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Hello,

 

I've been contemplating getting a supra for a while now, so before I decide to invest my hard-earned (or even save my hard-earned!) in one, I wanted to make sure I got all my knowledge right in the world of Supras.

 

Bit of background info for you - My name's Andy, 20 years young, herald from Portsmouth (and therefore massive pompey fan!), and love my cars, anything Jap and with a turbo and I go mental! Drive some haggard old VW Golf (mk3 GL, 1.6l, and not worth the money I spend on petrol for it [ANGRY][/ANGRY]), hence my desire to look for something else.

 

Ok, now I'm gonna sound really stupid and immature, but here goes my first round of questions for you experienced types to help get me on my way....

 

My mate today got his grubby mits on a new Astra VXR (for his 21st no less, the lucky git!), and now a serious car envy demon has got under my bonnet.

 

I've been looking around for ages for something that can keep up with it. Now, obviously, my age is the limiting factor on what I can get, plus I'm not stupid enough to plonk myself straight into a TT supra, as that's just death waiting to happen, so here's my main questions:

 

If I get a supra, it'll obviously be a non-turbo - what kind of power do they run stock? And, if I get one, and when I reach that magical age where insurance prices drop (25 I believe it is?), can I simply whack a turbo conversion in there, with the trimmings required, or would it be better just to sell the N/A and get one with a turbo?

 

Also, how 'friendly' are theN/A's to drive? It's a serious leap from some dung-heap 1.6 to a 3.0L monster, so I know there'll be a large degree of re-tuning my driving abilities, but would it be a step too far?

 

Last one (honest!), I've been toying with either a supra, or a Nissan 200sx, possibly S14, definitely manual, 2.0L turbo. Which one would be better? I know this is a supra forum, so preferences will of course emerge (and Iwon't blame you if they do), but has anyone got any comparative knowledge on both cars, and if so, which would be a better investment?

 

I know I sound daft, and probably like I don't know what I'm doing, but any help would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks, and I'll be trying to get my supra knowledge up to speed enough so that I don't sound like a n00b all the time.

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Guest SupraTroopa

A UK spec TT insurance is not unheard of for 20 year olds.

 

and yes, you will notice a big difference between the 1.6 golf and the NA supra! They are 225bhp I think standard.

 

Oh and buying a powerful RWD car to race your mates VXR sounds like a dangerous game as it sounds like you don't have any experience of RWD cars. I'd stay careful and get used to the car, a few members have died from this forum.

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Very good first post, its a refreshing change to the norm. The questions you ask are by no means stupid, in fact you are coming across as very level headed and sensible with regards to not jumping in feet first.

 

The N/A when it ran off the factory line came with 225bhp. If you get a healthy one and mod it you will see 230-240 (if your lucky). You will struggle to keep with a VXR. If you launch very well it would be neck and neck till about 40 then he would pull on you. You MIGHT reel him in at silly silly speeds but in the twisties he would destroy you.

 

Depending on how aggresively he drives he would most likely leave a TT too. To drive these cars on the limit takes a LOT of skill. Very few of us will take the risks required to drive them hard as they are our pride and joys. Its a completely different kettle of fish from a FWD car.

 

Anyway, advice. I would advise you go for an N/A. Get one as cheap as you possibly can as you will need to put the money aside for insurance. Do some sensible mods to get the feel of the car, try to do as much as you can yourself. You have LOADS of options.

 

I would stick with that for a year or two. After that time you will have had a good deal of time to put some money away as long as a good deal of experience with driving a RWD car. Next step is an unmolested TT. Its up to yourself if you want to go BPU or not but you would really have to feel it first.

 

You will get a reasonable manual N/A for 5k. I would recommend the manual as it just feels like you are more a part of the car, in a bit more control of whats going on. Don't discount the auto's though. The boxes are excellent and you would save a few pennies :D

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Thanks for the comments guys. I took a look around some of the FAQ's, probably what I should've done in the first place, so that's helped me out a bit.

 

I've so far only used the likes of confused.com to get some ball-park quotes, for the n/a I get around £1300 fully comp, for the TT arond £2600 fully comp. Obvously, I'll phone around for the best deals.

 

SupraTroopa, thank you for the concern. This is part of the reason I wanted to ask these kinds of questions, as you are right - I have very limited experience with RWD cars, and therefore want to tread cautiously instead of flinging myself straight into it and getting caught short.

 

I'm hoping to enrol myself on a RWD driving course at Silverstone during the summer, to get some experience under my belt before I unleash myself in anything RWD on the roads. An unexperienced driver in a car they can't handle can, at times, be as bad as a drunk driver on the roads. A few years ago, someone did lose their life on a road not far from me whilst driving a supra, so I want to do the upmost I can to ensure that I won't be next.

 

ScottM, fantastic advice there, thanks. I am steering more towards the N/A anyway, for the reasons I stated above about the TT - I wouldn't want to get in a car I'm scared of, so a TT is instantly a no-no.

 

And anyway, he can have the speed, I can have the looks (ergo the laydeez!), it's all good :-p

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Guest SupraTroopa
Thanks for the comments guys. I took a look around some of the FAQ's, probably what I should've done in the first place, so that's helped me out a bit.

 

I've so far only used the likes of confused.com to get some ball-park quotes, for the n/a I get around £1300 fully comp, for the TT arond £2600 fully comp. Obvously, I'll phone around for the best deals.

 

SupraTroopa, thank you for the concern. This is part of the reason I wanted to ask these kinds of questions, as you are right - I have very limited experience with RWD cars, and therefore want to tread cautiously instead of flinging myself straight into it and getting caught short.

 

I'm hoping to enrol myself on a RWD driving course at Silverstone during the summer, to get some experience under my belt before I unleash myself in anything RWD on the roads. An unexperienced driver in a car they can't handle can, at times, be as bad as a drunk driver on the roads. A few years ago, someone did lose their life on a road not far from me whilst driving a supra, so I want to do the upmost I can to ensure that I won't be next.

 

ScottM, fantastic advice there, thanks. I am steering more towards the N/A anyway, for the reasons I stated above about the TT - I wouldn't want to get in a car I'm scared of, so a TT is instantly a no-no.

 

And anyway, he can have the speed, I can have the looks (ergo the laydeez!), it's all good :-p

 

Yeah it sounds like you've got your head screwed on. The best places to look for quotes on a supra (in my experience) are places like adrian flux or norwich union. You could also try the club insurer, sky who apparently are good although I haven't used them myself.

 

Anyway, welcome to the club anyway! And good luck on the supra search!

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Yeah it sounds like you've got your head screwed on. The best places to look for quotes on a supra (in my experience) are places like adrian flux or norwich union. You could also try the club insurer, sky who apparently are good although I haven't used them myself.

 

Anyway, welcome to the club anyway! And good luck on the supra search!

 

Pretty sure those are over 21's only... maybe not though :)

 

20 is a PITA age. Once you hit 21 you will have a good shout. Under 1500 for a supra is bloody good mate. Make sure you keep the reference :)

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Guest SupraTroopa
Pretty sure those are over 21's only... maybe not though :)

 

20 is a PITA age. Once you hit 21 you will have a good shout. Under 1500 for a supra is bloody good mate. Make sure you keep the reference :)

 

doh, my bad. I keep assuming everyone is entitled to the same as me forgetting that Im 21!

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Cheers Scott, will do - it's saved onto my confused.com account anyway. And yeah, £1500 is a good quote, I tried a quote for a VXR, £2300, and my mate somehow managed to get £800! Although, you're dead right on the PITA thing - just tried the same quote on a N/A supra, changed the d.o.b so it said I'm 21, with 4 years NCB - £718 from elephant.co.uk! f**k me that's cheap!

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One thing you could look into would be admiral's multicar quotes? If there are other cars in your household, your parents etc, they could bring the price right down.

 

I use a multicar policy on a modified supra tt, a modified MR2 turbo and a modified 106 GTi...... £1048 :D

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Cheers guys.

 

Another Toyota I've been thinking about are the Starlet Glanza V's - are they any good? I know they're nothing compared to the supra's, but I'm starting to worry myself about running the risk of 'biting more off than I can chew' with a supra.

 

Or, would it be better off to go with the middle man - a celica GT-four? I'll be honest and admit I don't know much about the Celica's models, I'm assuming the GT-four is the best model out of the Celica family?

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Welcome bud :)

 

:yeahthat:

 

I've been hunting for insurance the last couple of weeks, seeing as my renewal is due. The cheapest I got on Confused.com was £2500 with a £800 excess :blink:

 

Your best bet would be Admiral/Elephant.

 

Jeeessuss, How old are you if you dont mind me asking Jamesy ?

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Cheers guys.

 

Another Toyota I've been thinking about are the Starlet Glanza V's - are they any good? I know they're nothing compared to the supra's, but I'm starting to worry myself about running the risk of 'biting more off than I can chew' with a supra.

 

Or, would it be better off to go with the middle man - a celica GT-four? I'll be honest and admit I don't know much about the Celica's models, I'm assuming the GT-four is the best model out of the Celica family?

 

Don't scare yourself off mate. You will be perfectly fine in an N/A supra. It has loads of poke but none scary unexpected boost moments.

 

I honestly think it would be more dangerous going from a 4wd to a RWD as you won't have learned not to accelerate and brake in coners like you can with AWD. I went from an evo V to an MR2 turbo and that thing felt like death with a steering wheel. Took quite a bit of getting used to after falling asleep with the evo.

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Don't scare yourself off mate. You will be perfectly fine in an N/A supra. It has loads of poke but none scary unexpected boost moments.

Yes. I have an NA, and they're well behaved unless you don't want them to be. :) Although as others have said, the Vauxhall VXR is a very quick beast. Many nippy versions of modern small/medium cars (Fiesta ST, Vauxhall VXR etc) will keep up with an NA, which is a powerful but heavy car.

 

...and therefore massive pompey fan!

 

Never mind, eh? We've all got our crosses to bear. :D

 

Good first post by the way, good to hear from someone who's thought about it a bit.

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i wont repeat what everyone else has said because they are all right.

Just get a very nice NA supra and rest assured yours looks so much nicer. You will be the one getting the attention in your "ferrari supercar" while he looks like he is off down the shops in his "soccer mom" car :p

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Welcome to the club :)

 

Remember, if you cut back on the pies a little, in time, should save weight, therefore money, therefore allowing you to use money saved as an additional contribution towards your insurance premium.

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