New member introduction - Silicon Valley, CA

[duk]

Originally Posted by italyix

When is this? ...been missing out all this time

usually Saturday mornings around 10-12am

check the California forum

[warranty]

Thanks guys for the warm welcome! I'm new here but already feel very at home!

I know a few of you asked about the Poopra (aka Supra) so I'll provide my quick comparisons now that I've spent a fair amount of time in my M3. My Supra is a 93.5 6MT twin-turbo hardtop, of which only 326 were ever sold in the US during its entire 6-year run. I have upgraded stock-looking turbos and full exhaust (but not much more except for a boost controller), which is good for about 430rwhp with the 91 octane piss water we get in CA. It's true those 2JZ-GTE motors can do a lot more on stock internals but probably not without race gas, hotter cams, and/or some crazy big turbo setup that has "hella lag."

The M3 has 15 years of technology advancement on the Supra and it shows. While the Supra still has some of the most advanced "basic" hardware: Getrag 6MT, Torsen diff, aluminum subframe with aluminum double wishbone suspension (but not all the pieces are aluminum like in the M3), it feels positively prehistoric and "crude" compared to the M3's modern features like Comfort Access, electronically adjustable dampers, etc.

The Supra does have a lot more peak torque (it's....how should I say it...orgasmic in the way it builds up) but until the turbos spool it's a lame duck compared to the M3's S65, which has instant throttle response and has such a linear torque delivery it's very easy to use when cornering. Seriously, now that I've driven the M3 I feel like I'm "telegraphing in" throttle commands to the Supra. Compared to the M3, the Supra's handling is a lot more jittery (I'm on stock shocks) so driven on the street I'm pretty sure my amateur ass can corner faster in the M3...until when the Supra powers out of the corners. This may sound like blasphemy in an M3 forum but you need to remember my Supra is modded. Stock for stock, there's simply no comparison.

Funny enough, the Supra's 6MT Getrag V160 transmission also has balky 1-2 shifts (so double-clutching the 1->2 shift is second nature to me), and that same 1-2 shift is also smoother when I shift at redline rather than granny-shifting. Neither shifter "feels" that great, which is a bummer. Why can't BMW take a page or two from the Honda boys about that fabulous S2000 shifter?

Compared to the Supra's clutch (which itself is relatively light considering how much torque it can handle), the M3's clutch might as well be as user-friendly as a Honda Civic's. I used to think the Supra's was light, but jumping from the M3 into the Supra made me think I was doing leg presses every time I shifted. I do sometimes feel the M3's clutch engagement has a mind of its own (it seems to slip the clutch for me), even though our M3s supposedly don't have a clutch delay valve. One of these days I want to verify it myself--and I should note that I did bypass the Supra's stock clutch delay valve for a much more positive engagement control.

One last thing: the M3's S65 V8 is a great engine in almost every way, except it sounds like a f*cking unkempt diesel when it's cold. (I still can't believe it's considered "normal") In this respect, the Supra's buttery smooth inline-6 beats the V8, but otherwise I guess there's no point in comparing apples to oranges.

Honestly, I'm very happy to own both cars and I plan to keep both of them forever--I just need to find a bigger garage space when I acquire new toys in the future. Both are very special cars in their own ways, and I think both were designed by great engineers who accepted very little compromise in designing an ultimate car that was built for speed.

[Lorde]

Good choice on color! Sparkling Graphite = Stealth.

[jqsmooth]

OP, great review! Thanks for sharing, I can't believe only 326 sold in US in that span. I may not fully grasp everything you wrote, but the comparison says a lot about both cars. I was always interested in all the timeless classics like the RX-7, NSX, S2000, Supra, past M3s and even the Mustang 5.0(the one in Vanilla Ice video, ) Having never owned any one of them, there's no way to know why they were so liked and revered. I love my M3, but I'm curious as hell what it'd be like to drive those other cars.