PEEFREE's A90 Supra Build

[cupnoodle]

Oh man that's a few topics there. I think the easiest way to answer your questions would be a bullet style response. lol.

Alright here we go:

1. Non-functional exterior mods and their affiliated costs.
a. Wrap - 2-3.5k
b. Tinting - My windows aren't tinted but expect to pay around 200-400
c. I think everything else on my car is functional. I'd post how much it's costed me so far but I don't think I can as many of the prices I have on parts were offered to me under special circumstances.

2. Investment - The car is not an investment. lol. But to start expect to pay anywhere from 40-55k for a Supra. IMO, get a 2020. They can be had for cheaper and they're tuneable. Any 2021 with a post manufacturing date of 6/2020 is not tuneable. How much mods will cost is honestly entirely up to you (based on build direction and end goals with this vehicle).

3. Tracking:
a. If you're planning on daily driving this car and this is your only car. DON'T track it. When you track it, you push the car to its limits and things will break. Imagine breaking your only car. lol. Also, parts on this car are NOT cheap to replace.
b. If you're looking to get into tracking, start with something that is cheaper and "harder to drive". I once had a music teacher tell me "play slow to learn fast". It's the same with cars. Go slow first and then get into the faster stuff. You don't need to start off with a 1000 hp VIPER GTS. You will learn a lot more by driving something that is more direct and harder to drive. Miata, S2k, FT86...etc... are a few good solid choices.
c. Join a track group (on facebook). I see that you're in California and we've got some really good facebook track groups. The guys on there and the knowledge they provide on there have been GOLD in helping me develop as a driver.
d. It's all about SEAT TIME. Take a class or do a track day and register as a beginner. And no, playing Grand Turismo doesn't make you feel fast irl. Start off with getting some seat time and see if tracking if something that you even like and go from there.

4. Drawbacks to modding - There are many but the most obvious one that comes to mind is the costs associated with modding. Another is that you sometimes will inadvertently start a "domino effect". For example. Upgrading your wheels and realizing you now need wider fenders or a aftermarket suspension to accommodate said wheels.

If you were driving this thing everyday and want to keep it long term. Do the basics (wheels, brakes, springs) and stay away from deeper modding / tracking.

I appreciate all the insight and in-depth response to my questions. Will definitely take some of your advice.

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[ipeefreely]

7/6/2021 - Just an update...

So I have once again been swamped with work.... What's new right? *sigh*

On the bright side, the Supra has been hitting track days almost every weekend since March.
Earlier this year, my friend had blown out the diff on his S2k so he's been taking my Supra out to random track events. He's a much better driver than me and it's honestly been a benefit to both of us that he takes my car out to these track days. This way, he's got a car to track and I've got someone to dial the car in for me.

Although the car looks basically the same, we've made some pretty big adjustments. With the PHD x Spage aero package, the car has a huge tendency to understeer. We've been able to mitigate most of the understeer by playing around with the spring rates and switching out the rear sway bar. This is on top of adjusting the wing angle to be at its least aggressive setting.

With things being dialed in more, we've been able to make some pretty good headway in lap times.

Beginning with laguna back in April, we did a 1.36 (which was about a 2-3 second drop from our previous best):




Next up, the car did a 1.45 at Sonoma. This was about a 5 sec improvement from our previous pb.

 

[ipeefreely]

At this point, there are still various things I'd like to tweak.

Some of the things I'd like to see improved on the car involve the following:

- resolving the cooling "bottleneck" in the form of a aftermarket intake manifold
- Adding more power - AFtermarket turbo + 2021 ECU Unlock??
- Might adjust the wing height a bit to give us some more flexibility in terms of downforce
- Switching the coilovers from a 2 way system to a 3 way

As you can see it's a short list which means we are nearing the completion of the project. (I say completion but let's be honest... it's always a WIP).

 

[VA90]

Although the car looks basically the same, we've made some pretty big adjustments. With the PHD x Spage aero package, the car has a huge tendency to understeer. We've been able to mitigate most of the understeer by playing around with the spring rates and switching out the rear sway bar. This is on top of adjusting the wing angle to be at its least aggressive setting.

With things being dialed in more, we've been able to make some pretty good headway in lap times.

Thanks for this. Love reading about this build and your experience.

I bet you've already considered this, but what about more front camber? Have you found a good pressure and operating temp for your tires (more so for the front than the rear)? I can't recall which ones you're using. Tried braking a little deeper into the turn? Like I said, I bet you considered all this. Just trying to think of ways to address the understeer that don't necessitate using less wing in back.

 

[Blaque Diamond Wheels]

At this point, there are still various things I'd like to tweak.

Some of the things I'd like to see improved on the car involve the following:

- resolving the cooling "bottleneck" in the form of a aftermarket intake manifold
- Adding more power - AFtermarket turbo + 2021 ECU Unlock??
- Might adjust the wing height a bit to give us some more flexibility in terms of downforce
- Switching the coilovers from a 2 way system to a 3 way

As you can see it's a short list which means we are nearing the completion of the project. (I say completion but let's be honest... it's always a WIP).

I'd say it's the completion of the current phase. Looking forward to more updates on your build!

 

[Akashugly]

Did you manage to cop the subframe from verkline ?

 

[digicidal]

At this point, there are still various things I'd like to tweak.

Some of the things I'd like to see improved on the car involve the following:

- resolving the cooling "bottleneck" in the form of a aftermarket intake manifold
- Adding more power - AFtermarket turbo + 2021 ECU Unlock??
- Might adjust the wing height a bit to give us some more flexibility in terms of downforce
- Switching the coilovers from a 2 way system to a 3 way

As you can see it's a short list which means we are nearing the completion of the project. (I say completion but let's be honest... it's always a WIP).

Any day you're beating Ferraris is a decent one IMO.

 

[ipeefreely]

Any day you're beating Ferraris is a decent one IMO.

That wasn't me driving.

AND.... That picture is right before it blew past us. lol. Some rich chinese kid bought a Ferrari challenge car as a track toy...

 

[ipeefreely]

Did you manage to cop the subframe from verkline ?

We ended up opting against it. I think Verkline makes some great stuff but it felt a bit unnecessary.

I also decided that with this build I'd keep things a bit more civil as I usually drive the car to the track.

 

[ipeefreely]

Thanks for this. Love reading about this build and your experience.

I bet you've already considered this, but what about more front camber? Have you found a good pressure and operating temp for your tires (more so for the front than the rear)? I can't recall which ones you're using. Tried braking a little deeper into the turn? Like I said, I bet you considered all this. Just trying to think of ways to address the understeer that don't necessitate using less wing in back.

I'm actually a bit iffy with the pads (Ferodo DS 3.12) are on there right now. They're a bit weird in that the bite isn't consistent with the pedal. Let me explain....


Entering the corner, when you hit the brakes, the initial bite is really strong. Great feeling. But as you go deeper in the pedal, the car's deceleration doesn't seem as great. This happens all the way until you hit the bottom of the brake pedal and the car will once again regain it's awesome braking ability. I

I'm not sure what's causing this but we are considering switching from the Ferodos to CSGs to see if it will alleviate this issue.

I think where the car is at right now, it's ... friendly. It'll oversteer when you push on it and understeer when the tires get a bit too hot.

Unfortunately due to recent work obligations, I haven't had too much time to get used to the car. I imagine that when things do free up and I have more time, I would want a bit less understeer. At that point, I think we could achieve that via the suspension and some modifications to the aero.

 

[Blaque Diamond Wheels]

That wasn't me driving.

AND.... That picture is right before it blew past us. lol. Some rich chinese kid bought a Ferrari challenge car as a track toy...

As long as it's all good fun. But it would have been exciting if you get him to chase even for a lap or two

 

[ipeefreely]

7/21/2021:

Spent the last 5 days unwrapping and rewrapping the car.

Just to give a little context here but I never intended to wrap the car grey. Every vehicle I own is some shade some grey and it's honestly getting quite boring. (I say that but I assure you another grey colored car is in my future)

So when the opportunity arose for me to wrap it another color, I jumped at it.

I present to you. Midnight purple.

While we were at it, we also installed the INGS+ rear bumper and side valence.

For those of you who might be curious about fitment... The kit actually fit very well. lol. We didn't have to trim anything and it came together quite nicely. Also found out that the verus diffuser fits perfectly between the bumper's side diffusers.

Also thanks gcmak for the pictures!!! haha.

 

[ipeefreely]

Then we took her to Laguna Seca....

We installed a Jb4 unit but I think it was causing some issues as the car was pulling power quite heavily (and it wasn't even hot). Tried to turn everything off but my stupid app wasn't working. Since we couldn't turn it off via the app, we tried unplugging things but stopped because we couldn't reach one of the connectors. After all that, we plugged everything back in and just ran it in neutered mode.

Ended the day with a 1.40 flat. Quite upsetting as I've been stuck at this time for awhile. The Laguna gods just don't want me to go sub 40's... lol. Till next time I guess...

 

[digicidal]

That wrap looks fantastic... but I spend so much time staring at the hood that it's hard to focus on the rest. So drool worthy, but hard (for me at least) to justify spending 10% of what I paid for the whole car just for a hood replacement. In your case, it's probably just a rounding error. LOL!

 

[supra_b58]

Then we took her to Laguna Seca....

We installed a Jb4 unit but I think it was causing some issues as the car was pulling power quite heavily (and it wasn't even hot). Tried to turn everything off but my stupid app wasn't working. Since we couldn't turn it off via the app, we tried unplugging things but stopped because we couldn't reach one of the connectors. After all that, we plugged everything back in and just ran it in neutered mode.

Ended the day with a 1.40 flat. Quite upsetting as I've been stuck at this time for awhile. The Laguna gods just don't want me to go sub 40's... lol. Till next time I guess...

Are you still running 295/35/18 a052? I need a tire thats not too short but with enough width..

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