MFT Building TRUCKS!?
I'll have to give them a spin or two...But not befrore Reviewing this next car...
====
My review of the:
TRD JZA700R TTE '90
698 bhp, 744 Nm, 1261 kg
Clickable for full size
====
Where to start with this car...Well, I initially wanted to review the other half of MFT's "Gentleman GT's" (The Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1), but after building up the car and testing it, well...It just wasn't my cup of tea. It was a surprisingly good car that performed better than I had expected it to, but still it just wasn't the kind of car I could write about without picking out all of the flaws of the base car. (Ye, the car itself was my real issue; Even a tuning firm as good as MFT can't seem to make a '00's-Era Camaro fun enough for me to keep driving more than once or twice!
) Or, to put it another way it was like putting a pig in a Tuxedo and expecting it to be something else...
Which led me to this car...The TRD JZA700R TTE '90. Despite the fact that this car boasts a name that could double as an Internet Chat-Room acronym, I've always had a soft spot for under-loved cars like the Mk.III Supra. So much so, in fact, that I had a "10 Km Special" sitting in my garage, waiting to be put into good use. It was even the same color as the MFT Showcase Car...The question in my mind was "Is it a an actual driver's machine, or just another Pig in a Tuxedo?"
Well, after building it, making sure the settings were just right and putting on some unique Wheels ("BU0250" Wheels from the Daily Special section: Call me crazy, but they look similar to Old-School SSR's that were popular back in the early 90's), I decided to do a couple of races in the Dream Car Championship to try and regroup some money. After racking up several trophies and credits as well as putting around 100-odd miles on this once-pristine MK.III Supra, one thing became apparent: The TRD JZA700R TTE is quite a fun car to drive.
I wasn't expecting that at first, actually. To be quite honest, I was wondering weither or not the car would just light up the tires with every accelerator prod and spin me right into a wall (As you see cars like this Drifting around corners more often than actually Driving around them). However, athe JZA700R is fast, stable, and very tractable at low revs in slower, tighter corners. In fact, if you manage to go only half-throttle through 1st and 2nd gear you won't get any wheelspin, which is VERY surprising in a car that has nearly 700 HP. Coming out of corners reveals a slight on-power understeer which builds as the exit speed rises (More on this later), but you'll probably be already entering the braking zone for the next corner before you notice it...
While the JZA700R can go quite fast in a straight line, excercising it through corners is a big part of why this car is so surprisingly good in comparison to the Camaro ZL-1. While that car would only go through corners if the nose was planted enough to break the tires free enough to provide some kind of slip angle, the JZA700R is MUCH more adaptable to drive going into corners. Part of this is due to the very impressive braking power that this car posses. Unlike most of the one's from MFT that I've had the pleasure of driving this car seemingly stopped on a dime every time I asked it too...Which, again, is very surprising for a car that weighs 1261 Kgs. It probaly has something to do with the soft suspension that this car has; It has a noticeable amount of "Nose-dive" under braking as well as some body roll at the limits of adhesion.
Now, with all of the praise I've given this car in how it was able to provide such a surprisingly fun driving experience, there were a couple of faults that I found with it. For one, though braking is responsive under most circumstances, the JZA700R was hard to control under braking on undulating or bumpy surfaces nd was quite challenging to drive on courses like Trial Mountain or El Capitan. Throttle control is also put to the test on uneven or bumpy surfaces, as the car has more than enough torque to break traction going over bumps as the suspension tries to cope.
Second, while exhibiting a surprising amount of grip in low-speed corners, at higher speeds understeer was a big issue, probably the biggest that the car has overall. Weither it's due to the relatively high ride height affecting the JZA700R's center of gravity or the physical amount of body roll and pitch under load, the Understeer at the limits of the car can't really gotten rid off. While it can be fixed somewhat in mid-corner by feathering the throttle to try and let the tires regain grip, it can also lead to premature tire-wear, which is the only other issue surrounding the car, as after 4 laps on R3's at El Capitan Reverse the JZA700R's Tires were worn down to the canvas.
Otherwise, those issues were the only things keeping me from giving the TRD JZA700R TTE a 10/10 and all of them could probably be worked around with putting on harder compound tires and with enough seat-time to get a feel for the car. What struck me more than anything else was that, even though it could out-run many cars in the Dream Car Championship it was surprisingly easy to drive: It's not the kind of car that bites or punishes you for overstepping it's limits...Which, coming from an car based of the Mk.III Toyota Supra, is quite surprising.
====
Overall:
8.5/10
👍 Originality (Who else has built up a MK.III Supra that is this fast or easy to drive?).
👍 Fun and easy to drive with no really bad driving habits.
👍 A good driver can use it to win the Dream Car Championship.
👎 High Tire Wear.
👎 Understeer at High Speeds (Pretty much over 130+ MPH).
👎 Can be hard to control on bumpy surfaces, especially under braking.
300+hp was a lot back then, and is still a fair bit now.
)
