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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Just had a look at a Supra- some q's...


Gazboy
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Hi, my wife and I have just returned from Leicester after looking at a twin turbo auto:

 

The odometer- the dealer said the car had 60k on the phone, but when we had a look it had 95,500 miles. He said that it had done so-and so in Km's then it was converted into miles, is this normal? Shall I just treat the car as if it's done 95,000 miles, not Km's???

 

The fan was always on- is that ok?

 

The number plate was C10 JSH- did anybody here own it???

 

Cheers chaps :)

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Has it had a UK owner or is it freshly registered? By the number plate, i am assuming it was owned before so the chances of all those 95k being km's is slim. What normally happens is the car will come over with x amount of KM's and then be converted to MPH so from x amount will then show miles.

 

HTH

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Has it had a UK owner or is it freshly registered? By the number plate, i am assuming it was owned before so the chances of all those 95k being km's is slim. What normally happens is the car will come over with x amount of KM's and then be converted to MPH so from x amount will then show miles.

 

HTH

 

 

It's had 3 UK keepers- well, I think one was a garage as it wasn't there very long.

 

I thought it'd be 95k miles- not to worry too much, it SEEMED to be in good health (I couldn't belive how quiet it was).

 

The tyres were 225/35/18 all round- should it have wider tyres at the back?

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It's had 3 UK keepers- well, I think one was a garage as it wasn't there very long.

 

I thought it'd be 95k miles- not to worry too much, it SEEMED to be in good health (I couldn't belive how quiet it was).

 

The tyres were 225/35/18 all round- should it have wider tyres at the back?

 

 

To me, if the ODO actually says 'miles' it's been converted. As CJ said, it would have had, say 70,000 kilometers when it forst came over, then after the conversion, everything else would have been in miles.

 

As for tyres, the rears should be at least 255 as that's what Toyota designed the car for...

As a guide, most people with 18's have something like 245 fronts and 275 rears

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The fan was always on- is that ok?

 

If your talking about the big fan just behind the radiator, it's always running. I think all the smaller elecrtic fans are temprature controlled. or with air con coming into action etc..

 

The tyre width seems a bit on the slim side, The standard 17inch wheels have 255 rears and 235 fronts.

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It's had 3 UK keepers- well, I think one was a garage as it wasn't there very long.

 

I thought it'd be 95k miles- not to worry too much, it SEEMED to be in good health (I couldn't belive how quiet it was).

 

The tyres were 225/35/18 all round- should it have wider tyres at the back?

 

 

Gaz, have you seen any others?

 

This all smacks of being impressed by the car and you are in danger of overlooking the mileage / wheel issue cause you liked it so much.

 

Trust me I know what its like, but believe me they are nearly all 'that quiet' and in good health.

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If you don't want flashy you would do better to stick to stock sized 17" wheels and tyres. The car will handle better and they're cheaper to buy/replace.

You're looking at about £600 for a set of quality 18" tyres (Goodyear/Pirelli etc) and anything from £750 upwards to £Silly for wheels.

 

There's no way I'd drive that car with 225 section tyres on it. You'd probably be in big trouble with your insurance company in the event of an accident claim with those undersize tyres fitted

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I would say you're looking at a minimum of £1100 for some cheap 18" alloys/tyres.

 

You're better off buying some second hand ones which will be better quality.

 

Give us some more info on the car, it might well be recognised by someone.

 

 

It's a 1993 silver TT auto, it is totaly stock, except the dodgy wheels and a rather nice stereo. Beleive it or not it's the nicest of 3 that I've seen.

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It's a 1993 silver TT auto, it is totaly stock, except the dodgy wheels and a rather nice stereo. Beleive it or not it's the nicest of 3 that I've seen.

 

ah so you have seen a few. If you like pretty much everything else about the car then you can do various things IMO.

 

Firstly check the rear wheel width. Someone may have just put cheap thin tyres on. If the rim is 8" or more then i think 245's would be ok to put on which brings the width back to stock (for previously 16" wheeled sup's)

 

It's not ideal having 8" rears but if the tyres/wheels aren't new then someone else has managed ok! they just haven't been able to explore the sup's full potential, and neither will you!

 

Also tyre makes can have massive effects on the grip / handling, so IMO your possible 225 and 245 18" set up could be better than someone else's stock 235 and 255 17" setup due to the tyres involved. Obviously with equal tyres the stock wheel option or buying correct width aftermarket alloys will be best.

 

What i'm saying is, a possible cost effective solution is fit a good 245 tyre to the rears (if 8" wide) and see how you get on. You need to be careful early on but then that goes for any supra regardless of wheels/tyres.

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Is this the car?

 

1993 TOYOTA Supra 3.0 Twin Turbo,

with private plate, outstanding Silver with full unmarked Black leather, low miles, every extra, traction control, air con, e/w, e/m, PAS, ABS, airbag, Toad Cat 1 alarm, 18in alloys, uprated sound system, 11 months MOT, looks and drives superb, p/x a pleasure, open 7 days till late, bargain. £7,995.

JAP SPORTS LTD

Silver TT.jpg

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With the mileage thing, I found that my car had been converted from 76,000 km when it came over to 46,000 miles (I know this as the original KM's were written on the back of the ODO display unit, which you can see when you remove the dash).

 

However, since it's been converted, it's been counting up in KM's again, and not miles :mad: . My car has now done 61,000 miles according to the readout, but it's really 46,000 miles + 15,000 km = 55,900 miles.

 

Maybe that's what the dealer dude meant?

 

Cheers, J :thumbs:

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Is this the car?

 

1993 TOYOTA Supra 3.0 Twin Turbo,

with private plate, outstanding Silver with full unmarked Black leather, low miles, every extra, traction control, air con, e/w, e/m, PAS, ABS, airbag, Toad Cat 1 alarm, 18in alloys, uprated sound system, 11 months MOT, looks and drives superb, p/x a pleasure, open 7 days till late, bargain. £7,995.

JAP SPORTS LTD

 

 

Yep, that's it. I've just spoken to the dealer again, the 3 previous (which i saw on the HPI form) 'owners' were 1, the original importer, 2, a lady owner who had it for 3 years, 8 months, then 3, the dealer.

 

Inside it is like a new car, someone has really looked after the inside, or it's had a recent retrim. The other two I saw weren't even close in condition, but I'll put 17 inch alloys on, and at some point the UK brakes.

 

My missus has absolutely fallen in love with it.

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With the mileage thing, I found that my car had been converted from 76,000 km when it came over to 46,000 miles (I know this as the original KM's were written on the back of the ODO display unit, which you can see when you remove the dash).

 

However, since it's been converted, it's been counting up in KM's again, and not miles :mad: . My car has now done 61,000 miles according to the readout, but it's really 46,000 miles + 15,000 km = 55,900 miles.

 

Maybe that's what the dealer dude meant?

 

Cheers, J :thumbs:

 

That's roughly how he explained it I think - god I hate imports at times.

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Looks fair enough to me ; but there are a few around.

If you have basic knowledge of what to look for when buying second hand, and have read up on what to look for on here there is always a point where you have to decide, and more often than not thats done on gut feeling.

 

Are there any details of oil changes/other service info or any obvious probs with bodywork; if not it seems like a good price to me.

 

just my 2 bobs worth; I bought from a member here and I trusted him to some extent. I have had the car for 18 months and have had a few bits fail but nothing serious at all.

 

good luck and welcome.

 

50

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You'll need at least 8" wide fronts and 8.5" wide rears. Best to go for 8.5"F and 9"R though if you can get those sizes. Take a lower offset than stock (ET45??), around ET35 or slightly lower if you can find this to help promote the nice wide stance look (wheels not recessed inside the arches). If going aftermarket you're more likely to get the wide sizes in 18" or above and these look best on a Supra. There is wheel weight to consider though when making your choice as heavier wheels add to unsprung mass - the stock 16" and UK / late import spec 17" wheels are pretty light. If you want decent 17" wheels with the right widths your best bet is the UK / late import spec ones.

 

Cheers,

 

Brian.

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Just one point, when I bought my Supra I unwittingly bought it with undersized wheels they were 7J all round where they should have been 7.5 or 8J front and 9.5 J rear(please correct me if J sizes arent exact) so when I came to purchase 'correct tyres' they would not fit on. This resulted in me having to buy a whole new set of wheels as well as tyres.

 

Matt

 

Oops sorry TDr didnt see your post :baa:

 

I spoke to Ibrar Jaffar of Pro Alloys on this forum and he found a decent set of wheels tyres for a good price. There are quite a few chaps on here doing wheel n tyre combo's that are v helpful including Ibrar.

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Right, after sleeping on it, and looking at another Supra- I'm going for the leicestershire car (I have a commuter econobox for work/shopping/stuff).

I've pre-ordered some 18 inch 5 spokes, nice and clean, not fussy, not bling, just the absolute pinnicle of boring (I'm fed up of nice stuff perishing).

I can't remember the sizes, but it's something like 245/40/18 & 275/40/18.

 

Time to crack open a bottle of brave pills!!

 

Cheers for all the advice and help chaps!!!

 

Gaz

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