I'm assuming you bolted on an N/A 89 wing then? The 89 turbo wings were the same as the 90-92 wings.

88 is the best year. Last year for solid engine mounts, before the stupid progressive power steering, the temp gauge still has dashes instead of "H, blank emptiness, C", 6M crank (revs higher), has the better looking front end and mirrors, still has the firewall badge, has the wing that gives the car a .32 drag coefficient instead of the 89+'s .34 but not the blocky gay 87 3rd brake light

87:

88:

 

1985.

 

+1

 

IMO the best Supra to start with is the MKIII. Theres a great aftermarket for the 7M-GTE and then if you want you can get a 1JZ swap pretty easy. Consider that you'll have to pay up to 5k for a pretty good MKIII though.

 

$5k will get you a bitchin MkIII, but you can get a nice one starting at $3500+ I'd say.

As far as 1JZ swap being easy...if you have a 89.5-92 and are ready to lengthen the harness (unless I'm pretty sure someone out there sells LHD 1JZ engine harnesses) then..sure.

 

pardon my ignorance, but whats so special about the 90 - 92 MKIII?

 

90-92 MkIII had a different crossmember that was used to fit the 1JZ in. It fits both the 7M and the 1JZ, but the 86.5-"89.4" had one that only fits the 7M, since the M engine had been around since 1965 but the JZ was introduced in 89.

I believe thats also when they swapped over to the 7M crank (cylinders 2 and 5 had counterweights on them and as such lowered the redline to 6250 RPM from the 6500 RPM that the 86.5-88s had) as well as liquid engine mounts.

The front end, mirrors, taillights, wastegate actuator, temp gauge, trim, etc. had also been changed. The "firewall badge" that told the transmission, paint code, and differential was moved to the door jam as well. I think the seats were slightly different. The steering wheel was awesome instead of ghey too

 

depends what you like. my preference is the 84-86 mk2(ive had 7 total mk2's). 7mgte, 1jzgte, 2jzgte, and 1uzfe swaps are all doccumented and mounts redily available for all swaps. 7m is easiest, next is the 1j/2j swaps, then the 1uz v8 swap. ive had 4 mk3's, as far as cars go, ok i guess, good cruisers, but thats about it. i hated them as far as handling and acceleration went. same 7mgte from my 88 turbo in my 84 mk2 was a huge difference obviously as there is a large weight difference. and the mkiv, to me they feel cramped and all the parts are over priced because its a mkiv. i passed up 2 on good deals because of this. to me they just arnt as fun to drive as a well built mk2. cant wait till my rebuilt 7mgte is in my 84 with the t56, then im thinking of doing a 1uz/r154 swap into my 86 mk2 after that. already got the engine mounts

 

The 1UZ is a pretty sweet candidate for a swap, but it never came attached to a manual before so you have to outsource a bellhousing (usually $1000 from Australia)

The MkIII handles fairly well, but if you were to compare it to something that REALLY does (Miata, light hatch of any make, etc.) theres a clear difference. Kinda like the Tundra; its an excellent truck, but it cant really compete with the others as well. If you want something that can, look elsewhere.

MkIIs are on average 500-600 lbs lighter and have almost identical body styles; its really preference at that point. IIRC a fairly stock 7M swap will get you 12s.

One thing I dont agree with is acceleration. The 7M has a big truck (a series of tubes even) of torque. It doesnt really shine till you get a half decent turbo though; stocker is incredibly pathetic. I wouldnt be surprised if peak efficiency barely scraped 70%.

Also, MkII suspension was by Lotus IIRC; honestly the more I look at it the more I think the MkII mightve been a 'better car', but I just prefer the MkIII for a few reasons.

 

the bellhousing, flywheel AND clutch as a package is ~$1200 for the 1uz to r154. not bad really when you consider what a new 1j r154 bh and good clutch go for. really isnt that much more. then again i may just buy the flywheel only and adapt a t56 to it like im doing my 7m.

as far as acceleration, that 500-600lb diff is a HUGE diff even on a stock ct26. though i agree bigger turbos are where its at. im going with a gt4082 with 0.68 a/r turbine housing. car will run just fine. i wanted fast spool but ~550rwhp and this should do that.

as for suspension, they seel pretty much everything for the mkii, thought the mk3 is a actual better design, imho it doesnt perform as well due to the weight, and if its a targa car then your really sol. those things flex ALOT!. lol. idk, i have just always loved the mk2, and after owning both mk3 and mk2 and driving many mk4's and mk1's, the mk2 is still my fav hands down.