Toyota Supra
The first
Toyota Supra's appeared in Japan in 1978, and production continued until 2002,
with the car undergoing three major revisions culminating in the Mk IV twin turbo
Toyota Supra of 1993 - 2002.The Mark IV Toyota Supra was offered with two
different engine options; a naturally aspirated 2JZ-GE, 3.0 litre, straight 6
with 220 horsepower and 210 ft/lbs of torque, and a 2JZ-GTE 3.0 litre twin
turbocharged straight 6 with 320 horsepower and 315 ft/lbs of torque.
For many, part
of the twin turbo Toyota Supra's attraction comes from the easily upgraded
power output. 450 - 500 horsepower can be had out of the stock turbos
with a free flowing intake and exhaust system coupled with an aftermarket boost
controller.
The MKIV
Supra's turbochargers operate in a sequential format where, at first, all of
the exhaust gasses are routed to the first turbine for reduced lag. This
results in increased boost and enhanced torque as low as 1800 rpm.
Approaching 4000 rpm, the exhaust gasses are routed to the second turbine for a
"pre-boost" mode, although none of the compressor output is used by
the engine at this point. Around 4500 rpm, the second turbo's output is added
to the intake air, and both turbos operate in parallel. The sequential
operation of the Toyota Supra's turbos allow for improved low-end response.
The Mark IV
Toyota Supra, although no featherweight, was extensively lightened compared to
the previous generation. The use of aluminium for the hood, targa
top, front crossmember, oil pan, and upper A-arms helped. As did dished out
head bolts, a magnesium steering wheel, plastic petrol cover, and a gas
injected rear spoiler. Despite having more features such as dual airbags,
traction control, larger brakes, larger wheels, and larger tires, the MK IV
Supra was at least 45 kgs (100 lbs) lighterthan the outgoing model.
External review by
AJI:
The MKiv Toyota
Supra saw an extensive weight reduction diet over the previous version of this
model. At a time when Supercars were being produced left right and centre,
Toyota decided to get in on the act with the MKiv. Honda had already realeased
the NSX and Nissan with the Skyline and the 300ZX, and with Europe and its
choices of British, Italian and German high performance cars the Supra was
fitted with a twin turbo setup and the export version hit the market with
326bhp as standard.
The export
version of the Supra was the highest specification version of the Supra, this
is strange as the Japanese home market versions are usually this way.
So therefore this saw the export versions fitted with stronger steel turbos,
bigger brakes, bigger fuel injectors, glass headlights, full leather
interior, and generally more 'toys'. They were all twin turbos and came in
either 6-speed manual or 4-speed automatic. The export MKiv was generally over
engineered, it therefore produces a car that can easily be tuned to the
450-500bhp area without the need to upgrade vital internal parts. The getrag
6-speed gearbox is a good strong unit and the 6- cylinder engine is a
racey unit with plenty of torque.
The export
Supras were tested and produced a 4.9sec time to get to 60mph. The top speed of
the export versions is 180mph, and 6th gear if it were allowed would result in
a top speed of 196mph if the car had the power to get there.
The Japanese home market
versions of the Supra came with a large tick-box on the specification lists.
But the two main models were the RZ (the twin turbo) or the SZ (the normal
aspirated version). Later in the production line the GZ was released which was
basically an RZ with all the extras ticked. And later still the Japanese home market
version went through a facelift giving it the bigger brakes and other details
which included a modification to the front bumper.
The engines
between the J-spec and the export version has some considerably differences.
The turbos were ceramic as opposed to steel, the fuel injectors were smaller
and although the torque figure was still very coparable to the export
version the bhp figure was slightly down.
The J-specs had
a top speed of 170mph due to the slightly lower bhp figure. And, they got to
60mph in 5.1sec. The automatic versions always had slightly worse performance
figures due to the power loss through the transmission, but the auto box is
still considered one of the best on the market.
The Euro-spec
version of the export model saw the inclusion of a bonnet vent to aid cooling
to cylinders 3 and 6, the Japanese home market and US
export version never had a bonnet vent. Some home market Supras
appeared with no rear spoiler, this is down to the tick-boxes on the spec.
list.
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