Jia the Supra Fanboy

So, I was watching the recent CT video on the Alfa 147 GTA, a car I’ll probably never see with my own eyes in my lifetime, which is completely fine with me, but one thing caught my attention. That sound. Listening to the video with the volume way up, it was certainly a very distinct sound, yes, but my actual first impression was just how damn harsh it was. Like, the sharpness even made me physically flinch at first, so I turned the volume down a little bit.

They both love cars - but not in the same way. Long post incoming. In light of CT’s recent article which discussed why Alex doesn’t like the overly sensible and capable RS3 because it’s not a challenge to drive, I’ve brought this thought to the top of my mind once again. Are driving enthusiasts and car enthusiasts really the same thing? They both love cars… or do they? I don’t think so, and I’ll explain why.

I don’t have too many real-life car enthusiast friends, and the ones I do have tend to hate pretty strongly on automatic vehicles. Now, car enthusiasts and “fanboys” are both generally known for being quick to turn their noses down on and completely disregard things they dislike or disagree with without a second thought. Combine them both and you have one great heap of stubborn elitism. This has made me wonder. Does buying into the manual transmission hype leave you narrow-minded on driving enjoyment?

I’ve been driving a vehicle with a CVT recently (it’s a hybrid too), and you know what’s surprising? How it feels. The transmission is more responsive to the throttle than the 7-speed automatic that I’m used to, not slushy at all. It doesn’t feel laggy and always provides plenty of passing power almost immediately when I need it. None of that waiting 0.5-1.5 seconds for the transmission to downshift. It just goes, hard and fast when I want it to. No hesitation, no fuss. And for its time, the 7-speed I was used to wasn’t terribly slow by any means.

I was wondering what’s the cheapest way to get a 450~ whp boosted car? It has to be boosted with some form of forced induction, not NA. No C6 base Vettes, or other similar cars. Number of cylinders, displacement and the method of forced induction doesn’t matter. Hybrid cars are ok, converting an NA car into a boosted car is also ok as long as the cost of the FI kit is included. Upping the boost on a factory-boosted car is also ok, as long as the cost of upgrading the internals is also included. Don’t say “500hp Evo X on stock internals”, please.

So, these two nice things have popped up in my area, and if the stars align I might be able to get one of these in the future. The Supra It’s the disgustingly slow automatic N/A model, and is about $11,000 + tax. Auction grade 4, which is awesome, and this particular combo of auto tranny + 2JZ-GE happens to be the most reliable of the bunch, especially at a mere 120,xxx kilometres. Probably hits 100 from a dig in 8 seconds since it’s old… but it looks so good

Hey guys, so i was revving a 2011 g37 in neutral while parked, and even when i floored it, the engine would cap at 5000 rpms, but red line is at 7000. Why is this? Can it be changed?