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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

tvr Chimaera and supra


mr keef
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It was the Cerbera they tested - it was a trip to the Isle of Man - the last page with the performance results and their summary can be seen here:

 

http://www.megaboost.co.uk/supra/articles/topgear-july96-11.jpg

 

If I was buying new at that time I suspect I'd have taken the Cerbera and spent the £5500 saving over the Supra on AA, RAC and Green Flag memberships just to be sure ;)

 

 

Have you got the rest of the artical?

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I've seen too many of them on AA flatbeds, or waiting for one on the hard shoulder.

Too many, considering the very low numbers being sold.

 

They sound masculine yes, look good yes, but when it comes to reliability and ease of servicing, Toyota is on the other end of the spectrum.

 

They lack R&D big time though. For example 2 years ago when the temps went through the roof, people with Tuscans found out that the windscreens were only fixed to expand so much, and cracked under the sun.

Mass manufacturers like Toyota have their prototypes in the desert and in ice-cold condtions and extreme rain as a matter of course...different league, with a TVR you are the beta-tester

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I've seen too many of them on AA flatbeds, or waiting for one on the hard shoulder.

Too many, considering the very low numbers being sold.

 

They sound masculine yes, look good yes, but when it comes to reliability and ease of servicing, Toyota is on the other end of the spectrum.

 

They lack R&D big time though. For example 2 years ago when the temps went through the roof, people with Tuscans found out that the windscreens were only fixed to expand so much, and cracked under the sun.

Mass manufacturers like Toyota have their prototypes in the desert and in ice-cold condtions and extreme rain as a matter of course...different league, with a TVR you are the beta-tester

 

 

Agree in part - the RV8's are as simple as a simple thing in simpleville to fix - crap for tuning though at £1000 per 10bhp gained. It's stupid things that ruin the RV8's, like starter motors getting too hot while in petrol stations. The AJP8's and SP6's are a different kettle of fish.

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Mass manufacturers like Toyota have their prototypes in the desert and in ice-cold condtions and extreme rain as a matter of course...different league, with a TVR you are the beta-tester

 

True up until Smolensky took over but one of his big changes was to improve testing and quality control - this meant that he sent cars for hot and cold weather testing (both available in Blackpool surely?) and delayed Tuscan 2 and Sagaris until they were produced properly.

 

Of course the cars are still fairly bespoke so there is always room for error if Ernie decides to drop a cheese sandwich in the block or Betty uses the wrong cotton on the dash leather but they are improving as time goes on.

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But you know Top Gear is full of shit dont ya Michael.

 

LOL of course but the mag tends to be a lot better than the TV show when it comes to accuracy, the article is very well written and takes on the opinions of 3 people who each drive the 3 cars - the figures for the Supra are low but I guess they were tested in the same conditions as the others and given that 2 of the 3 ended the article by saying they would have the Supra rather than the TVR or M3 I'm guessing there was no real bias... but I could be wrong :)

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4.5's punt out 360ish, and need a LOT of work to get them close the the specified 420bhp. They are devestatingly fast because they weigh sod all.

Weight isn't usually an issue above 130mph, but when you are giving away 450-500kg, you're toast in my experiance.

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Agreed, it's interesting that the Supra beats the Cerbera and M3 in Mcanny's link to the test...in all the in gear tests...but loses out in the thru the gears test? Bizarre as it would only need 2nd & 3rd a smidge of all at full boost. Also look at those rubbish 1/4 and 0-60times...driven by someone who hasn't a clue me thinks? Probably someone who can't get his head round the fact the 6-speed needs launching and holding at 4,000rpm to get the second turbo involved as soon as grip allows.

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