So ive been a long time "supra guy" and still have a small single supra, but i'm looking for something different. Ive always loved the 996 and now 997 body style cars, and now that they have become a lot more affordable i'm about to pull the trigger on the purchase of one i have been looking at.

My questions are this..

1. Are there better year 996's to get over others? The one i'm looking at is a 01 and i have noticed the 03's seem to have a slightly different dash?

2. What are the typical "bang for the buck mods" and what type of gains are commonly seen from "light mods"?

3. What should i look for when i fly out to inspect and purchase the car? any 996 specific problems, leaks, wear items etc?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

 

Ktrends,

Welcome to the 6. I'll try to answer some of your questions and I'm sure others will chime in. The 01 does not have cup holders and a glove box, which I believe are the only differences. If you have the option, get the newest one you can afford and look to get a x50 (which has the K24 turbos).

Bang for bucks are definitely a tune, upgraded turbos (24/18s are very popular) and exhaust.

If during inspection, get a PPI (prepurchase inspection) by an independent shop and watch for Type II overrevs

Edwin

 

Thanks for the quick response, help me our with some terminology. What is an "x50" and also how do you check for "type II overrevs"?

Also what kind of hp #'s can be gained on the tunes?

 

The search function on the forum is a very powerful tool. Do some research on PPI's and Horsepower gains, etc. It will blow your mind. Welcome.

 

Buy the newest, most modded car you can afford.

 

Do you think you might like to do some HPDEs (High Performance Driving Events) with your car, or will it be strictly street, or 1/4 mile, or maybe some combination? It's a very versatile car!

 

KTrends has had some serious Supras, and it's great that you're thinking of coming over here. I'd be happy to chat about it via PM with you and share my Supra/996TT cross-over experience with you old friend.

X50 = upgraded factory turbos and intercoolers. There are other things different, including programming of the ECU to match, but the key is the turbos/intercooler.

The 2002+ models have a proper glovebox, no front bumperettes, hollow spoke wheels, and a few other changes as well. Most folks with 2001 models tend to upgrade all of those things except the glovebox.

 

Ktrends, I do believe I purchased my Supra from you :-) Hit me up dude, I have a 996 that I recently purchased and can help you along too...

Heh, of course you will need a few more pposts first. If you do not still have my hotmail email lemme' know. My handle at gmail also works...

 

my 996TT is still available. it won't disappoint.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...cing-sale.html

yong

 

Wow, i didnt know so many of the "old timer" supra owners like me were such porsche fans. It already feels like home over here

BLK- tell me the rumor of the old red car isnt true I heard it got in a pretty bad wreck? Is it still around? Shoot me your contact info, wrapfactory@gmail.com

 

I'm also a former Supra owner and yes, you will love the 996TT...it's bascially the next Supra in terms of mods!

Also, def. look at the Yellow one for sale above...I know ppl who have seen it in person and test drove it and loved it (it just recently came back on sale from a deadbeat "buyer"). Yong is super standup and not many people would have kept faith in his buyer after months...I had a friend with the money ready to buy from him and he didn't sell since he had an agreement with the guy who flaked.

Anyway, welcome and enjoy the search!

 

You can talk to BASupra, Peter B, Tommy Bahn, Jamie C, etc.

HUGE Supra knowledge in those 4 guys, and they all know a good amount about Porsches too.

MK

 

and check the couple threads already floating around on pre purchase inspections

you can have the stock DME(ECU) read and they can look up the type I over revs and type II over revs, and a whole slew of other thigns a durametric scanner can do.

body work on porsches usually destroys retail value and ability to sell it stock, when were talking about fenders or real body damage.

 

We (collectively) forgot to mention the rear hydraulic wing as a pretty common failure point on these cars. I'm not sure whether the hydraulics were ever re-designed, but my 2001 model had them replaced prior to my owning the car and I've had issues with them as well. I disabled the system, which is easy to do on a 2001 model without throwing CEL messages, but it's something to be wary about when looking at 996TTs.

 

Yeah, Supra got nailed. Sears repair guy in an E350 van pulled out RIGHT in front of me. I was doing about 50, I wasn't speeding, and the guy in front of him actually cut it close turning in front of me at a light so I had th ebrake covered. This guy could NOT have timed it any better, I had nowhere to go and the ABS only pulsed a few times before I nailed him in the side. Turned a little so there was some offset but I had lettering from the raised letter tires imprinted in the driver's side bumper cover. I sprained my back badly, out of work for over a week, and had I known I was a block from a hospital I'd have gone in for sure. By the time we got the car to the repair shop near my home I could barely walk I hurt so bad - the receptionist gave me Motrin! I had a stack of specs and prices waiting for the appraiser when he came out - he never even looked at them. Sears also ignored my request for a rental so 6ft2 of me had to squeeze into my Miata daily with a trashed back to goto work when I felt up to it - hurt like hell! I had the car professionally appraised at no small cost, Sears ignored the estimate completely and wanted one from before it was hit... They offered me $16K for the car and claimed that the $25K in mods didn't change the value, at that time nowhere in the USA was a Supra going for near that even stock. They used their "blue book" to come up with this and were going to take the car. I fought them for three years for a decent settlement and kept the car after. Decent, when you add up how they intentionally ran my lawyer bills to the Moon, is a joke. They ignored my daily calls, they changed agents about 3 times on me, they ignored my lawyers calls too, they finally woke up when served with papers and then proceeded to ignore THEIR lawyer's calls! I had to change my route to work due to bad flashbacks that left me shaking. I had nightmares for well over a year. I had some serious anger towards these guys and I have YET to buy a single thing from Sears in almost 5 years. Previously every tool I had and every single appliance I owned came from Sears including my damned garage door! What's left of the car sits on my lift at a home I no longer live in. The ported head and cams I was about to install are gathering dust. The drivetrain is good but from the firewall forward the frame is bent pretty good - $16K in parts alone I was told. I racked up a few grand in storage fees because these jerks wouldn't come out and properly appraise the car or tell me they were doing anything - then had the nerve to ask me why *I* let that happen! To say I was stressed is an understatement and it had quite a few effects on my personal and work life. Having something you worked on for hundreds of hours ripped away because of ONE jackass, who freely admitted blame, takes a great deal out of you. Obviously I no longer tune EMS, I just had no heart in it and after helping out one or two more guys I just couldn't sit in a Supra any longer so I dropped off the forums and stopped answering all of the email I still get about tuning AEMs.

For those wondering - Sears\K-Mart "self insures" and has some company manage their claims. This company seems primarily concerned with dragging their feet for as long as possible in order to get you to give up. I've never met a bunch of slimier bastards in my life, I've lost ALL respect for Sears to say the least.

I took my settlement and sat on it for awhile, I just couldn't do another car. Finally not long ago I thought things were better and I went looking. My reqs were at least 3liters, turbo from the factory, AWD if possible, and expensive enough that if some SOB trashed it I'd have no worries about getting them to cough up enough money for me to have my pound of flesh. If this were to happen today I'd probably beat the bastard who pulled out in front of me. That's how I ended up with the 996, after some personal trials (grr) I'm only just now starting to enjoy it as Winter closes in.

I truly wish I'd been driving the Miata that day but I was pretty late for work and knew I wouldn't make it nearly on time. It was a sunny day, cool but not cold, birds chirping, and I'd not driven th ecar to work in forever - the paint was freshly done and I'd been trying to be careful. I stood there in my driveway and pretty much said "screw it I'm driving the nice car". I just wanted to cruise to work with a smile, had 2 day old DRs on the car too. If I'd been in the Miata I'd probably have been hurt but from what my lawyer says blood is what it takes to claim medical and with Sears you can bet on that. <sigh> I still see red when I think about it and I obviously don't post much about it lest I rant like I am now but this car had been your's and you asked. It was putting down about 720RWHP on race gas and I was out of cam, about to step up the injectors, head, intake, TB, and cams - I was looking at 800RWHP easily. I was also considering moving to a smaller turbo for street driving since I seemed to be octane restricted and the big turbo spooled slower than I wanted for street. It had meth injection and too many things to count done to it, I really loved that car. I may yet do something with it but I no longer have a place to work on it, maybe someday an SC300? Might sell what's left but haven't tried yet. Too painful to do anything with it, stripping it would suck.

So, now I play with my 996 and wish like heck the damned ECU wasn't locked. I enjoyed the AEM like you wouldn't believe! Exhaust, injectors, turbos, headers, DVs, and some tuning by Tony on this car. I have a 600RWHP dyno sheet for it but not done any pulls myself - only JUST got the EBC back to working but it feels strong You'll like these cars but parts are damned expensive, few can give you documentation on say how an intercooler flows or what power it will give - same with exhaust, and wow working on the engine is a PITA if you aren't willing to drop it down. I seem to recall you've got a lift - you'll be needing it to get serious. Try hard not to pop a motor, they cost half what the car does. Rebuilds are bucks and painful since it's a flat 6, Supra motors are cake by comparison but the displacement helps power production and the power isn't nearly as peaky.

Okay, enough rambling - I've shot you an email too. Hope that's somewhat helpful at least