First MKV Forum Post - Potential New Owner.

[Proceeding_]

Hey Everyone! My name is Daniel. For context I currently drive a modified 6MT Premium GR86 that I owe like $3,900 on.

I've been daydreaming about the A90 ever since It came out. I offer detailing services in my area and I've had the opportunity to work on a lot of BMW cars. Specifically M vehicles and they really grew on me over the past few years after being a hardcore JDM Manual Purist type of car enthusiast.

Up the road literally 5 minutes from me a 2021 3.0 Premium (Fully Loaded, OG MSRP of $58k and some change.) just got traded in with H&R Lowering Springs, Full Front Paint Protection Film, MST Intake, Titan Catted Downpipe and a full Maxton Design kit. It has 6,300 miles on it and they were originally asking $56,000 and over the past few weeks they've been dropping it and dropping it. It's down to $54,000 now.

I'm pretty confident I could go get it down to $51,000 - $52,000 and make a pretty smooth transition.

I'm curious if anyone else went a similar upgrade path (BRZ / GR86 / FRS) and their thoughts on going from the 6MT to the 8AT and just overall ownership. I'm afraid of making an impulse buy and having remorse after driving extremely low weight 6MT cars for effectively the past 6-7 years.

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[GoldenEye]

I've never been a fan of the Gr86, FRS, BRZ always thought they're kinda weak girl cars. I think if you drove the Supra your mind would be made up by the time you got back to the dealer...

 

[kehvin]

Just make sure the oil doesn’t burn for that 2021, seems like a problem for that specific year. You’ll enjoy the supra a lot! I daily drive mine and love it everyday.

 

[Bigboss]

The gr86 and supra are in different leagues whatever weight difference your worried about wont even matter besides the supra is pretty light in its class for the power it puts out

 

[Supra_UK_]

Welcome. I think it depends how inebriated you want to be, if you enjoy the nimble little cars maybe not, but once you hear the B58 and feel that torque under your right foot, it is quite hard to look back.
And presence wise it's amazing too. Good luck, either cars are great so it's a win win. I was on waiting list for GR86, got fed up and got a Supra instead, wallet regrets it but heart doesn't.

 

[ArmenLS1]

Get ready for a lot of attention. Depending on the colour of choice, it will turn a lot of heads and start conversations.

Is dat a Suupra?
Nice car bro!
Is that thing stock?
What have you done to it?
Nice BMW
Is dat a Suupra?

I've had people rip through traffic just to get up to me and ask questions.
Just wanted to share the non-driving and non-mechanical aspect to owning this car. It's an Introverts worst nightmare, lol

 

[Hien]

Get ready for a lot of attention. Depending on the colour of choice, it will turn a lot of heads and start conversations.

Is dat a Suupra?
Nice car bro!
Is that thing stock?
What have you done to it?
Nice BMW
Is dat a Suupra?

I've had people rip through traffic just to get up to me and ask questions.
Just wanted to share the non-driving and non-mechanical aspect to owning this car. It's an Introverts worst nightmare, lol

its always, "is that a supra?!" or , "hey come to our car meet". At least once a month

 

[Mr. Jonathan]

If you still enjoy your current ride I say wait to see what’s available in six months. I think the ass is about to drop out of the economy.

 

[XtremeMaC]

Not GR86, but I'm coming from 10 years of MT FRS ownership which I drove thru thick and thin also during AT Supra ownership.

The refinement, on demand power, looks, etc. of Supra are at another level, but yet to drive GR86...
Daily driving, you'll definitely not think that Supra is any heavier. During AutoX, for sure.


If you've been daydreaming, just test drive and get your checkbook ready

 

[XtremeMaC]

@AndyK5

 

[AndyK5]

@AndyK5

Yeah, I did. I don't have my car yet, dealer says about 2 more weeks but I had a 2022 GR86 Manual that I did 21 or so track days with. I absolutely love that car as it is perfect for what I need. Lightweight rear wheel drive manual car with a great chassis. Cheap to track, lots of laps for very little money, easy to sort out. Camber bolts, fluid and pads, less than $600 and you have a decently stopping -3,-2 setup does great at the track.

The issue was that GR86s around me (and ones I read online) kept on blowing up. First the oil pan excess silicone issue causing engine blowups, which i fixed on mine, then a buddy of mine blowing the 4th gear at the track, then people keep on blowing motors then the group of people who tested oil pressures at the track and multiple times recorded about 20 psi under high load right hand turns (should be 60+). All this combined with Toyota constantly refusing repairs unless manage to make it super visible combined with them wanting $19,000 for a long block installed in a car that I bought for $27,000 made me trade it in for a GR Corolla Circuit Edition.

GRC I liked a lot. Everything about that car was a bit higher quality than the base GR 86, even though it was a bit heavier. Audio, seats, brakes, transmission, wheels, lug nuts, literally everywhere you touched, you felt the Toyota quality (GR 86 is a Subaru). On top of that the car felt great on the street, turbo was fast and actually makes the car more usable and fun while on city streets. So I got 2 sets of Toyota crash bolts, followed factory manual for selection and had an alignment shop get me -3,-3, swapped the fluid to Endless 650 and wrapped the exhaust with heat tape. Biggest issue with that car is that everyone reporting the car swapping to Fwd mid way through a track day when the clutch based transfer case overheats either due to usage or exhaust heat. At the track I managed to do max 3 laps before the car went on FWD only mode. GRC is super fun and extremely capable at the track, when its 50/50 awd. When its FWD....it is god awful understeer machine as the front end is not designed for that. I could not find a solution to that problem and sold it.


Enter Supra, with my goal of completing the GR holy trinity I started looking for one. I wanted yellow and did not want to pay for the 2024 $1500 price increase and manual. Considering yellow is now made in 2024 as well I managed to locate an incoming 2023 manual yellow and put a deposit on it.

I am a bit torn on the manual though. Everyone says its better than auto for driver engagement and that is what I care the most, however I track a lot and sometimes get competitive. Lap times are not everything but being able to pass your friends always matters. In that case auto makes more sense...not just because it has shorter gearing and shifts faster, that part really does not matter...What matters is, when you are in a auto track car that has no speed weakness against a manual, you are at a great advantage at being a great driver. You can left foot brake and overlap with throttle, you can trail brake easier, your mind is more free to think and pay attention to other things like lines, turn in points etc.. when the manuals over head is removed and that can swing a regular driver 3-5s a lap vs the auto being faster making the car 1s faster per lap.

Anyways, I went super overboard with this, as the thread did not ask for it. Hope its helpful.

 

[J29DB03]

It's an Introverts worst nightmare, lol

Unfortunately yes, yes it is.

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