Supra vs. all the other cars I've personally owned

[illidelph]

I've had my Supra Final Edition (Auto) for a little over 6 months now and have some free time this afternoon, so I figured I would try to put together some thoughts I have about the Supra compared to some of the other cars I've owned and daily driven. Here is a list of cars that I have personally owned:

• 2024 Acura Integra Type S
• 2017 Nissan GTR
• 2023 BMW M3 Comp
• 2023 Audi RS3
• 2018 Porsche Macan GTS
• 2016 Mercedes GLA45 AMG
• 2016 BMW 340i
• 2018 Audi S5

Here's a list of cars that I've driven multiple times but have not personally owned:

• 2023 BMW M2 Manual
• Lexus IS500
• All of the Teslas
• Golf R/GTI
• Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing

With that out of the way, my general thoughts. The Supra is probably in the top 2 cars I've driven, alongside the Audi RS3. I'm measuring "top" here by subjective measures, putting aside power numbers, torque, etc. I'm relying on how it felt to me and how much fun I had in the car. The RS3 felt like it was on rails, the 5 cylinder was fantastic, but I had many tech and electrical gremlins with the RS3. The Supra feels almost as agile, better exhaust note and less turbo lag, RWD dynamics. No electrical issues with the Supra since I've owned it from factory. Wireless Apple Carplay works every time I get in the car. The B58 and ZF 8 Speed are a perfect match in this car.

I've taken a completely stock final edition to the track multiple times now, and it feels right at home. Though a bit easy to get the rear end loose, car feels planted and it operates like a scalpel. It goes where you tell it to go. The Supra gets probably the most attention on the road of any of the cars I've owned, besides the GTR. That thing drew way too much attention.

The only things I don't like about the Supra are the sound system, probably one of the worst OEM sound systems I've owned. Visibility also is terrible, but if you are shopping for the Supra, I'm sure this isn't a surprise. I installed the Rexpeed Concave mirrors which solved basically all my visibility concerns. There isn't much space to store knick knacks in the car either, but I don't really carry around much.

Happy to answer any questions or comparisons, but I will probably keep the Supra long term, which I don't usually say about cars. It is a fantastic car.

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[kaj]

I mostly only drove mine on race tracks and I concur about how they handle themselves. I ran a regional (western/south-ish U.S.) series with a bunch of modified BMWs. Let's say none of them were happy with me. I won the championship for my class with nothing more than wheel/tire/brake pad/camber plates.
I came from a very-well prepped Evo IX (and a long, long list before that). The Evo was more fun but the Supra was more capable. I can only imagine how fast it would have been, modified - especially aero.
On the street, I found it to be okay to drive but not my "cup of tea". Faced with dropping $10-15k into it to run the next class or be relatively bored winning the previous group again, I sold the car. It was a really fun year, though. I ended up selling it for more than what I owed. That was a bonus.
For cars I've driven on track, I'd put this in my top three faves, between the Evo and a GT350R.
For daily driving, it's sadly much lower but still possible top 10. That's actually saying a lot, considering it's competition.
Bottom line: GREAT f'ing car, especially for the money. Good enough that I still troll the site, continue to manage the "Top Track Times" thread, and low-key shopping another.

 

[omfgzilla]

I approve this message.
Previous owner of a 2014 lamborghini huracan lp610 until I sold it off. Then the sports car bug started to itch again so then I landed on my childhood dream car. My top 2 best cars I've ever driven as well lol

 

[HandShiftedICE]

What would you say about Integra Type S, M2 manual, and CT4-V Blackwing from your experience?

 

[MisterSkiz]

Here's a list of cars that I've driven multiple times but have not personally owned:

• Lexus IS500

I've owned my IS-F for 18 years now - wonderful car for a daily but the Supra craps all over it.

 

[illidelph]

What would you say about Integra Type S, M2 manual, and CT4-V Blackwing from your experience?

Supra is better than all of them in my opinion. ITS feels like a kid's car compared to the supra. It feels really cheap comparatively (even though it is cheaper), but I would just spend the extra money. The G87 feels very numb, though a more luxurious space to be in. Blackwing is probably the closest to being fun to the supra, but didn't really feel that special to me. The M2 was probably the least interesting car for me out of the 3.

 

[jchadwell]

Interesting discussion. I traded my Supra for a 26 RS3 last November. I agree with your assessment. They are two seriously fun and great performing cars that also make solid dailies provided two seats are enough for you. I traded the Supra simply because I’d had it for 5 years and get bored after a while and also my wife didn’t like it and wouldn’t ride with me. She’ll now go places with me in my car instead of always having to take her Jeep.

The AWD launches are hilariously fun especially on the JB4 E20 map. The RS3 is an 11.3-11.5 car with only the JB4 and a few gallons of ethanol while the Supra went a best of 11.9 with a JB4 on a custom map6. They are also both in the same autocross class and my times this year have been pretty much exactly the same in the RS3 as in previous years in the Supra relative to existing local competitors. I’m consistently top three in pax in both cars. Your observation about turbo lag is the only thing even mildly negative about the RS3. Maybe if we didn’t drive the Supras as well it wouldn’t be that noticeable but it is definitely weaker down low. The Supra just pulled hard from everywhere while the RS3 has measurable lag at the bottom. Makes sense though given one less cylinder and a bigger turbo running higher pressures.
Bottom line, these are my top two as well and I really can’t say I prefer one over the other. Love them both.

 

[OF Hero]

As someone taking delivery of one of the last ‘26 Supras soon, this thread makes me excited.

 

[HandShiftedICE]

Supra is better than all of them in my opinion. ITS feels like a kid's car compared to the supra. It feels really cheap comparatively (even though it is cheaper), but I would just spend the extra money. The G87 feels very numb, though a more luxurious space to be in. Blackwing is probably the closest to being fun to the supra, but didn't really feel that special to me. The M2 was probably the least interesting car for me out of the 3.

Very nice. Thanks. It's always good to hear opinions from someone who actually experienced/tried them.

 

[Timmy_Jones]

I went from a brand new, off the lot 2013 Scion FRS to a used 2017 Focus RS to my 23' Supra brand new off the lot and honestly....I wish I could keep all 3

Most fun I have ever had in a car was the bolt-on Focus RS with some mean snow tires in the crazy snow storms around here. Had the aluminum skid plate as well, just an absolute monster.

Best car I have owned is the Supra

The FRS has a special spot in my heart, what a blast it was. Had the header + Open Flash Tablet tune + sticky 245 tires. Absolute blast!

 

[26StratMT]

Loving my new Supra MT, it’s been almost 10 years since I was able to row my own gears and I really missed it.
It’s a fantastic car all around and really fun to drive.
I think it would be difficult to live with as an only car but I also have a truck so it’s an easy mostly daily for me.

 

[concept]

I've driven some nice cars:
2019 McLaren 570S Spider
2020 Porsche 911 4S cabriolet
2018 Lexus LC500
2015 BMW i8
2015 and 2022 Corvettes
Ferrari 488 GTB (track, only)

While I can't say my GR Supra outperforms them all, it is by far the best car I've ever owned.

The McLaren was the fastest and best handling on the street and got lots of attention/comments from people of all ages.

The i8 and LC also got attention.

The Porsche mostly blends into other cars, as there are so many 911s and C8s in Southern California.

But in the end, my choice became a bang-for-the-buck/exclusivity decision. I loved that aspect of the McLaren and i8, but their costs were just too high, and reliability is questionable.
Somewhat not-surprisingly, most of the attention my Supra gets is from 12-25 year-olds. High schoolers can stop looking at it. Its handling, exhaust sound, hatch space, and reliability are more than enough to keep me very happy. Before I bought it, I had a deposit on a Lotus Emira, but based upon forum chat, many were having electrical glitches that are not good signs if reliability is important.

I also have a salvage title NC Miata PRHT. That is starting to get more attention, is a blast to drive with its manual transmission and power hard top. But as you all know power and acceleration is not its strong suite.

 

[jmikes]

Only non-boring-commute car i've owned besides my Supra is the 370Z Base 7AT I had for a couple of years before it. Allow me to talk way too much about it...

It isn't even a comparison which one is better, there is not a single aspect about it that I liked more than the Supra. I spent a ridiculous amount of money on mods for it just to make it something I actually wanted to own only to sell it for a loss to get the Supra.

The Supra looks better hands down. The Z is not an ugly car by any means, but bone stock they look very dated and relatively boring. To me they demand a front lip, a spoiler of some kind, wheels, and tinting the lights doesn't hurt because man did they not age well being bright plasticy chrome/red.

The VQ37 is a decent engine but has zero power below 4000 RPM and needs quite a few supporting mods to reliably handle boost, not to mention turbo kits being $9000+ for it (which is half of what the car is worth)

The Jatco 7AT in the 370z is a slushbox compared to the ZF8. Slower and clunkier shifts of course, but 1st gear is geared too high to be usable for anything, and 6th/7th gear are economy gears that shift extra slow and always fail when you turbo these things. Oh, and it maxes out safely at 400 torque, so if you do want to boost it you don't have a lot of head room before you gotta get the trans built.

The exhaust sound is no contest, the VQ sounds like crap, the only thing you can do is get cams and equal length long tube headers, at which point it will sound moderately passable instead of terrible.

Handling in the Supra even with stock suspension is better and sharper to me, and I had done coilovers on my 370z.

And don't get me started on how bad the interior is. You could get a 2020 370z without the "tech package" and get no infotainment; just an old school cheap looking radio. The interior plastics were cheap and rubbery feeling, the seats were okay but the seat controls were Fisher Price levels of cheap plastic, and those oh so cool gauge pods on the center had 2 of them dedicated to battery voltage and a digital clock...

And of course the power wasn't enough for me. Made around 320 WHP with full bolt ons and a not-amazing tune. That was fun and quick but I wanted more, but the only way to get more was to spend $10,000 not including install and tune on a turbo/SC kit (and more on supporting mods) or spend even more than that pushing for high 300's to 400 N/A if you went cams/stroker kit/etc.

The only good thing about that car was how reliable it was. I never had a single issue with it besides a keyfob dying on me which isn't the car's fault.

Ultimately I spent a LOT of money on that 370z desperately trying to make myself love it, but I never truly did. Bolt ons, lots of visual mods, interior mods including custom infotainment, suspension mods, etc etc nothing ever truly made me like the car. I really should have just not modified it at all, would have been able to afford a Supra a year or two sooner.

 

[kaj]

I had a deposit on a Lotus Emira,

It's interesting how many of us almost went down this road. I had looked into these for a while after seeing an Evora. I thought I was the only one, since I never saw anyone talking about them. When I started digging, it turned out a lot of people had considered the Emira but then ultimately decided not to pull the trigger. I decided it wasn't for me, also.

Only non-boring-commute car i've owned besides my Supra is the 370Z Base 7AT I had for a couple of years before it. Allow me to talk way too much about it...

I almost bought a 350z once, but then I test drove it. Not a 370z, but same chassis, etc, so close enough. It didn't catch my interest, but that's mostly because of the car I was coming out of. I've only (personally) known ONE guy that loved his 350 (nostalgia is powerful) because he won at least one SCCA Solo championship with it, but let's just say it wasn't the car's doing. He later raced for Nissan and they had him in a 370 for a time before the GTR GT3 car. I think he ended up on the podium once. It's relative. To some (like you, now, I'm guessing) the 350/370 is greatly underwhelming from a performance point of view.
Not a big deal for a street car, though. For some people that's enough. The average person raves about the 350/370 performance and sound, while it's not really a consideration for anyone going the motorsports route.
Personally, I've always thought they are pretty cool street cars. I like the look and sound of both.

 

[jmikes]

It's interesting how many of us almost went down this road. I had looked into these for a while after seeing an Evora. I thought I was the only one, since I never saw anyone talking about them. When I started digging, it turned out a lot of people had considered the Emira but then ultimately decided not to pull the trigger. I decided it wasn't for me, also.



I almost bought a 350z once, but then I test drove it. Not a 370z, but same chassis, etc, so close enough. It didn't catch my interest, but that's mostly because of the car I was coming out of. I've only (personally) known ONE guy that loved his 350 (nostalgia is powerful) because he won at least one SCCA Solo championship with it, but let's just say it wasn't the car's doing. He later raced for Nissan and they had him in a 370 for a time before the GTR GT3 car. I think he ended up on the podium once. It's relative. To some (like you, now, I'm guessing) the 350/370 is greatly underwhelming from a performance point of view.
Not a big deal for a street car, though. For some people that's enough. The average person raves about the 350/370 performance and sound, while it's not really a consideration for anyone going the motorsports route.
Personally, I've always thought they are pretty cool street cars. I like the look and sound of both.

Yeah, performance wasn't really enough for me (to be fair, I'd driven my sister's tuned R35 and her husband's 500+ WHP 300ZX a few times and rode in them dozens of times and it completely spoiled low-ish horsepower for me), though I don't do much motorsports I just like to cruise and maybe gun it a bit on side/back roads when it's safe and there's nobody around.

I really like how 350/370z's look with the right mods, but bone stock they don't really look the best to me, a little too plain/round.

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