The time has come ...

The Supra engine is leaking heaps and heaps of oil and is not performing like it use to.

So it's time for an upgrade.

I know what engine I want. For those interested, it will be the 1JZ-GTE.
What I don't know, is if I want an auto or manual.

I started driving with a manual and I enjoy driving manual - only problem, a JZA70 manual cut is about $1500 - $2000 more than an auto cut. But no questions asked, I prefer to drive a manual.
Also I've been driving auto since buying the Supra and I've grown to love the lazy Sunday cruising style of driving on a daily basis.

Either way suits me fine - but an engine conversion is quite expensive...so please keep in mind that I'm not loaded and give me your recommendations.

Thanks for reading and voting.

I would go the manual tran if i had the choice of the 2. i dunno what model the 1JZ is coming out of but ive heard that the auto box from the soarer is nobodys friend when it comes to driving hard.

Manual is way more fun in the end too

EDIT: just remembered something else, I had a friend who put an exhaust and front mount on his 1JZ and there is something in the engine management that when the boost goes up (as it did with fitting exhaust nd the intercooler) it backfired cos the auto trans is electroniclly controlled. mechanic said it was the computer protecting the driveline from abuse by cutting the fuel or ignition for a second. hope this helps

Well, IMO, you own a sports car.. auto's not very sporty . Its up to you really, and maybe money will be the deciding factor, but if I owned a Supra I'd want it manual for the fun aspect and improved performance.

Autos perform much better than manuals...pretty much any engine over 3.0L will perform better with an auto BUT the JZ is about a 3L i think so 50/50 i rekon but..
tested 300zx's autos have 280hp stock , manual 300hp and auto has quicker quater mile..
And i own an auto and i wont be buying a manual anytime soon...
And dont forget manual shifting is also pretty fun aswell, but yea dude all personal choice here!

well jsut incase you might wanna know, theres a nissan silvia in town thats been rolled and it has a 1jz in it. engine seems fine but radiator and coller are f***ed might go cheap because the owned has a huge dept to pay off

Very interesting!!
Firstly I didnt know that about the auto. I know the gearbox alone sells for $1500 to $2000

I've found a place that has manual half cuts for $3500 and auto for $2500. This place seems a goer...but going auto will def allow me to get it quicker and use the money saved on mods.

So I guess it's rather difficult for me. As I'd like a manual as preference but auto is considered because it's cheaper - but might not be in the longer run as I find autos in general not very reliable and expensive to repair.

I'm also thinking about the fact that I work shift hours so I'm not sure what I need. Basically the car is a daily driver and used for everything...

Anyway, depending on how long the motor lasts, hopefully I don't have to cough up cash anytime in the very near future.

But yes this thread is to help me decide and come up with a savings plan which will allow me to save enough so I can afford a conversion.

Also I dont even know if fitting a manual will cost more coz of extra things to fit and change.

darv why are you even considering an auto? Manual all the way!!! :tony:

Auto all the way, unless your cars going to see a race track with corners.
Definately auto if your gunna run it down the quater.
As you say, its a daily driver, remember those manual times when you really CBF driving, you just want to get home, and its stop start traffic. Do you??? I know you do!! An auto is just so much more easier. And if anyone brings up the, "manuals keep you awake because your doing stuff", or any crap like that, thats not going to matter when your sticking to one speed as your not changing gears.
Go auto Darv.

yes bob, but as said already, auto isn't very sporty in a sports car :tony:

Yeh, Bob - thats sorta how I was thinking.

Like I would drive home from work - about 35 minute drive, tired as hell...sometimes stuck in traffic. Last thing I wanna be doing is to keep shifting gears.

I like manual tho, don't get me wrong ppl...but auto is cheaper (to buy in half cut form) and even tho it's a sports car, I don't drive hard everywhere I go. I don't go taking every corner very hard - although passengers seem to think I do?

But I was thinking about it more when I was driving into the city last night...driving with auto made it a lil easier to check the melways and drive at the same time. haha

However I can see how popular going a manual is and be pretty sweet to be able to have more control of how the car drives.

I still got time to think about it...but if I decide to sell the stereo - I can pretty much have it in right now.

manuals are way more fun.

was at a dealership looking at GTS-T skylines and i asked him how hard the skylines went with the auto trans. he said that unless you *really* know how to drive the manual well, the autos will beat manuals, just coz it's hard to change gears at the optimal time. And especially when you have a turbo, the turbo doesn't spool down.

look on carsales.com and find a dealer who is selling a supra that's an auto, drive it and see how the transmission works. The auto in my car sucks for going fast coz even with your foot down, it won't rev past about 4k rpm b4 changing gears.

Also keep in mind, you can't do good starts in autos and you can't really do burnouts....

you might kick yourself if you get a manual for times when you're stuck in traffic. But you'll wanna shoot yourself when you're up for a drag in an auto!!!!!

he already has a supra thats an auto :? why would he need to test drive another :?

All comes down to what kind of trackwork the cars going to see. Or if your going to take it to the twisties on the weekend.

sry, didn't know that. then he should drive a supra manual!!!

i get bored driving auto's.

yeah I'm the same. I can't stand driving them which is why I don't :tony:

Manual's are way more fun!

Auto would be better for 1/4 mile or if you drive frequently around busy city areas

Well thats the thing...
I drive everywhere and use my car for everything.

Go to work, shops, cruise - so it's not like I got this car (or doing this conversion) simply to race or start doing burnouts and stand stills or go to the track.

As for future works...like I will do things within reason. Exhaust, fmic - but it's gotta stop somewhere and won't happen in 1 hit. Just when I have extra $ lying around...

Anyway, here are the prices...

$2500 - $2800 for auto
$3500 - $4500 for manual

The more expensive prices are for the good condition ones. ATM I'm sorta swaying towards the auto coz of price...but I do wish I had more money to consider the manual more because that is what I prefer.

I also don't know how much the conversion is going to cost me. I've been to some mechanics and that...and labour for a conversion is ranging between $500 to $1200 from a mechanic and then $3000+ from a specialist performance mechanic. Once the car is in, prices can change...I also know how the conversion has to be done so a normal mechanic who can swap a Holden/Ford engine can do this.

It'll be other costs that will affect my decision.

But still, autos arent exactly fun to drive, but manuals arent fun either when in traffic or in the city.

Maybe a better question would be - what is more reliable and less likely to give me a massive bill??

but you see how popular the manual conversion is on the poll darv, maybe you could save some more pennies unless this engine is about to cark it and you want to convert it all in one hit...

Hey josh - yeh, I dunno how long it'll last.
Which is sorta why I wanna hurry up and save up enough incase I really gotta do it...
Manual is more popular option and much easier to get one...but yeh, need more money.

Well, conversion will be the engine and box/tranny in the 1 hit...so I gotta buy the half cut according to what I want.

All I can say is, auto will save me around $1500 i reckon...coz I'd rather the better condition half cuts.

I need to win lotto.

never know darv, it could possibly be your lucky day, wanna buy me a lotto ticket as well :tony: I can't even afford one

Don't forget the nuisance and expense of changing clutches etc too.

I like my auto for driving around town, but it also robs 20% of the power, so for quick driving I'd love a manual. Better fuel economy with a manual too. Maybe tiptronic or something might be good.
I guess you can just click HOLD and change geats manually in my auto, but why bother when it will redline every gear when you floor it

i would stick with the auto for the cost factor, and ease of conversion..

i have contempleted the same sort of thing with my VS, as in convertine from auto to manual when i killed my one..
the thing that you also have to take into consideration when converting to manual, from auto, is the extra costs to cover the additions of things your car doesnt have..

you'll most likely have to..
change the computer, or disconnect the auto plugs
add the clutch booster
change the pedal assembly
change the mounts, and maybe the tailshaft
change the centre console to suit the gearstick
not sure what else..

manuals are more fun, but autos are easier to drive in city/traffic conditions.. if you wanna drive like a manual, manual shift the gears..

its all up to $$ mate, altho most say manual..

or you could find yourself a VS V6 manual, although they are pretty hard to find :?

I know, but that wasnt an option, especially after everything i did to mine.. i was thinking that when my auto died on me (burnt clutches & no 2nd) but the costs of converting far outweighed the new auto..

i was just informing Darv on whats needed for a conversion..

i will be doing my conversion when i change motors in a few years, whether its a TTV6, HFV6 or SCV6..

mmm TTV6 or SCV6 sounds pretty good to me, wanna swap for a TX5? :tony:

Thanks Damo for the info...however, not doing a auto -> manual conversion.

Be an engine conversion and if wanted, change to manual as well.
Since I'm buying a half cut...a manual cut will have everything I need to swap it...ecu, pedals, box etc etc

Auto's cheaper so I think I'll go with auto for now. Unless circumstances change in the future... ie. I get lucky and win Powerball. But if that happened...maybe a new car or 100.

oh well...even though the manual conversion is more popular..you could've saved your pennies and done the manual conversion with the engine conversion. just my 2 cents anyway

What gives you guys the impression that a slush box is quicker over the 1/4?

Im so over manual driving my car is a bitch
im getting a turbo 400 + my clutch is 3000 every time it dies if youve got real hp go auto

Ok firstly look at how the soarer auto works compared to your average holden or ford tranny. for a start the soarer box has lockup in lower gears and it also with the computer uses engine braking so therefore you actually get the benefits of a manual when driving hard along roads in the dandenongs or along the G.O.R. but you get to have two hands on the direction chooser so you can hit corners harder and more reliable. with a good stally you can beat any manual hands down. you dont have to worry about clutches as much but you do have to worry about bands if you are doing mad stand stills all the time. other than that autos require little mainenace. if you want to be hard and drive it like a manual through the gears you can. autos change gears alot quicker than you can in a manual purely because theres no synchros to worry about (auto oil is thinner and changes faster any way hence why in our race cars we run auto fluid in our manual boxes) you cant chip the teeth in an auto. your not getting a fuggen sore calve from creaping through slow city traffic or doing chaps laps. plus with a turbo you dont have to worry so much with spool down on the turbo because gear changes are done without releasing pressure on the drive train therefore stopping the turbo from spooling out beyongd its optimal range or below its optimal range.

I personally am a manual person but then i dont do alot of city driving and when i do i take my other car with an auto casue swaping between first and second and riding the clutch doesnt apeal to me much. I also do alot of long distance trip and towing so thats my reasoning behind choosing a manual. but if i was just a suburbs driver with a little fwy driving ect id choose the auto any day.

(what i have written above about the soarer box is what i understand from what i have read and been told by my mate who is an importer an may not be entierly correct someon ese may be able to shed more light on the subject)

Can i just ask with all this crap is true that manual transmissions are been phased out gradually over time or is this just bullcrap. geez i hope it is as a manual is the only way to drive a car none of this auto trans if i lived in the city it might be another question but i wil never live in the city.

Didnt know this was still alive...

Anyway, bit of an update - I could only manage to find 3 manual half cuts around Australia. The oil is leaking pretty badly right now and I need to do a conversion asap.
So *HOPEFULLY* ... I will have a manual 1JZGTE fitted in my car in the very near future.
Ive found 2 fitters who I will be deciding on when it comes time to pick a destination for the half cut.

I could have waited a little longer and saved about $1500 which could go to things like mods and I dunno what else...but Ive always loved manuals and Ive always felt more confident driving a manual than an auto. Maybe its the control factor.

So with the persuassion of u blokes and the fact I love manuals and I could only find manual half cuts means that is what Ill be putting in my car.

Cant wait!

cool, I knew you'd come around darv :tony:

Go the manual!

A slush box through twisty mountian roads is an absolute bitch. Never power when u want it, then twice as much power suddenly when it kicksdown.

And what makes people sat auto is quicker over the 1/4 mile. U lose more pwoer in the drivetrain with an auto and u can't launch the car as hard?

And the turbo spooling down? Thats what a blow-off valve is for, and flat shifting for that matter.

Be a man, go the manual!!!!

ok well i remember reading already that he has gone with the manual andres.

as for flat shifting. you ever tried to do this while driving hard for hours on end through the twisty stuff? not easy.
BOV are illegal due to the fact that all air that passes thought the air filter must pass through the cat and recirculating BOVs still spool the turbine down.
autos are quicker down the quater because of the torque. your torque converter locks up and stalls up the motor generating (excessive heat) multiples of torque (esp when a trans brake is also used). as i also mentioned autos swap cogs faster.
this arguement of auto v manual could go on forever but its just up to the driver. i know my old man always drives an auto daily driver but drives manuals in his weekenders (altho now he has an auto weekender and a manual daily driver go figure)
autos when driving through twisty stuff shouldnt be diven in D all the time they should be driven as a clutchless manual. in fact tony gee from pro autos always drives his autos like they are a manual no mater what.

Ok, lets get a couple of things straight. Autos are NOT quicker over any distance. There are a few reasons why people choose them for drag racing and quick ET's are not one of the reasons. Torque converters NEVER lock up! They always use more power (convert to heat) than a manual.

A recirculating BOV does not allow the turbine shaft to spool down any more than other designs. People use the dump to atmo BOV because they think it sounds good.

I agree on flat shifting. It is not good for your car/clutch/driveline to do it often. Not really necessary anyway.




This one always gets me. The old clutchless manual. Driving an auto manually is not considered to be a clutchless manual. A clutchless manual is exactly that, a manual constant mesh (not planetary) gearbox that does not require the drive to be disengaged by a clutch for changing ratios. This is done by dog engagement rings and no syncro drums. Some method of holding the transmission in gear must be used since its tendency is to throw the dogs out of engagement. Pro Stock drivers must hold the stick in gear with their hand while F1 cars have pneumatics to hold it in.

There are no road cars that I am aware of that have clutchless manuals. I am not sure if the new Ferrari Enzo has one. I know Pac Performance had one (Liberty - same as Pro stock) in their RX2 once but has since changed it for an auto I believe.