Thoughts on the MK5 Supra

I also quite like it. 

However in the UK it costs £5,000 more than my Porsche 718 Boxster, power to weight ratios are almost identical and the Boxster will corner far better.

I would find it very difficult to pay £5,000 more for a Toyota of near identical performance than a Porsche.

That's a shame. here the Boxster  is $59k with 300HP and a 0-60 of 4.9 seconds, compared to the $51k Supra that does 0-60 in 3.8 seconds and has "335HP" but really it's a lot more. Honestly the Boxster and Cayman are really uncompetitive for the $$$ you spend if you just look at it with raw specs on paper. There's more to them of course. 

Supra is £51,000 here, Boxster £46,500. 

Weird how it is the other way round.

Looking at the power to weight ratios quoted in the UK, Porsche just edges it, and thats with the base Boxster. Porsche historically underquote there HP and 0-60 times.

They do underrate Porsches for sure. Car and Driver tested the base Boxster at 4.4 seconds 0-60, while the Supra came out exactly as advertised at 3.8. Of course power to weight is relevant, but power delivery is far more important than peak power and that's where the BMW motor is king. Constant, face melting torque. Even the old N series motors, after they switched to sequential turbo instead of twin, just ripped through the entire rev range at a really impressive pace. The Boxster isn't the same way. Nor is that a NEGATIVE thing either. Not at all. But the Supra is undeniably quicker. 

I would sacrifice some power and speed for a nice torque build. The 4 banger turbo BMW motor felt better in power delivery, more raw and fun, than the 6 cylinder turbo even though the 6 cylinder was far faster and smoother. I much prefer the NA V8 in the Lexus RC-F to the twin turbo V8 in the M550i xDrive, even though the M550i will smoke the RC-F in a straight line. The way the Lexus V8 revs to 7000 and just builds more and more torque is insanely satisfying. 

I had a base Boxster on the track at the Porsche experience center at Silverstone recently. The tracks were small, tight and suited to it and it was just insane grip and cornering speeds.

Instructor told me at the start of the session overtaking was not allowed, unless the other car invited you past (as it was holding you up) Only other cars out were 911s and I was "invited" past half a dozen times.

I feel you on that! I brought my 132HP Prius-powered Lexus CT to autocross, on stock all season tires, and smoked quite a few cars there! A lot of people were surprised and came up to me to chat. Driver skill is key. Hell, at that same autocross one guy in a stock 1.5L Fit keeps smoking everyone, including me in my MR2. Stock suspension, just some ridiculous tires. Stays ahead of the Exiges!

..

I don't consider myself a particularly fast driver, though the tuition certainly taught me a lot. Having owned bikes since I was 17 I have tended to use them for fun and the car for more relaxation.

I don't either. I'm a pretty good driver but not a great one, autox wise. But you can do some great things with a bit of skill and a decent car, while most people in an amazing car won't be able to keep up. 

I'm thrilled I was within 1.5 seconds of a supercharged Exige running a smaller pulley and super sticky tires, when I have a stock 1ZZ and a taller final drive and 320tw tires.. that's an impressive time for me. But there are people at autox that destroy my times in much slower cars.

Posted by: NottaMiata

Probably not a great thing to admit, but some dude in a new Charger tried to shame The Frog last night, and before i really considered what i was doing i said, "uh, no, pal". I was able to stay on his tail up through third gear, uphill.

I would have paid money to see the look on his face, especially if he knew it was a stock 1.8 from 2003.

LOL, I am thinking maybe Chargers kinda suck? All bark, no bite off the line? It sure sounded bad-ass, and I know he was WOT. We got to about 45 mph before we both decided it was inappropriate to go further and thats where he started to leave me behind anyway, but I could tell The Frog enjoyed that. Now he wants a supercharger.

Allegedly a base Charger V6 does 0-60 in 6.3s, substantially faster than a Spyder. 

..

I have seen videos of people with turbo conversions or K swaps surprising people. Can't wait to get the K24A2 turbo conversion done in my car. Especially once on the track.

Z4 vs Supra

Posted by: neomr2

Z4 vs Supra

This proved to me that they are completely different cars. jking

Remember when the spyder came out folks made a big deal about how they managed to make a lightweight convertible with modern structural integrity standards. Looks like BMW failed again in this regard, similar to their "MINI" line of lifestyle mobiles.