Hi and a question on Supra suitability

Hi

Going through a mid life crisis at 49.Think that the Supra is absolutely stunning as a car, but ask what it's suitability in eating up the miles.I average 1000 miles a week, 50% M25 crawl and the rest 70mph + motorway work.

My current steed is 2005 S Class Mercedes, a wonderful, effortless cruiser - but no fun, as sensation- less at any speed even 100mph + ( in Germany of course).

Is the Supra a credible alternative, to eating up the miles, comfortably and fun !!!!!

Look forward to your views

Many thanks

James

oh it will be fun

James - it is, 5 years down the road and its still fun

Harder, more sporty ride than S class. No idea about difference in fuel figures. We have Supe doin' 350 - 370 a tank of V power,

down to 250 a tank.

Fun and grin factor 200 out of a 100. Ability to carve hole in wallet is way up there, especially if you mod.

tbh thats probably what a supra does best..............mile munch

just need to be careful picking one, then you can look forward to many miles of pretty much hassle free motoring.....

auto box is very well regarded and will be good for the M25.....

Manual and sportier suspension models are about, just depends on how far away from the Merc towards 'sporty/fun' you wish to go.........

My bro has an S500 Merc and in terms of comfort for mile munching, it did have the upper hand.

Similarly, the old man had a Lexus LS400 which was comfortable to ride in as a passenger but gave no real pleasure to the driver.

You need a test drive to prove it for yourself but these are effortless motorway cruisers and if only looking at stock or BPU, you should find reliability and comfort without any problem.

Auto is fabulous for traffic jam driving and motorway use whilst the manual with an uprated clutch can be hard work.

Economy I'd say not much in it if you drive the Merc and Supe the same way as I know my bro spent as much on petrol as me when we did a long drive together once.

Just my 2p worth but provided you don't need lots of storage space (don't get me wrong, for a supercar the Supe has a very respectable amount of storage).

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Pete

1000 miles a week ? Crikey.

Supras are very comfortable long distance.

Motorway MPG low to mid 20s for the TT to high 20s for the N/A.

Patience needed when searching for a well maintained low miler.

Although the mileage you will be doing wont be an issue to a Supra (if looked after) it may be a good idea to go for a standard one, mechanically simpler, quieter exhaust, cheaper tyres etc.

Out of interest, I was stopped by a guy at a Petrol Station in Newbury about 3 weeks back who was asking a lot of questions about the Supra. The guy in question said he was thinking of swapping his Merc for a Supra, was it yourself.

I was driving the white auto.

I think you will find that the Supra is excellent for eating up the miles especially with regards to reliability.

My only concern is that the Supra would not be as refined as you have come to expect from your Merc. It is a sports coupe so the ride is a little harder and you hear the engine more (but it is a lovely sound when you extend it).

My advice would be to try one out and see what you think. I think you will be impressed by the performance if nothing else.

for those that replied, your enthusiasm swung it for e , let alone the objective advice

can any one reccomend a dealer that a Supra can be seen, or test driven.I live in Camberley near Reading, and have offices in Swindon and Watford

best regards

James

Due to their age, you don't tend to see many supras on garage forecourts these days. I think your best bet would be to look on Autotrader and narrow the search to "dealers only".

It's a bit of a drive but not hugely so for a guy who does the 1,000's you do! but I would recommend visiting Paul Whiffin over in Enfield. He knows the Supe inside and out, always has or can source very clean low mileage TT manuals but may be able to get an auto if you wanted one.

Other options include asking if there are any club members near to one of those locations and seeing if they will pop round and take you out for a drive in their cars.

Glad you are ehthused though as these really are great cars.

Jurgen also offers some superb cars but not sure what he has available to try in the UK as such as most of them are from auction sites and are bought prior to import.

Cheers.

Pete

Magnums have one for sale in North Camp that you could probably try. The only thing is it's well over priced for the year.

I used to use mine as a daily driver and if you counted the weekend, did at least 1000 miles per week with no issues.

As above it was designed as a GT car and will eat miles effortlessly, but when you want to have fun you certainly can

Spend your time looking for an unmolested car, i suspect a uk car (if you don't mind a wait) would be a slightly better option due to softer spring and damper combo.

Good luck with your search, try Jurgen or Whifbitz for a japanese import, they could buy a car to the spec you were looking for, if you can wait till september you should be able to get a low mileage early vvti Supra.