NOOB Q's
 

I currently own a '93 Turbo All-Trac that is highly modified. It's not the fastest one in the states, it's probably the second fastest because there is another one in Miami that runs 10's in the quarter mile. Mine runs in the 11's and has about 425 at the wheels @ 22psi. I am selling the car and thinking very strongly about buying a TT Supra. My questions are pertaining to the Supra. I just wanted to qualify my knowledge of turbo cars before asking. Are the oil seals really such a big problem that I have heard with this engine? If I should buy one that needs the seals replaced, what does it cost roughly to get this done, and, more importantly, should I think about a six speed, or an auto? I have heard that the autos stand up to high horsepower much better than the Gertrags, but again, I don't know how much false information I have been getting and how much is true. Should I try to buy a bone stock car, or one that has already dispatched the TT for a single turbo? If I buy a stock car, how far can you go with the stock turbos? Will they provide enough boost to make decent horsepower and how far can you push the horsepower with the stock injectors and stock ECU?

both teh auto and the getrag can handle a lot of power without modification, the supra tranny shouldnt really be the issue since they are pretty much bulletproof if well taken care of, as for the oil seals im not sure since i own an mk3 rather than an mk4 though ive never heard of bad oil seals for a 2jz...someone might know..sorry, for the second part, its all what you want out of the car, if you want less work and less to worry about i say go for one that alrdy has the single turbo conversion rather than taking a stock supra and converting it...save yourself the trouble by having the previous owner convert it for you, if you get the stock car with the twin turbos you can push them pretty far before hitting a limit..i say ive seen about 550hp on stock turbos, but thats with a lot of upgrades including fuel management and timing and everything else, stock injectors...i would say but i could be wrong about 450-500hp then you should be thinking about larger injectors...i dont remember but i know somewhere around 450hp you're overworking the injectors and theyre basically spraying a constant stream of fuel...i think thats the point...but then again i might be wrong, the ecu should be fiddled with from teh beginning...the more power you make the more the ecu should be tuned...you dont want to run lean, but the ecu should be ok with just standard bpu...if major upgrades are being bolted on i suggest pulling out the stock ecu and getting a standalone because it will be a lot more efficient...hope this helps

Yes, good information. Thank you. I was mainly concerned with the questions of transmissions on whether I should confine my search to autos or manuals with reliablility being the factor. As I have owned my All-Trac since it was new and have gone through the modifications, I know what is involved with standalone ECU's and larger injectors. Given the fact that my current car was rated at 200 hp at the crank, and we are making more than twice that figure at the wheels, I would guess I would be happy with around 650 to 700 at the wheels with a Supra. But I mainly wanted to know from a reliability standpoint, whether I should pursue an automatic version or a manual. Anyone else have some thoughts on this?

reliablity...i would put all my trust in teh 6sp getrag but thats my opinion