Toyota Supra and BMW M Roadster

Final word on our Toyota Supra

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So our modified Toyota Supra Twin Turbo is in the hands of a capable new owner now. Its duties as a benchmark sports car have now been taken over by our BMW M Roadster.

A full review for the Supra was in order, so we finally wrote about it, and we gave an account of what it’s like to own a really old and heavily modified car for very little money. But some of you might be wondering what a “benchmark” means.

Ever read those reviews by some regional journalists who keep mentioning how “fast” an Aurion or a Pajero is, or how “comfortable” a little Kia or a big Hummer is? That’s because their personal cars are something like an old Honda Civic, a leased Audi A4 or some other nonsense car, and they don’t have a car in mind that they can compare the test vehicle to, especially since they don’t keep the other test cars that long anyway to know their full potential.

I own a small 1990 Mercedes, a 2002 Jeep and now a 2000 M Roadster, to cover the entire range of vehicles, and bought for much less than a total of Dhs 100,000.

So you will never see me going gaga over how “fast” a Land Cruiser or even an XKR is, but I’ll give a balanced opinion on how the engine is, because I’m not easily blinded. Same with a car’s other features. No bias over country, brand or body style.

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Comments

  1. there is something you forgot to point to … are you getting payed by car companies for your review? 😕 , I don’t think so coz your giving a professional objective opinion… 😛 I bet for some journalists the bigger the check is the faster the car is gona go :mrgreen:

  2. it looks like you like the red color :mrgreen:

  3. Author

    Anthony, car companies NEVER pay directly for reviews. That’d be unethical and be nothing more than a press release then (although some reviews do seem to be copy-pasted from press releases). However, advertising is a revenue source for magazines and websites. We’ve only just started low-paying website ads (and haven’t even been paid yet), although ads in magazines cost thousands of dollars each, so take that for what it’s worth.

    thatsit, when buying a used car, one cannot choose the colour. I’d buy any colour on a used car (except pink). Both cars just happened to be red!

  4. hahaha honda boys 😀 nice one, i liked the article

  5. they look like brothers.and please write a review on the bimmer.

  6. why the pink is good 😉

  7. isnt Vtec’s supposed to be an engineering marvel now copied by bmw,mitsubishi and even toyota with their vvt-i. I mean anyone can slap a few turbos in their car and produce la la horsepower and speed but thats faking it isnt it.

  8. Author

    Variable valve timing wasn’t invented by Honda, as some fanboys would have you believe. Honda simply popularised their version of it by slapping VTEC stickers on all their cars. BMW’s Double VANOS systems have been more advanced than any VTEC system for a decade, whose maximum capabilities are seen in the 3.2 M engine. Honda can be credited with bringing it to cheap cars. Others, such as Mitsubishi’s MIVEC are simpler systems. Interesting article on wikipedia:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_valve_timing

  9. somebody celebrates valentine before its time………

  10. mash u kinda offended me there wen u were lik honda boyz and wen u said it….

    Edited for content

  11. “Edited for content” lmao i wish i could see what he said 😛 i love that guy

  12. he said : mash u offended me there wen u were lik honda boyz. im a honda gurl. i consider it an insult. 😆

  13. Author

    Bashar, it was lots of F words, and his “supercharged 2.4 Accord” destroying my M Roadster, and my Supra not attracting “chiks” (as opposed to his Accord I guess) or something.

  14. yea but what you turbo fan boys dont understand is that a vtec is the real deal which a race car noise to macth whereas the other versions are just modified versions . but anyway the arguement still stands . turbos are a fake way of producing anything . Hell you can put 5 turbos in a toyota echo and maybe 10 intercoolers etc and it can trash a z3m or z4m until the road curves and the echo topples over.

  15. am sorry tamzed, but you are totally wrong, you think that adding a turbo to a car is some thing simple 😯 😯 turbos add a very high loads on the engine and may destroy it!!!!! but the superchargers are worse than turbos and the efficiency of the turbo charger is more than the supercharge. in general its not a matter of adding turbos and intercoolers. you have to re design some times the whole engine!!!
    and turbos are not a”fake way of producing anything” the best way to increase the HP a little bit without playing with the weight of the engine is by using a turbo 😉

  16. good point thatsit . when i was a teenager in abu dhabi the only turbo i saw was maximas and maybe some patrols. but now with the fast and furious gang they want to turbo everything from toyota echos to camrys. Anyway its true what u said , ‘its the cheapest way to make more power’ but tell me honestly if it excites u . I owned 99 s2000 and everytime the revs passed 6000 you just felt like ur drving an open wheel racer . As mash puts it honda fan boys , he think of ppl driving 1.6 civic and 2.0 accords but the real vtec is in the integra and civic type r , s2000 and nsx. Im sure if he drives any of these then opinions will change.

  17. actually, the only german brand that i like is porsche. you know why???because of the F***en technology that is used in building their turbos (twin turbo can add about 120 hp) and with their VGT technology(varaible geometric turbine), i fall in love with this company. and to answer you question (i get excited when i hear the sound of the turbo espically when you add to it a blow off) 😆 😆 😆
    “passed 6000 you just felt like ur drving an open wheel racer ” am sorry but you have a turbo in the s2000??? if so, thats so cool man 😎 .
    And mash the vtec in honda is the same as the one in nissan?????
    and tamzed the vtec system is the same in every (honda) car. there are no changes (maybe the valve lift timing a little bit) but the cars that you are talking about are mad bacause they are build for this purpose.
    for example your car(S2000) its true that it has the vtec tech. but its not mad because of that only, its because of many other reasons (the weight plays a major rule and for example the filters used and the exhaust system in your car is not the same as the civic or the accord).
    The GTR have the same technology used in the G37 but the size is a little bit bigger by 100cc….what makes it mad you think??? 😉 of course it doesnt has the same other parts that you see in the G37 because its called the GT-R(racing machine); it has to be able to carry a huge loads on it. i like this kind of coversation 🙂 ,keep it up people and thanks for your response. CATCH YOU LATER 😉 😉

  18. i don’t see your point of argument Tamzed. you’re saying adding lots of turbos will increase the power output and the car will topple in a curve. so if u added a VTEC engine to the echo the car will handle better? 🙄 also how is it a fake way to increase power? 😕 are u saying the turbo won’t increase any power since it’s a fake way? i don’t get it…

  19. Author

    By the way, I deleted more comments by el ma3lem, since I can see IP addresses. It seems to be the same guy who posts as “lotfi”, except “lotfi” is the good guy and “el ma3lem” is the bad guy. But I’ll let it continue since it could be two guys on the same computer. Seems he wants to get me deported now, for not being from his master race and for deleting his comments. Typical. 😆

  20. hey how did the topic of a turbo and the echo toppling over and turbos are a fake way of producing power and blah blah come into an article about the supra??And cb your a very funny guy.your comment on ma3lm was really funny. 😆 😆

  21. thanks mash for your job, i told you people, he can know who is trying to do a stupid thing in the site.
    mash you didnt answer my question!!
    is the vtec technology that you see in honda is the same as nissan???

  22. hey thatsit, i raced in my 271 hplandcruiser with 2007 accord 2.4 from 0 to 140 kph, and i couldnt believe that we got exactly the same acc. and i was to sad from my LC.

    just tell me how to increase the power of my LC not in fake way 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 as somebody sayed it before

  23. Author

    thatsit, you should read the link I posted in an earlier comment. It seems Nissan just introduced a basic version in the Tiida engine, and a new advanced version only in the latest G37 V6. Seems it is similar to BMW’s system, and Honda will adopt a similar system later called AVTEC.

    assassin, your new engine will not perform well until it is broken in. Plus, as I said before, random drag racing is unpredictable. I don’t know how you launched the car, who jumped ahead first in fractions of a second, etc. Even then, an Accord will pull away after 100 kph because it is tuned for power, and the Land Cruiser is tuned for low-end torque.

  24. yea to CB first , i meant that since echo is such an ungainly proportioned car , putting a turbo in it will only see it benefit in a straight line but not in the handling department . ” topple over meaning if it carries abnormal speeds into the corner”

    Secondly why would anyone in their own mind want to drag race a LC and 2.4 accord . LC are tall and boxy and there is a lot more drag than in a normal car and so the accord 2.4 has the same time but im assuming the v6 accord will kill the lc but again its not a worthy comparison.

    And thatsit , i had a natural aspirated s2000 . the only mod i put in was low profile 255 rears. So yea , im assuming that everyone likes turbos in uae because all the roads are straight and there are hardly any back roads or twisty country roads where a vtec really shines.

    Oh btw , fake power as in u can buy a turbo from ebay and have a tech istall it in ur car and u have more power . Im not saying its bad but just that its not very original , so in a way dissing the company instead of not being able to reach their target output of so so hp so adding a turbo to offset it . A perfect example is the veyron or maybe golf gt.

  25. Oh yea i love conversations like these as well , shows that not everyone is dumb enough to race different genres of cars which although quite entertaining but not very brilliant.

  26. hey people 🙂 how are you
    assassin, how many KMs your car did already, and you have to wait a little bit to know the real abilities of your car, the problem is that your car is still new, it needs to be trained step by step. and really i dont like to add anything to my car to add some power, in your case you may lose the warranty(wallah 7araaam 😉 ). And an advise for you from a friend; if you like your car and you believe in its abilities, dont let any thing like what happened let you down or hate your car. and as mash said before(your car has a tourqee engine so this is the case, you will win in the first “lets say” 90 KMs but then he will catch you and may pass you later), at least he will not be able to do sand bashing as you will :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
    second, mash thanks for the information(actually i didnt read the link above and i will read it later), the new technology is called the VVEL technology.
    Tamzed i will reply to you later
    really this semester is the worst (am working in my senior project to build an aircraft) wish me luck
    catch you later people

  27. what the ….,
    my friend offered a race with me in her accord, so, do i tell her ” i’m not racing with you because of the different between our cars, ? ”.

  28. again to tamzed, dude adding a turbo does not necessarily mean the car will topple in a curve. it depends on a lot of other factors too. if u take ur car beyond its limits in a curve u will topple whether turboed or supercharged or ‘vtec-ed’.
    secondly people dont add turbos or superchargers to reach the car manufacturers target hp. they do it to go beyond the manufacturers target hp.
    im not saying vtec is bad, its a clever design but turbos add way more power. taking a curve will depend on other factors such as aerodynamics, tires etc. not on the vtec alone. if not then adding the honda vtec engine to the echo will make it handle way better. 😆

  29. hey, sorry for the late response tamzed, man am sorry if you missunderstood me, but really am a japanese car fan too, and i like the vtec technology as you do, we have 2 altimas with the vtec technology and its very good. where are you living by the way????
    and in case of the veyron i think you are right (in my opinion the design of the engine of the veyron is so stupid but the problem is that people always look at the HP and the Topspeed). but the turbo in the GTI is not added for the HP only(i think its added for fun :mrgreen: because the turbo in that car doesnt affect the hp too much because its very small). Again the turbo does not give a fake power, its a technology as the vtec technology and as i said before it has some affects on the engine itself. and am telling you, buying a turbo from ebay and fixing it buy a tech. is not a clever move, after doing that i assure you that the car will not live longer as what is required from it. in general i have a rule as an engineer: never ever add anything to your car to play with its power, even a race filter, doing that is a risky thing, the only people who you can trust is the professional modifying companies(like gemballa, nismo, techart…etc).

  30. ur right thatsit . There are different ways of reaching different power levels and people prefer some over others. a honda vtec is more fun on twisty back roads , a turbo is good uphill and in straight roads and a supercharged car is very good for low end grunt so it really depends .

    Im in sydney and have been for 8 years but was born and bought up in abu dhabi till i was 18. I still visit now and then coz my family is still there .

    to cb , why cant u understand what im trying to say . I said the echo is a tall and stupid car and going fast into a corner in that car , it feels like a bus with a lot of body roll hence toppling over effect . Thatsit , if u understand me then can you explain to him . Mash has been pretty quick on this topic. Maybe he is gluing his bmw interior to stop it from falling apart .

  31. ** mash has been pretty -quiet- on this topic**

  32. it seems u dont know what im asking u yet. yes i know the echo is a shitty car but u are saying the honda vtec engines are better at taking curves than other engines. if that is the case im asking u what if i added the honda engine to the echo? will it handle much better? 🙄
    again if u do not understand the question and its simple answer already said by me please ask some1 else to read and explain it to u.

  33. actually if we add a vtec engine with the same size of the echo engine “it will be more aggrissive and will response faster than the normal engine of the echo” but that will happen at a certain speeds as what tamzed is saying. actually the vetc engines shines if there are alot of curvee roads and you use the gas and the brake pedals in a rapid ways, in this case the vtec will make the engine response faster as if you are driving a sports car “because the vtec controls specifically the valves of the intake and the exhaust in a way depends on the speed of the engine”
    infiniti has launched the new system which is called”as i said before” the VVEL, which as i think is a combination between the VTEC and the VVTI in toyota cars at the same time “that why the G37 in many magazines beated the BMW 335i in general case” the difference in acc. between them is just 0.2-0.3 sec, which is actually good for a car without turbo charging(G37).
    thats why am telling you tamzed that not every car has turbo is a very powerfull car (the only company that is speciallized in building the turbos is porsche)”and am talking about production cars not tuning companies BTW” (the problem with the VGT system of porsche is that the turbo gives you the power betwn a very large range of engine speed).
    and for CB, the car wont handel better if you keep it like this without changing another things. (the problem is that designing a car is not a problem of engine alone) you shoulg look at the whole car as one particle.
    mash, a question for you, if i loaded our nissan sunny with a heavy weights and after a time while am removing the loads “i hear a strange sound from the rear suspension ” actually it was like that from the first day we bought the car but we ignored it (nothing happened till now after 4.5 years of using it). just to know is that is a serious problem 😉
    waiting for your answer

  34. yo cb mate , i meant that by putting a couple of turbos in the echo i, the hp output will be to much for its size and height on its skinny tires . i.e too fast for its own good . sure it will be fast in a straight line but as soon as the road curves its gonna start understerring and eventually topple , coz as you would know that third party turbo charges have inaccurate boost ranges and it just suddenly comes out of nowhere and surprises u. ANyway i didnt mention anywhere that vtec in an echo will be better . in fact the echo already has vvtI. The whole point of the conversation was that anyone can put a turbo in anything , from lawnmowers to generators , from cars to bikes , from tata nanos to zondas .

  35. all vtec engines in normal cars are not that good, because they are always not increasing the terque, which means the acc in low engine speed will be the same with same engine without this tech, thats why always 4*4 vortec, hemi engines are having better response than japanise suv’s. and also american cars are specialized to be the best in weel spinning and drifting. i got same thing with my LC, it is very weak under 3000r/pm. and also, this tech makes the engine too noisy.
    what i’m trying to say, what is the intrest of these techs, if they dont give me what i want, which moving a stoped car fastly.

  36. Author

    thatsit, don’t worry about that noise too much if it’s always been there. Of course, if it is loud and while moving, then you might have problems, but I can’t say without hearing it.

    I won’t get into any argument over engines since some have made up their minds about which is “better.” Anyone who follows this blog knows I looked at everything from an S2000 to a Camaro when shopping for a sports car. Even looked at Civics and Peugeots when originally shopping for hot hatches. I am only biased against fanboys, not the actual cars themselves.

  37. lol thatsit u just repeated what i said. i said just coz a car has vtec doesnt mean it will handle better through curves. it depends on a lot of other factors too. if u read my posts above it shud be clear. anywayz we’re all clear about it now i guess.
    assassin, LCs are very good offroading vehicles and hence shud have peak torque at a lower rpm. so it shud be very fast on launch due to all that torque and will gradually die down on higher rpms. so in fact ur LC shud be quite fast at lower rpms.

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