Traction Concerns

[RippinJT]

Hey Guys,

Firstly, cool forum. It's interesting to see other Supra enthusiasts. Where I live, in the past year I have seen only 1 other Supra on the road. So, getting tips and discussion is pretty hard IRL.

I'm considering upgrading the power on the car with a stage 2 tune but have concerns over traction.

It's wet most of the time in the UK and in stock performance in Normal driving mode the car will spin it's back wheels if you accelerate with any kind of enthusiasm.

So, is there anything, other than tyres that can be done to improve traction? I used to have a 911 and although that was not a turbo, I don't recall having the tyres spin up as much. And power was pretty similar as stock.

Sorry, it's a bit of a newb question. I'm not an engineer or mechanically minded by any stretch of the imagination.

Sponsored

 

[XtremeMaC]

Welcome and congrats on the purchase!
Don't know your reasons for stg2, I'll assume on dry days you want to open it up.
You can do on-the-fly map switch and switch to "oh shii, it's raining gotta dial back" tune and on dry, full powa.
I've only experienced Bootmod3 (there are others Ecutek, MHD, etc. etc..), so I'll reference that only (image below is from the web), you can adjust the boost by gear to reduce slip. Though too much reduction (refer to BM3 how-to and by how much) may hinder your fun, so you gotta play around and find what works for you. I think there is optimal values posted somewhere, either here or on FB...

You could go to a tuner and tell your concerns so that they can have a conservative map for rainy days...
With off-the-shelf stage 2, your only option, I'd say is the below..

 

[freeform911]

Hey Guys,

Firstly, cool forum. It's interesting to see other Supra enthusiasts. Where I live, in the past year I have seen only 1 other Supra on the road. So, getting tips and discussion is pretty hard IRL.

I'm considering upgrading the power on the car with a stage 2 tune but have concerns over traction.

It's wet most of the time in the UK and in stock performance in Normal driving mode the car will spin it's back wheels if you accelerate with any kind of enthusiasm.

So, is there anything, other than tyres that can be done to improve traction? I used to have a 911 and although that was not a turbo, I don't recall having the tyres spin up as much. And power was pretty similar as stock.

Sorry, it's a bit of a newb question. I'm not an engineer or mechanically minded by any stretch of the imagination.

Learn to roll into the throttle?

 

[Dannyvandelft]

That has to do with torque, not horsepower. The torque in the Supra comes on early, and hard. Peak torque is at 1600 RPM. The naturally aspirated engine in your 911 probably had peak torque much higher in the RPM band, so that's a lot easier for tires/tyres to manage.

As for increasing traction, you can buy stickier tires/tyres, or adjust the tire/tyre pressure a bit lower. But the easiest way is to just ease into the throttle rather than stomping on it.

 

[puzzled]

Fast forward 2 weeks.. " Oops"

 

[zrk]

Hey Guys,

Firstly, cool forum. It's interesting to see other Supra enthusiasts. Where I live, in the past year I have seen only 1 other Supra on the road. So, getting tips and discussion is pretty hard IRL.

I'm considering upgrading the power on the car with a stage 2 tune but have concerns over traction.

It's wet most of the time in the UK and in stock performance in Normal driving mode the car will spin it's back wheels if you accelerate with any kind of enthusiasm.

So, is there anything, other than tyres that can be done to improve traction? I used to have a 911 and although that was not a turbo, I don't recall having the tyres spin up as much. And power was pretty similar as stock.

Sorry, it's a bit of a newb question. I'm not an engineer or mechanically minded by any stretch of the imagination.

Welcome!

What do you mean by 'stage 2' just a stage 2 OTS map + downpipe?

If so, tires are what you want. Get some decent tires for the Supra, stock Michelins are trash. Toyo R888Rs are decent "most purpose" tries, but are trash at drag. Nitto NT555RII (rear) paired with Nitto NT555GII for the front are great "most purpose, but mostly straight line" tires for this car. 285/35/19 and 265/35/19 fit nicely on the stock wheels.

 

[puzzled]

I think this is the first time hearing SuperSports are trash. Kind of refreshing as we hate fanbois.

 

[zrk]

I think this is the first time hearing SuperSports are trash. Kind of refreshing as we hate fanbois.

trash

 

[Dannyvandelft]

Lol they're not trash at all. I beat the shit out of them at Mid-Ohio and they held up great.

 

[dzeleski]

I think this is the first time hearing SuperSports are trash. Kind of refreshing as we hate fanbois.

Michelin and Dunlop make some of the worst tires for performance imo. I’ve never sent a bike into the dirt more then on a set of either.

Personally I put a set of Falken rt660s on, I think they are a really good balance between grip, road noise, durability, and performance. They are also “ok” when wet.

r888rs are really loud and less “ok” when wet.

 

[RichSC]

Stock Super Sports were trash. R888R is a popular choice but wasn't overly impressed with those either. Straight line, hear good things about the Nittos. Torque comes on very early, modulate the pedal and a better tire will help a lot.

 

[geert.bieseman]

Hey Guys,

Firstly, cool forum. It's interesting to see other Supra enthusiasts. Where I live, in the past year I have seen only 1 other Supra on the road. So, getting tips and discussion is pretty hard IRL.

I'm considering upgrading the power on the car with a stage 2 tune but have concerns over traction.

It's wet most of the time in the UK and in stock performance in Normal driving mode the car will spin it's back wheels if you accelerate with any kind of enthusiasm.

So, is there anything, other than tyres that can be done to improve traction? I used to have a 911 and although that was not a turbo, I don't recall having the tyres spin up as much. And power was pretty similar as stock.

Sorry, it's a bit of a newb question. I'm not an engineer or mechanically minded by any stretch of the imagination.

Welcome to the forum.
And yes you will even have more traction problems with a stage2 tune

• As already a few members mentioned, the car produces a lot of torque in the low RPM band

Torque and the combination of not having a lo of weight pushing on those rear tires... wheelspin when you floor it.

Don't floor it indeed, the car will keep spinning in the wet untill something like 55-60MPH. Only from around that point, it will start gripping


Even with better tires, you will get massive wheelspin. Roll into the speed indeed.
People on this forum sometimes tend to forget wet European roads, and even would recommend you going for semi-slick tires as upgrade in (super)wet conditions ??


Just learn on how to handle the power. The car is not build for straight-line speed at the traffic lights

 

[romanLegion9574]

As many have said here, you get the torque, and a lot of it, very low down on the power band, and you have less weight planting it down than a 911, so you're bound to have wheelspin. A stage 2 OTS tune is just going to make that worse.

A couple of things to bear in mind:

It's strongly recommended to upgrade tires with a stage 2 tune. If you really want to put power to the ground, at the bare minimum, you'll need to go wider in the rear. 295/35/19 or 305/30/19 on Pilot Super Sports or PS4Ss are a much better bet than the 275/35/19 the car comes with stock, but you'll probably see a little bit of wheelspin nonetheless. Or you could go for tires better suited for the track, which some others have mentioned. Do note in doing so, you're often trading away longevity and sometimes wet performance -- .

Also, with you being in the UK, I'd imagine winter is cold and rainy. The stock Super Sports are summer tires -- you'll struggle with traction in winter because summer tires compounds stiffen in the cold and don't grip. Rain also doesn't help the cause.

If you really need to use the car in the cold and in rain, you could go for all-seasons, but those don't offer the same level of top end performance summer and race tires do. Roughly translated, they're going to be spinning if you floor it.

Edit:
Hopefully this info helps. It really depends on how you plan on driving the car and what you're comfortable with. There are tradeoffs to be made.

 

[VA90]

I think this is the first time hearing SuperSports are trash. Kind of refreshing as we hate fanbois.

For the longest time, I thought the Super Sports were OK. Not great, but OK. I was wrong.

 

[puzzled]

For the longest time, I thought the Super Sports were OK. Not great, but OK. I was wrong.

Yeah, even with Map1 selected on my JB4 the tires just let loose.. I mean to the point I have to back off. That can't be what people consider fun..

Sponsored