages over manual/turbo- I've had both that were swell and both that were awful

Yes, unfortunately I know what you mean. Once you start getting in tight situation difference between average, good, and great design/implementation can make a huge difference in final result of what happened.

And when it comes to purists preaching "nothing but stick shift" I always say same thing "You were behind me". So it is whatever works best in the end.

Also, auto is letting me keep both hands on the wheel at all times. It allows for very focused steering and immediate reactions.

P.S. Did anybody notice quite a number of modern high powered cars are "automatic" in one way or the other? It makes sense to me. I would hate to find out what would be consenquences of misshift on 500 ft lbs of torque.

NSXTASY · 08-05-07, 09:26

Nice Ride! The nice thing about supras are the bullet proof engines. There are a handful of respected tuner shops that easily hook up the power, namely with a turbo the size of a basketball. Not to mention the realistic streetability of some of the setups, ALA correct tuning. Have fun, good luck.

[quote=ZoranC]. Every time you shift you blow off which means you temporarily lose power to the ground. On automatic there is no interruption like that so in manual Supra vs auto Supra every time he shifted he would fall half of a car behind me.[quote]

Not to totally sidetrack the /thread, but a blow off valve releases excess boost between gears. Technically engaging the clutch temporarily interupts power to the ground. Second, automatics also utilize blow off valves as well. And finally, in the hands of a capable driver, all things equal, a stock manual supra v. a stock auto supra, the manual would clearly provide quicker shifts, as well as quicker acceleration.

Not trying to

, just discuss.

SpoiledMan · 08-05-07, 09:34

Fact: You would not want to race a 300ZX TT manual vs. auto(has less HP stock than manual) to 100 mph. The auto is the clear winner. There is little to no boost lost between gear shift.

ZoranC · 08-05-07, 11:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by NSXTASY

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZoranC

Every time you shift you blow off which means you temporarily lose power to the ground. On automatic there is no interruption like that so in manual Supra vs auto Supra every time he shifted he would fall half of a car behind me.

Not to totally sidetrack the /thread, but a blow off valve releases excess boost between gears. Technically engaging the clutch temporarily interupts power to the ground. Second, automatics also utilize blow off valves as well. And finally, in the hands of a capable driver, all things equal, a stock manual supra v. a stock auto supra, the manual would clearly provide quicker shifts, as well as quicker acceleration.

In order to prevent thread drift I will make just few clarifications: Yes, you are in a way correct but my statement was technically and factually correct. Engaging of a clutch interrupts power to the ground. Blow off is consequence of events that start with engaging clutch. Consequence of blow off is how much power has been lost and how long it will take to recover that power. Power to the ground has not been just temporarily interrupted, some of it has been also temporarily lost.

Yes, automatics do blow off but amount of power to the ground temporarily lost is much smaller. Dyno charts with pulls through gears illustrate that clearly. That is why number of Supra drag racers swap out their 6-speeds for autos. Manual might provide quicker shifts but if that costs him falling behind me as he was recovering while I kept on pulling that just cost him a win. I will let them brag about their shifting speeds as long as I am the one that came in first, and that is the only thing that matters in the end.

Accumulator · 08-06-07, 11:41

Eh..can't generalize too much about this auto/manual thing because different cars are different. Might as well throw comparisons completely out the window anyhow as the driver makes *all* the difference, especially with a manual, and even the best drivers blow it now and then.

And everybody oughta keep in mind that this is Series1's first serious car. There's *SOOOOO* much to master behind the wheel that an auto makes a lot of sense in this case. Remember my oft-told story of how my wife, in a *stock '88 S-class Benz* blew off countless guys in *very* fast sportscars at Mid-Ohio; she can *drive* and it more than compensated for her "big slow luxury car", which, BTW, had an automatic.