10 Reason Mk3 Supras are Garbage.

Actually, let's be honest here, they are most likely the worst Toyota ever built. These are my top 10 reasons for hating the mk3 supra. How do I know them so well? I worked on them for nearly 2 years, I drove both RHD and LHD mk3's with all sorts of different engines, stock and modified. I've spent a lot of time wrenching on them, and man do they suck badly.  Let's begin: 10. Racing History:  Let's be honest, there's really nothing special here, Bjorn Waldergard won one event with the MK3 supra in a Beijing Rally, and a few British fellows ran it in BTCC for a while. No real pedigree here. 9. Steering Angle:  This is straight up a joke, it can't be real, no way it's even considered safe or functional to have so little steering lock for daily use. You think I'm kidding, but that's full lock below. 8. Weight: This really should be the #1 reason why there's no point in driving an mk3 Supra for any sort of 'sporting' purposes. What's that? you've never known what the weight of a mk3 supra was? Pictured below is a vehicle that weighs nearly identical, and actually produces more power. (Note: 3800lbs, that's right, the CK short bed, short cab, not only weighed 3800lbs, but it actually produced 230hp and 300ft/lb of torque. Although the 1JZ variant is comparable) 7. Aftermarket Styling: Yes it's a slick looking exterior, simply put, it's the only selling point of the car. However, the aftermarket stuff? yeah, look below... 6.Targa Top:  So you have an oval, pretty strong shape, egg's are 3d ovals and resist deformation pretty well. Then you cut a huge chunk out of it. Now you've got an easily crushable "C" shape. Thus is the Targa roof. How bad is it for chassis flex? Toyota actually had high grade, long threaded allen bolts to hold it square when in. When out, people started putting in targa supports to help reduce the horrible flex. 5. Steering Stablizer:  The whole Geometry of the MK3 Supra suspension is fucked, and to help reduce bump steer, and ultimately any sort of driver feedback that's left after the hefty power steering, was a shock, bolted to the steering rack to help reduce...something. Road feel mostly, or resist the horrible bumper steer associated with #4. This Stablizer, much like the Cressidas (Although they had different front suspensions and shared the rear) resists and sometimes completely removes the affects of caster during cornering. It reduces the speed of turn by adding a dramatic amount of resistance. 4.Suspension Dynamics: These are just plain FUCKED. For some reason, Toyota decided that going from a single lower control arm McPherson strut setup, that had proven extremely well in the Corolla's, Celica's, and Celica Supras of the past, had to go, and in place a needlessly complex, and albeit poorly designed multi-link/double wishbone setup in it's place. You want to know how bad it is? Camber actually becomes positive on compression and negative on extension. Seriously look vvv. 3. Cock Riders: This isn't about the owners. The amount of people floating around the internet praising the mk3, simply because of it's loose relation to that of an mk4 Supra most of them having never owned a Supra in their lives. Although this makes me curious of the dynamic of buying and polishing a turd. 2. 7M/1G: Pretty weak sauce. So you buy a 3800lb driveway ornament and want to go fast. In North America, your faced with the 7M, and Japan, luckily enough got the 1jz, however, they too got the 7M and even worse, the 1G. Every other M series engine was decent, the 7M screwed that right up. It's head design is the fault. People will tell you it was a bad factory gasket, or under torqued bolts. However, even with those factors coverd, the real core of the issue was a bad head design. Getting past the common, and often debilitating issue of 7m's blowing gaskets (try pushing that thing!) The power of a 7m is a joke. Remember that Toyota publishes not the wheel horse power, but the crank. By the time that inline 6 delivers it's 200hp N/a to the rear, it's about 160hp, got a turbo? Roughly 190hp. Brutal for that amount of weight, but look out! There's even a worse motor: the 1GGTE. Although not plagued with head gasket failures and people thinking they can build the ultimate 7m, only to fail like the next guy, the 1ggte had it's own issues, spinning bearings, and well, being 2 liters! Such a tiny inline 6, and it needed twin turbo's just to make the 210hp. Unless your supra screwed and end up with an n/a 1GGE at 150hp. And the Number 1 reason MK3 supra's are garbage! *Drum Roll* . . . . . . . . . 1.  Burgandy:

Share this post


Leave a comment

Note, comments must be approved before they are published

422 comments

  • - It’s “failure” in racing has more to do with the engine size putting them in a higher weight bracket than other competing cars. It has no bearing on what car was actually better. - Steering angle is for drifto kiddies. Not to mention it’s easily increased. - Sorry, but…LOL. Ok, sure, compare a MKIII to a truck that has an iron engine and a frame on chassis construction, no weight over the real wheels, zero safety, and the chassis stiffness and handling of a truck (i.e. NONE). - Base the car off it’s aftermarket styling components? Ok, so every car could be discounted because of that. I think it’s funny you post a pic of one of the show winning cars though, proving your opinion is the minority. - Have you driven a C4 vette (closest competitor really)? You have no idea what you’re talking about. Also of note is beaten and worn out car that wasn’t taken care of is going to be worse in this regard. - Jeff covered this already, and you don’t know what bumpsteer is apparently. - McPhersons are garbage and are used on cheap cars. The suspension angles are always compromises and they’re weak. You don’t see them used on high end performance cars. - Only cock riding I see is you. Funny, this entire blog post could be seen as a troll and you post a picture of the biggest troll ever. Difference is, he’s actually funny. - Sounds like someone bought a blown headgasket car, slapped a metal headgasket in it, and expected it to work. #1 cause of headgasket failures is the owner, period. The reason for the 1G was Japan’s tax structure of favoring lower displacement cars. It was done so Toyota could sell more cars. Also, all companies posted flywheel horsepower at that time. How about hating on the V8’s making less power during this time? - Don’t make me dig up pictures of every high end car of the time with burgandy interior, because they all had it.

    On closing, your entire arguements are baseless as on most of them you don’t compare to anything else. The only one you make a comparison on is the suspension, which shows how clueless you are.

    • Anonymous
  • All companies still rate horsepower at the crank. It has never been rated at the wheels.

    Jeff

    • Jeff Lange
  • Just seen the workshop and the cars owned by the instigator of this page and threw up a little in my mouth. If you are that dodgy i have know idea what possessed you to start a hate page for a70’s. Your daily looks worse than the wreck i have parked in my back yard and so does your track car, and i’m pretty sure your brother may be your father.

    • dirtymech
  • I farted once and it smelled like Honda.

    • MKIII Owner
  • The sausage twice even in winter.

    • MKIII Owner