Why take a NSX over a SupraTT?

I always wanted a Supra but they were a fortune when I was looking. So I bought a E36 M3 instead. Fun but still not the same:wink:
 
I think the main reason is that the Supra, no matter how much pwr you make with it (almost too easy w/ the 2JZ), will always feel a bit heavy (it is). I don't feel it gives you as much of the 'pure' sports car experience as the NSX. Oh, and the NSX looks / is more exotic, alum construction, mid engine, rare.
And chicks dig 'em :smile:
 
The Kid said:
I always wanted a Supra but they were a fortune when I was looking. So I bought a E36 M3 instead. Fun but still not the same:wink:
Click to expand...

Exact same situation here. I got my E36 M3 after realizing the high Supra costs then got rid of the M3 to get the NSX. I just thought the NSX was more rare in my area. While the Supra isn't that common around here, the NSX is much more exclusive.
 
The MKIV Supra is like a Japanese muscle car. Almost unlimited and cheap power potential, neck snapping acceleration and endless tire smoking capability. It's like drivng a supercharged stang or a Viper without the crappy interior, poor build quality, fast depreciation, and general shame felt by most domestic car owners ;)

The NSX as we all know, would be better described as a Japanese Ferrari. Not as much power, but nothing beats a low 2 seater mid engine car with loads of sex appeal.
 
I like the Supra a lot, but if I would pick a RX7 before a Supra.

I've never driven one, so I could be 100% wrong, but they just don't look like they could turn fast. Looks more like a muscle car.
 
Do these comparisons come up often? The same discussion is going on at Supraforums right now.

I have both and I have to say that the NSX is more fun to drive on local streets. On the highway, the Supra is a ton more fun. The only thing is, while the Supra has neck-snapping acceleration, it isn't really suitable for public roads. The NSX is feels more nimble around corners, which makes it more fun on the weekends when I run errands. The NSX feels more balanced. I don't have any experience road racing, so all of this is just my non-professional opinion.

My Supra is stock, so maybe someone who had a more upgraded/modified Supra can give more feedback.

For me, I picked up the NSX because it seemed like a great deal. Otherwise, I probably would have held out for a Zanardi or 97+ coupe. I just like the Japanese sports cars of the 90's and hope to pick them all up one day.
 
Had too many young punk kids hit me up everytime I drove the supra around....

Changed to the NSX and now the Older guys with Vettes try to hit me up on the road ways...! :rolleyes:

either way the Supra is too much like a rice car now since that F & F movie!:mad:
 
The Supra Turbo is a very capable yet very different platform. I owned one awhile back, after my 3000 GT VR4. As we all are aware it is 'relatively' cost effective to extract power from it as it is natively turbo.

Fun when you are young on the street I had a blast with them when I was a kid. I visited with Bruce Numora years ago down in Tracy, and got a first hand glimpse of the built ones down in the sunshine state. We also have a few around my area. It is in no way uncommon to see owners with 450-600 plus rwhp and a lot of bolt-on tuner parts.

However, a lot depends on what you are trying to accomplish. The vast majority of the owners are street or drag/straight line guys. As Brian mentioned to me the other day, owners tend to gravitate towards their chosen platforms strengths and away from its weaknesses.

As a result, they are quantifying 'fast' different than perhaps we might. it won't take long on the Supra forums to realize that as a general rule, the enthusiasts don't auto cross or road race them very often. I can't even remember ever seeing one at a track day up this way in the last five years.

When you are an enthusiast with novice technical skills, fast is fast. Whatever Car and Driver's 0-60 time said. As your technical skills progress you come to realize that road racing has very unique engineering requirements and in general a different story than building a street car. Fast might not be fast. As TurboLexus mentioned, they are a brute. Very heavy, and in general they leave a lot to be desired in terms of chassis and general car setup. In street trim, most of the ones I have seen would fair worse than a C6 Z06 IMO... and let me tell you that is not the best starting point. They are missing all the elements that most of the drivers that have stepped into an NSX will probably never appreciate- brakes, suspension, feel, balance, throttle response, steering, chassis rigidity, more compact design, etc... being too hung up griping about being relatively down on hp. The cold hard truth?

The old adage is- "What is the difference between a 400rwhp Supra, a 600rwhp Supra, and a 800rwhp Supra." The answer? Nothing. Often times, the tuner cars you see will actually run faster lap times if you turn the boost down.

Can they be re-engineered to be fast and fun on a road course? Absolutely. There is one owner in particular from some of the time attacks that come to mind with a stripped pretty bad ass ride. Any production car can be made track fast. It is time, energy, effort, and cubic dollars. The question becomes what you are trying to do.. and obviously certain platforms fair better than others under the knife so to speak. The supra is not as ideal for what I personally do, and in the end I would argue an Elise is still a more capable platform so far as potential.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd probably build one up just because.. what enthusiast under 30 would put there nose up to one? They have an awesome mystique and some good points. But even then it would be a far last priority. The other point is that quite likely, by the time I was done tweeking it out it would in no way resemble what most of the enthusiasts do to them anyway. I'd honestly probably cut a healthy section of the front and rear frame off and tube it out, work very hard on the cage, weight, and change engine position and internals entirely.

In short, learn to appreciate the Supra for it's strengths- and the NSX in turn for its. As the discussion becomes more technical on engineering, the platform differences become very apparent and such mindless chatter fades. Out of the box they have very little in common- not even sitting in the same spacial design plane so far as goals, and thus really should not be compared on forum threads in the first place unless it's over there on the SRO forums.
 
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I had a Supra with basic bolt-ons. With 18 pounds of boost and a few bolt-ons it was ridiculously fast, easily faster than a 996 turbo from a rolling start (i.e., highway race). Would leave stock-ish LS1-powered cars like it they were standing still on the highway. Very reliable. In the hands of a capable driver it is very fast on the track.

After 5 years of ownership I just wanted a change, I guess. I also wised up and stopped driving fast habitually so the power was moot.

Plus it was getting long in the tooth (180k miles). Quite honestly I think it's the best of the 1990's Japanese sports cars when you consider all factors.
 
My picks would be
1.NSX- Overall best styling and quality
2.Skyline R33, R34- Runner up looks nice on the outside, inside not so nice but has a lot of brute power
3.Supra TT- Looks ok from the outside.....interior is left to be desired and has a lot of good power...easy to gain hp....
4.RX7- Looks nice on the outside and interior so so and reliability issues...but fast and easy to gain hp


I'd own them all if I could afford them.
 
Well written John, and I wholeheartedly agree. Thanks for the informative and entertaining post! :)

John@Microsoft said:
The Supra Turbo is a very capable yet very different platform. I owned one awhile back, after my 3000 GT VR4. As we all are aware it is 'relatively' cost effective to extract power from it as it is natively turbo.

Fun when you are young on the street I had a blast with them when I was a kid. I visited with Bruce Numora years ago down in Tracy, and got a first hand glimpse of the built ones down in the sunshine state. We also have a few around my area. It is in no way uncommon to see owners with 450-600 plus rwhp and a lot of bolt-on tuner parts.

However, a lot depends on what you are trying to accomplish. The vast majority of the owners are street or drag/straight line guys. As Brian mentioned to me the other day, owners tend to gravitate towards their chosen platforms strengths and away from its weaknesses.

As a result, they are quantifying 'fast' different than perhaps we might. it won't take long on the Supra forums to realize that as a general rule, the enthusiasts don't auto cross or road race them very often. I can't even remember ever seeing one at a track day up this way in the last five years.

When you are an enthusiast with novice technical skills, fast is fast. Whatever Car and Driver's 0-60 time said. As your technical skills progress you come to realize that road racing has very unique engineering requirements and in general a different story than building a street car. Fast might not be fast. As TurboLexus mentioned, they are a brute. Very heavy, and in general they leave a lot to be desired in terms of chassis and general car setup. In street trim, most of the ones I have seen would fair worse than a C6 Z06 IMO... and let me tell you that is not the best starting point. They are missing all the elements that most of the drivers that have stepped into an NSX will probably never appreciate- brakes, suspension, feel, balance, throttle response, steering, chassis rigidity, more compact design, etc... being too hung up griping about being relatively down on hp. The cold hard truth?

The old adage is- "What is the difference between a 400rwhp Supra, a 600rwhp Supra, and a 800rwhp Supra." The answer? Nothing. Often times, the tuner cars you see will actually run faster lap times if you turn the boost down.

Can they be re-engineered to be fast and fun on a road course? Absolutely. There is one owner in particular from some of the time attacks that come to mind with a stripped pretty bad ass ride. Any production car can be made track fast. It is time, energy, effort, and cubic dollars. The question becomes what you are trying to do.. and obviously certain platforms fair better than others under the knife so to speak. The supra is not as ideal for what I personally do, and in the end I would argue an Elise is still a more capable platform so far as potential.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd probably build one up just because.. what enthusiast under 30 would put there nose up to one? They have an awesome mystique and some good points. But even then it would be a far last priority. The other point is that quite likely, by the time I was done tweeking it out it would in no way resemble what most of the enthusiasts do to them anyway. I'd honestly probably cut a healthy section of the front and rear frame off and tube it out, work very hard on the cage, weight, and change engine position and internals entirely.

In short, learn to appreciate the Supra for it's strengths- and the NSX in turn for its. As the discussion becomes more technical on engineering, the platform differences become very apparent and such mindless chatter fades. Out of the box they have very little in common- not even sitting in the same spacial design plane so far as goals, and thus really should not be compared on forum threads in the first place unless it's over there on the SRO forums.
Click to expand...
 
Here are my .02cents

NSX
+looks better
+lighter
+better interior
+classy timeless look
+Cop friendly (I have been pulled over and walked away with no speeding ticket so many times, cops are friendly).
-Little things like speakers and climate control unit breaks.
-Clutch replacement for NSX is $2500, Supra $600
+Incredible gas mileage even with FI (better gas milegage than my bone stock S2K)
+meets


Supra
-Cop trouble, story like this is common:
http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=421664
-/+God of rice (not necessarily a bad things, people leave you alone)
+Stupid fast if properly modded, it doesn't beat other cars by a little, it destroy them. Total annihilation.
-Difficult to launch (APU cars)
-Hard plastic interior
+Super brakes
-doesn't look that good in my favorite color white
+looks amazing in black, more matured look. Wingless look only work on dark cars. Doesn't look right on lighter color cars.
+Amazing exhaust/motor sound
+Cost to own
-no one go to meets any more, fear of cops

The sad thing is that Supra is such a wonderful car. Handles great for what it is. It is a car that is really worth owning, everyone should experience the feel of way too much power at least once.

John@Microsoft said:
The old adage is- "What is the difference between a 400rwhp Supra, a 600rwhp Supra, and a 800rwhp Supra." The answer? Nothing. Often times, the tuner cars you see will actually run faster lap times if you turn the boost down.
Click to expand...
Can't said better, everything you said is very much dead on.



It is sad, these videos are from old SoCal meets. Most of these guys don't even own these cars any more, some of these guys are even on Prime. nsxboy3 on prime still own the white Supra 2:18 into the video and still have his nsx.
Redline3
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A Supra or RX7 aren't on my list of cars that I would like to have and my list is pretty long and diverse.

I personally, face to face, don't know a NSX owner that when thinking about "shoulda, woulda, coulda, maybe, I wish" mentions either of these cars.
 
John@Microsoft said:
As a result, they are quantifying 'fast' different than perhaps we might. it won't take long on the Supra forums to realize that as a general rule, the enthusiasts don't auto cross or road race them very often. I can't even remember ever seeing one at a track day up this way in the last five years.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you there. Many Supra owners road race their cars. The Supra is heavy, but handles very well on the track. During your ownership, have you had a chance to take your Supra to the road course?
 
MoogieBoogie said:
The Supra is heavy, but handles very well on the track. During your ownership, have you had a chance to take your Supra to the road course?
Click to expand...

Taking a Supra on a road course would be like trying to pilot an ocean liner down the Colorado Rapids.
 
The NSX is an exquisite supermodel that will satisfy you the most in the long run & the supra is the hot chic next door that's a freak in the sheets.
 
John, your post was excellent man.
If I could add to my earlier post, i'd sum it up by saying that the Supra is more a Grand Touring car, whereas the NSX is a true sports car by every definition. My needs/desires were different a few yrs ago, and I was looking for a fast, comfortable car that handled well and looked sporty but classy. That was when I decided to swap a built Supra TT drivetrain/brakes/etc into an SC300. Despite the expense of the project, I felt it was the best compromise, all the power and 95% of the handling, total comfort, no rice, no cops, more upscale. Needless to say it was a fun commute to work each day, but the car did not provide the sheer enjoyment, feedback, and untainted sports car experience that the NSX does. I do not regret selling it, or the other 30-35 cars I owned before that.

Jon
 
BATMANs said:
unlike the FD, the powerplant is rock solid, but power potentials are greater than the NSX for alot less.
Click to expand...

Not everyone wants a dyno queen or needs massive HP to impress themselves. Some of us actually like to get out and drive.
:wink:

Why not buy a '68 camaro with a 454 stuffed in it...much more potential for power....etc etc...apples and oranges my friend.
 

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