[WagonMaverick]

I'm heading out to North Carolina for father/son week and running Tail of the Dragon (https://tailofthedragon.com/). We landed in CLT and the National Rental guys hooked me up with a 2020 3.0 Supra after hearing about the week we had planned. Spent today catching up with some old friends and feeling out the car. We are heading up to the mtns tomorrow morning.

Initial review (baseline is my 2017 M2 with tune/mods)
1. Not a fan of the seating position in relation to the roof line.
.......would love to see targa top option
2. Alcantara seats are option I wish BMW offered
3. Only Sport - no Sport+
4. Great intake sound
5. Exhaust sound seems manufactured
6. Disconnected steering feel
7. Technology and connectivity is VERY dated - seems like 2015
8. Auto stop/start is very clunky - disabled in sport mode
9. Crisp DCT shifts

Will post more pics from the road over the week. We will be running with a S2000, turbo Miata, Caymen GTS, and M5.

[overcoil]

That is a good looking car !

[tranquility]

I thought that the Supra along w the latest Z4 only has ATs, not DCTs?

[M3WC]

Originally Posted by tranquility

I thought that the Supra along w the latest Z4 only has ATs, not DCTs?

Correct it has ZF8.

[Humdizzle]

i will be driving one to the f1 race this weekend. most modern autos like the zf8 have no problem with drag racing and upshifts. its the downshifts they struggle with. they don't snap them off like a dct when you're heavy braking into corner. hope i'm proven wrong though.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by Humdizzle

i will be driving one to the f1 race this weekend. most modern autos like the zf8 have no problem with drag racing and upshifts. its the downshifts they struggle with. they don't snap them off like a dct when you're heavy braking into corner. hope i'm proven wrong though.

Cool, I was gonna ask if there were any real-world differences because the new ATs are touted as amazingly fast. I also wonder about the power loss due to having a tq converter, if that's tangible as well?

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Humdizzle

i will be driving one to the f1 race this weekend. most modern autos like the zf8 have no problem with drag racing and upshifts. its the downshifts they struggle with. they don't snap them off like a dct when you're heavy braking into corner. hope i'm proven wrong though.

In AUTO or using the flappy paddles in SPORT?

I have the VERY first gen PDK and if the car is in SPORT I can hammer down the gears plenty fast but I need to do it. There's SPORT+ but that's insane.

[WagonMaverick]

Back from the trip and had a lot of fun - BIG kudos to National Rental at CLT airport.
Great trip with my son (age 23) and we both got a lot of time behind the wheel. For note other cars in our stable. M2, S2000, 2.5L Mx5, SCAA track 5.0, and the wife's 2022 X5.

Con's
- seat position and small windshield
- A-pillar is obtrusive on the left hand corners
- 2nd gear needs to be a bit taller - 3rd gear has a lot of torque, but wished for 2.5 gear.
- NUMB Steering - almost zero feedback.
- Upshifts that are slow at high revs -
- No Sport+ mode
- Stereo intake sound got old quick

Pro's
- Styling -
- Fuel economy 24.5mpg after 4 days of hard driving
- low end torque
- Exhaust sound in Sport


If they added a targa option with 6-speed trans, I'd consider going back for another review. Until then I'm fine with M2 for now....

We did get a chance to test out the Cayman GTS 4.0 - now that car is in another class. I did not get time in the Mtns with it, but serious contender for what comes after the M2.

I also got to spend some time at a Friend of a Friends shop and was able to check out his Outlaw 356

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by WagonMaverick

corners
- 2nd gear needs to be a bit taller - 3rd gear has a lot of torque, but wished for 2.5 gear.

Every car ever.

[Humdizzle]

just got back from my trip with it. i'll echo alot of what wagonmaverick said

pros:
- decent luggage space. and you can reach into the hatch from the front just sticking your hand back which is nice.
- excellent gas mileage. i was doing 80-100 with a few spots hitting 120. from dallas to austin and was getting 26-27mpg.
- seats are good
- exhaust sounds better than an f8x
- tons of low end torque. it is a very quick car.
- lots of people stare and check it out or start up convos. (if you care about that)

cons:
- heavy but dead steering.
- zf8 is still bad for any type of sporty driving. downshifts are slowww and lurchy. pdk blows it away. upshifts in the mid-rpms is decently quick. if you leave it in auto the programming is good to get you around town.
- we had a huge downpour on the 3 hour drive to the airport. the short wheelbase and small turbo were not a good combo. very skittish. it was on mpss.
- ride is pretty firm
- big A pillar obstructs view. but overall not too bad inside. it has the blind spot assist which helps.

i think a 4 cylinder cayman is still better. much better trans, ride, and steering.

i'd also rank the M2 above it just because of m-dct.

[G30M]

Originally Posted by WagonMaverick

9. Crisp DCT shifts

well that says a lot about the non DCT transmission!

unless it's ... broken!