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- ferrari_chris
There they were sitting in pit lane. The sun glistened from the paint of each car, each one looking as if it had just been delivered from the showroom floor. Four iterations of Toyota's Supra, each prepped, primed, and ready for testing. Each car can have an article of its own, but that's not the purpose today. Today's purpose is to test and compare, to analyse, to fault and to praise. The testing would be riggerous and unrelenting - acceleration, top-speed and handling tests, all in the quest to find the best Supra from the years.
First horse from the stable is the 1988 effort, the 3.0 GT Turbo A. This example is in Black and looks immaculate. The wheels are the instant downpoint of the exterior - their flat, non-transparent look is very out of date. The dated styling can be seen in both early cars, from the large expanse of rear glass to the pop-up headlights. Slipping the Turbo A out of the pit lane and onto the track, the first thing noticed is the soft suspension. It's more like that of today's luxury cars than of a sports car, but how it actually performs is yet to be seen. As speed gathers up the straight to turn one, there seems to be a reasonable amount of pace from the single turbo 3litre inline six. The figures tell of 176kW@5600rpm and 342NM@3200rpm. The engine revs all the way to it's 7000rpm limiter, with the shift-light blinking on at 6500rpm.
After few exploratory laps, the pace quickens and the best is squeezed from the car. Around the track, the suspension is indeed soft, but very compliant as well. Bumps and changes in the tarmac don't phase this Supra at all, and the ability to soak up the bumps is evident in the way the curbs can be attacked - heavily! Turn the car in, point it at the apex and get the two inside wheels well onto ripple strip, even onto the grass, and there's no hassles. No loss of speed, traction or direction. Even on exit a wheel in the dirt or ripple strip leaves the Supra unphased and pointing right where it's supposed to. The suspension is not wollowy though - at mid-corner the car doesn't feel as though it's resting on the outside bumps stops nor under heavy braking, and these brakes have no problems hauling in 1570kg of car. The handling is best described as neutral to understeer, and turn in is good. If a corner is attacked hard and understeer does rare its ugly head, a simple lift of the throttle gets the nose in tighter and the power can be rolled back on. There can be slight oversteer on turn-in under brakes, but this is easily caught just like any oversteer created by sudden changes in direction. All oversteer in this car is very progressive, the backend never snaps without warning. Oversteer is only available in these areas though (unless blatently provoked) and is non-existent on corner exit. This makes for very early power on at apex, and ride it all the way through the exit and down the straight.
This lack of power is not all good though, being caught in the wrong one of five gears on exit is punished heavily. The revs need to be kept high to get the most from the powerplant, and having to downshift does nothing but waste valuable seconds.
Overall this car is very easy to drive at 100% and to get the most out of. Perhaps this hints at the way it's setup, or its lack of performance. It runs a 1:32.609.
After pitting the '88, it's time to try the younger, more aggressive brother - the '90 2.5 Twin Turbo R. Two turbos this time, on a smaller 2.5litre inline six, all surrounded by a Dark Green Mica body. First impressions say that this is essentially the same car with a different engine up front. 204kW@6200rpm and 362NM@4800rpm this time around. This engine revs harder - a hard-cut at 7500rpm, still 500rpm above the shift-light. The wheels are much more attractive too. The increased power and torque show through though, both in the figures and the drivability. More power pushing less weight, fifty kilos less with just 1520kg to haul around.
The suspension is the same as the previous car, soft but compliant and unphased by bumps. The increases in the engine department have made the car easier to drive - the torque being most notable where gear selection is not as critical. Previously, exiting a corner in third rather than second had the driver thinking he had the hand-brake on. Now there's little difference in exit speed so mistakes like this are not punished as harshly. This car runs the same 5speed box. Any understeer present is again easily corrected with a lift of the throttle, but this time oversteer can be had on exit. While not an issue unless driver induced, it's still there if wanted. And it can be good for a show as it's easy to hold and bring back into line. Also adding to the show value is the backfire now occasionally present on downchange. All of this adds up to more bragging rights down the pub on the Sunday arvo.
Again, it's very easy to drive at 100%, and while more rearend slip requires more attention, a little sideways action isn't a bad thing every now and then. It goes quicker with a 1:29.575.
The next car champing at the bit is from the newer design of Supra, the '97 SZ-R. The only NA in the field, it's draped in Grayish Green Mica Metallic, weighs in at an even lighter 1450kg and cranks out 165KW@6000rpm and 280NM@4800rpm from its 3.0litre inline six (the least power and torque in the field). In this generation Supra the suspension has been revised from the previous models (expected after nearly 10 years). Overall it's firmer as you'd expect from a sports car, but it's still just as adaptable and unphased by bumps as its predecessor. The firmer ride gives less initial turn-in, but a lift of the throttle gets the nose in tighter towards the apex. The brakes are just as good as previous years, pulling up easily.
With this underpowered engine in NA form, oversteer is nowhere to be seen. While this lack of power leads to slower lap times (1:31.522), power can be applied 100% at the apex and carried right through the exit without fear. Oversteer or any form of drift is nearly impossible - the rear won't move. This car definitely feels the slowest of the cars tested so far and likely of all the cars today. This is not reflected in the times though as it's consistently faster than the '88 Turbo A - nearly a tenth over 400m, over two tenths in the 1000m and 2km/h at the top end. The NA donk provides plenty of torque, and mixed with the new 6speed box gear selection is not critical - one gear too high won't be punished. And changing cogs at the optimum time can be difficult - the shift-light illuminates at 6750rpm, while the electrics cut the fun at 7000rpm, right at the end of the tachometer. This small gap between light and limiter means that until experienced with car, bouncing off the limiter is a common occurrence.
From the front some people have been overheard saying that it has cues of the Aston Martin DB9. Tests proved inconclusive here though, but another point of contention is the rear wing. Present on both later model cars, some say it adds to the sporty look and is all functional, others say it looks like the handle of a shopping trolley...
The final car for testing was the Big Daddy of the pack - the 1997 Supra RZ. Packing the same 3.0litre inline six and 6speed as the SZ-R, but this time with a big turbos hanging on the side - two infact. And it shows. 243kW@5600rpm and a whopping 531NM@3600rpm! Interior and gearshift are the same, but as soon as the clutch is released the similarities end. The engine note is deep and angry, and a brush of the accelerator in first gear sends the rear tyres up in smoke. A warning for the future... This thing has a lot of power going through the rear tyres and they struggle to cope. When it comes on boost at 4000rpm, all hell breaks loose! Any heavy acceleration in first or second gear usually ends in a loss of traction. This makes corner exit a fun and potentially frightening experience. Again, the tachometer setup sends the needle to the limiter in the first three gears all too often.
The same suspension as in its NA brother, but now it feels stretched to the upper reaches of its limits. With the extra speed turn-in is compromised and understeer is harder to correct. It's easier to swing to oversteer rather than try to get the nose in. Turn-in is not helped by the competency of the brakes either - they struggle to pull up the 1510kg from the high speeds that are attainable. Large bumps have the car bashing over them, and through the pot-hole corner of our test track it feels as though the suspension is actually bottoming out. Bumps are not handled as well as previously, but it's not a major drama.
The rear of the RZ seems to want to lead all the time. Under heavy braking things can get very tricky as the rear steps out a little and the brakes are already struggling, and on corner exit it's obvious which end wants to head down the straight first. After difficulty attacking and hitting the apex, exit is made more challenging by the power. A lot of attention is required to get a smooth departure in second gear - third is generally better just to quash the wheelspin. There's torque aplenty though, so speed is not compromised here.
This car is much more suited to impressing its peers, than getting around the track quickly. With large drifts on demand, and backfires on the downchange, it's all impressive stuff but when it comes to extracting 100% from the Blue Mica Metallic beast, it's not Easy Street. If impressing is the name of the game though, when sideways it's easy to hold out there and easy to bring back. So not all is lost.
This car is a harder, more dedicated Supra and at the upper performance level for this setup. Suspension and tyre revisions, not more power, would be needed to get this thing going any quicker. It's not for the faint hearted and on the track only the experienced need apply. It's less forgiving and much harder to drive - as we found out! We run a 1:25.531.
So, four different models of Supra from two different generations. Three with hairdryers and one making do without. The times are surprising, with '97's NA being faster than '88's turbo. The first incarnation seems like a prototype and should be left in the warehouse. The Twin Turbo R has some grunt and can be a lot of fun. The NA SZ-R is the more sensible choice, but leaves less room for modification. The RZ is for the tuner - in it's current state it's lethal and should be treated with caution!
Crunch the Numbers:
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. I think I'll take my fully modded xx,000 mile version out out and see how its speeds compare to the 6.2 mileage version you guys in europe get to have.
