MATT FARAH: The two most common requests we get for
cars here on Tuned are the twin-turbo Lamborghini
Gallardo, which hopefully you have already seen, and the
single-turbo Toyota Supra.
Now, the Supra, in the middle '90s, got so expensive that
people stopped buying them, and they literally got priced
out of existence.
But then a movie came out called The
Fast and the Furious.
And all of a sudden, everyone had to have a 10-second Supra,
which brings me to our location today.
Titan Motorsports in Orlando.
And they are known for building Supras.
So let's go drive one.
Titan knows Supras.
One look around the shop can tell you that.
From mild street tunes, body work and restorations, all the
way to the six-second world's fastest Supra.
Titan has truly how to figured out how to make the most of
2JZ engine.
Their built drag motors push 2,400 horsepower in just 3
liters and can be overnighted around the world.
So their customers are always ready to race.
Today, it's time to remind ourselves of what it's like to
actually drive a tastefully modified Supra.
It doesn't have 1,200 horsepower.
But it's set up right.
And for that, I am thankful.
The internet says that all Supras have to have 1,000
horsepower, But I've driven a thousand-horsepower Supra.
And let me tell you what most people won't tell you about
the 1,000-horsepower Supra.
It sucks as a street car.
The lag on it is ridiculous.
Even when it does get boost, you're blowing the tires off
four gears.
So as a street car, 1,000 horsepower,
it's a little silly.
Under the hood, it has a single turbo conversion.
62 millimeter precision turbo.
And that's good for 600 horsepower at the wheels.
And it's pushing around a car that
weighs about 3,400 pounds.
So I do expect this to be quite a fast vehicle.
It's also got TRD coilover suspension, Brembo big brakes,
HRE wheels.
It's got the harnesses and the harness bar.
Now granted, the seats are a little close for me.
But the owner's shorter than I am.
So I'll just deal with it and not be such a pussy.
Slow down, let's start about 2,000 RPM so we can see where
the power comes on.
So we got lag, lag, lag, 3,000 RPM, starting to build.
4,000 RPM there we go.
Oh, yeah.
You could hear the exhaust change note the second that
boost comes on.
So you really start getting big power around 4,000 RPM.
[LAUGHS]
Oh, that's why people like these cars.
WESLEY BOURNE: As these cars have gotten older-- they quit
producing them in '98--
the quality of the cars has gone down.
So a lot of people want to do restorations.
So we'll take a car and restore if
from the unibody up.
And then we also do horsepower and performance upgrades at
the same time.
So anywhere from 400-horsepower factory cars to
1,500-horsepower street cars.
This is our world-famous Titan Motorsports Supra.
This is the one we're the most known for.
Began as the owner's personal streetcar.
And we later turned it to an NHRA Sport compact race car in
the street tire class.
And set the record the first weekend out with it.
And from there went on to win multiple championships in the
NHRA ranks.
And it's led to pretty much all of our drag-racing success
since then.
We just got done redoing it.
And now it's expected to be a high six-second car.
Took a bunch of weight out of it.
Also added a Liberty sequential box in it, but it
still remains a factory, independent
rear-suspension car.
And the tub itself is also factory.
MATT FARAH: That chirp sound is the best, isn't it?
When it comes to the boost-- it gets nice and angry when
the boost comes on, doesn't it?
3,000 RPM, nice, smooth, well behaved, it's not doing
anything funny.
And then just downshift.
I like it.
The Supra maintains sort of this cult classic thing.
I wonder how much of that has to do with Craig and The Fast
and the Furious.
I think it's just that they handle power so well.
It's just such a nice platform for upgrades.
It makes a good drag car.
If you set it up right, makes a good road race car.
They're comfortable on the street, plus these cars were
kind of built at the pinnacle of Toyota's over engineering.
Now they are building to a cost, but this was a pretty
expensive car in 1997.
I think this car was about $48,000 new, which was a lot
in that period.
But I love the carbon dash.
It appears to be real, which is nice.
I like how everything's focused towards the driver.
Everything's angled this way.
If you had a passenger in the car, they would have a real
hard time changing the radio.
It does have a cassette deck, which you always want in your
tuner cars.
But what I've always wanted to know is, can you hook up a
Supra from a dig.
So let's find out.
Four grand.
Yes, you can, actually.
A little wheelspin, but I've got brand new Michelin Pilot
Supersports, which very well might be the best street tire
money can buy today.
WESLEY BOURNE: You know, on the street, you can only use
so much power safely.
With these cars, we can run a smaller turbo and get anywhere
from 500 to 700 horsepower.
It's still extremely fast, especially on the tires.
You know, most of the time, you're gonna use a drag radial
on the street.
So you're actually using more of the power band when you're
driving it around.
Once we start going into the 1,000 to 1,200, 1,500
horsepower cars, you're basically talking about a car
where you're gonna be running a 15-inch drag radial or slick
all the time.
You know, you're constantly gonna have to be doing
maintenance, plug changes, running race fuel, huge tires.
And you're only gonna hook the second,
third gear on the highway.
Whereas more mild turbo cars spool up quicker, more usable
power band, and you can actually drive it on the
street and have a usable car.
MATT FARAH: It's hard to not go fast in this car.
Just when I was starting to have fun, a 15-year-old
original cam seal let go.
And we took a mandatory lunch break while the techs at Titan
made some repairs.
Before long, we would be back on the road.
But while they worked, me and Thad jacked off.
WESLEY BOURNE: Simple maintenance item, the cam seal
had popped out.
The factory Toyota part failed.
And that's one of the things you risk
when you tune a vehicle.
But within an hour or two, we were able to replace it.
And it's actually a maintenance item that probably
should be done now as a result of this car sitting.
That's one of the downsides of having such a low-mileage
vehicle, is as the cars tend to sit, the
seals are gonna swell.
And you always hear people say that sometimes too-low mileage
or not driving a car can actually harm it.
MATT FARAH: I honestly can't imagine that ever getting old.
I really can't.
I think the reason I like this Supra is because it reminds me
so much of how I modified my own Corvette.
It doesn't have a bunch of body kits or big wings or Fast
and the Furious graphics.
Just a tasteful set of wheels, big brakes, nice suspension,
improved seats, and enough horsepower to have fun on the
street or go to the track.
I like that.
It's done just right.
I will just finish this off by saying that I think that I
have a new-found respect for the Supra.
Because I've driven a stock one.
I drove a miserable 1,000-horsepower one that made
great numbers on the dyno, ran a great mile number, but
sucked to drive on the street.
This car is a fantastic happy medium 600 wheel horsepower,
proper coilover suspension, big brakes, racing seats,
clean lines, no ugly body kits.
This is the way to do a Supra.
I like it.
I'm gonna get one now.
Should we get a house Supra, Tom?
TOM: Yes.
MATT FARAH: Let's get a house Supra.