for those of you that have driven/owned both an MKIV and FD...
 

NOTE: i do NOT want the R word to show up in this thread. please do NOT turn this into a reliability arguement.

with that aside...for those of you that have driven both the MKIV Supra and FD RX-7, how much of a difference did you notice?? im not just talking about straight line go power, but also cornering/maneuvering, and the overall feel of the car. feel as in did the Supra really show its weight when compared to the lighter FD?? things of that nature.

(lookin forward to replies from both Jims. ;) )

and please...make this a clean debate. :)

Oh no...not this topic again. The best way is to test drive both.

Yeah, it's not hard to find some for sale and just test drive them. . . I did it, though I really had no desire to get the Supra. I drive the Rx-7 because I appreciate its quirkiness.

Anyway, the Rx-7 is about 700lbs lighter and it feels it. It's a lot more "tossable." When I took it for the parking lot test I felt a lot more confident in the Rx-7, even though the Supra held pavement pretty well. In medium throttle the Rx-7 moves a lot better since it's turbo system covers pretty much the entire RPM spread. Of course, when you're pushing them they're both really fast.

what do you mean "oh no...not this topic again." this topic has not really been discussed. im talking about the feel of both cars...not performance numbers and reliability. i know i could go test drive them, but i wanna hear what people with real experiences with both cars have to say.

Ask Jimlab. He has both.

In my opinion, the stock automatic TT supra I drove felt like a fast camry. It was very smooth and quiet but it did not have the go-kart feel of the RX-7. It was a very disconnected/artificial feel, although the performance was good. maybe if i had driven a 6 speed......

From first hand experience of driving a 400 hp FD and a 607 hp Supra...

The FD handles a lot better and you feel like the car is part of you. The car feels "quick" and nimble compared to the supra. To me it is how you should feel in a sports car.

The supra was fast. Lots of tourque. Hauled ass. Was able to break out the rear tires in 3rd with 19" rims!!!! I do like the power of the supra, in fact it scared me a bit. The car later hit a 10.9@127 at the track.

Still like the FD. Maybe i will never get my car that fast with as little mods as the supra had or with the reliability but when i drive my car it feels like i'm in sled.

I'll let you know, I'm in the process of buying a bpu supra. I'm crossing my fingers over the next couple of days.

Ditto here. I own an FD and drove a friends TT 6 speed and I have to say that the car is very disconnected from the driver. Hella torque though, feels like a an American muscle car off the line, tough to keep straight when your launching and shifting to 2nd. Lot's of fun though, but more like a really powerful luxury car as opposed to the "pure sports car" feel of the RX-7.

my friend had a bpu supra that is now running a t51 (but theres still snow on the ground here so i havent tried the new setup)
It doesnt feel as nimble and go-karty as the fd, but it has assloads of torque and felt alot smoother.
I think it was nice driving it on the highway and stuff compared to my car.
I think the factory turbo's on the supra run ALOT better than the sequentials on the fd.
But i'd like to see how both feel with single turbo's.

*Had* both. Supra's gone and an '02 Z06 sits in its place. :)

Ask me about the Z06 vs. the RX-7. :)

OK. I'll bite. The 02 ZO6 is my other dream car (one down, one to go!). Give us the low down on the "feel" difference between the two. I have been really curious to hear from an owner and not just the magazines.

what we all REALLY want to know is, how does the '02 Z06 stack up to a 650 hp RX-7?? what's the latest?

Who actually has a 630 rwhp Rx7 that is street driven? I think that is kinda a dumb statement. You will find 600 rwhp Supras a way more. But do take in to consideration it takes 600 hp in a supra to do what a 400-430 hp Rx7 can do.

The scary thing is that you can get 600+ rwhp in a supra without toughing the block or head at all. Lucky bastards.

Here's an old pic of a 400 hp rx7 and 600 hp supra.

Another one....really onle pic like a year old.

The latest is that the engine will be dyno tuned shortly, and we're throwing a 200 or 250-shot on top of the NA horsepower. Target is 900ish horsepower. :)

YZF-R1 was referring to my RX-7 vs. my Z06.

And it'll be more like 580-600 RWHP NA, and around 800 or so on the bottle(s).

I think what Rotaryknight is missing is that the RX7 doesn't have a 13B-REW any more....or for that matter a Mazda engine any more...;)

Later,
Patrick

Well...

You can definetly feel the weight of the Supra over the RX-7.. but it WILL hold the road in a corner. It's not some overweight pig that doesn't turn... it turns very well... it just doesn't have the feel of the 7. The supra was designed to isolate the driver more than the 7 was. Thats not a good thing or a bad thing.. just a design philosophy which differ between the two cars. I loved the feel of the 7 on the twisties... but it got fatiguing on the highway. The Supra is like cruising in a Lexus on long trips... which I like. These comaparisons are with stock sized rubber under the car.

But hopefully the new wheel/tire combo (see next paragraph) will get me closer to the best of both worlds... a quick reacting car in the twisties.. with more of a relaxed (and quieter) ride on highways. I will prbably upgrade the sway bars to a stiffer TRD model... but the wheel/tires should be good for now.

I have put the new wheels and tires under the supra (265/35-18s front and 295/30-18s rear) so it should change the handling charactaristics pretty dramatically. The additional footprint (front) should make the car much more responsive and change it from a car that pushes (understeers) a bit to one the oversteers because of all the grip the fronts will have.

I haven't had a chance to drive it since the roads were covered with snow this past weekend... but from what others have told me (people whoe owned and RX-7 then a Supra with the same tire sizes that mine has now) the new tires make the cars handling charctaristics VERY close to the 7s. I said charactaristics.... not feel. Which means a bit more twitchy and easy to rotate.

I'll let you know when I get enough seat time to really get a feel for it.

Now about that reliability.... (just kidding guys...) ;)

Jim Labreck... I want a ride in your car when it's done!

Get in line buddy!!! I'm first! I've been asking Jim for a ride for awhile now...although he hasn't responded. Hmpfh :( I still think you should have a jimlab ridealong day. Setup a day when its nice and dry, gather everyone up, charge $20 for a 5-10 min ride. I guarantee you'll pull down a couple $k!!!

FD vs. MKIV
 

BOTTOM LINE:

FD = FORMULA MAZDA RACE CAR + SPORTS CAR

MKIV = SPORTS CAR + POWERFUL LEXUS LUXERY CAR

THE FD IS A TRUE SPORTS CAR.
THE MKIV IS A GT CAR.(c'mon, it has a back seat)

Straight line performance in very similar...but that is one of the only things the have in common.(other than both being great looking imports)

Well i have both and the rx is much better than the supra as a sports car . Now the supra its more of a lexus kind a car , but both are the shit .!!:D

I think everyone should own both, if they have the means....that is my goal

it's just like in the motorcyling world, sometimes you want a ultra lightweight, nimble bike like a YZF-R1 and sometimes you want a Hayabusa :)

better yet, the new Suzuki "B-King"...a supercharged Busa in a street chassis with 240 hp!!!!

I've had or have both at one time or another and frequently get to drive a Supra and various FDs of different configurations. (most of my own doing:D )
The FD is quite quick and nimble, and you definitely feel it. It's an excellent autocrosser. In sequential it's always right there for you(I've even pulled an immediate car length on WS6 and C5 V8s in my friends modified sequential) And they're not too shabby in single either, seem to have the exhaust gas energy to get the same size turbo spooling quicker than in a Supra's big 6.
Don't let the Supra fool you though... push it into a turn and just went you feel you're at the limit and you feel that weight pushing you over, take your right foot and press down a little more, it just digs in, levels out, and the speed increases.
I know an experienced autoXr that normally drove FDs and never driven a MKIV jump in one and destroy the owner's time through the cones... this is because of that deceiving at the limit feel that you can drive right past in the car, that disconnected feeling people mention. Once you learn the beast that's underneath the Snuffleluffagus you love it.

Personally I love both cars, and even in straight line performance I think people don't realize how close the cars are in potential either.

My Supra on it's everday Nitto 501s, stock turbos, some bolt-ons, and emissions legal ran a 12.94 at 17#s of boost with a shitty 60ft. In my friends RX with Kumho 712s, stock turbos, some bolt-ons, and emissions legal ran a 12.84 at 12#s of boost with a shitty 60ft.

Pretty much every other car I get in and drive or even look at one the street I compare to either of these cars... and usually the others come up short in performance or performance to dollar ratio.

Just think, the only reason Jimbo got that Z06 was because he's so anxious for something that looks like an RX-7 with a V8 in it!!!;)

so, Jim...how do you like your Z06 so far?