Which of the trio of Japanese sports cars will you choose? Let us know in the comments!
Modifying cars is taking extreme forms. Cars are becoming more extravagant, more striking and more outspoken. Now those three adjectives are in fact synonyms, but no doubt you understand what we mean. Subtle tuning is almost non-existent, everything is heavily over the top.
Trio of Japanese sports cars
Fortunately, there are also exceptions. The funny thing is, that comes from three special Japanese sports cars that @Loek and the undersigned encountered on the Essen Motor Show. That is not a fair with hard news, but when it comes to modifications Essen is still Petrolhead Heaven. There were three that stood apart from each other, but reminded us of the good old days. To quote Harrie Jekkers: “It will never be this beautiful again”:
Toyota Supra Twin Turbo (A80)
If you say “Japanese sports coupe”, you say Toyota Supra. Unlike many other Japanese sports cars, you could simply get the Supra worldwide. In fact, the Japanese version had 276 hp and beyond that even 330 hp! At least, on paper. The Supra RZ is a relatively straightforward car: a double-blown six-cylinder in the front, manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive.
You could boost the engine, the 2JZ-GTE, enormously. Partly because of this, the fast Toyota also made its debut in an art house film about the struggles of a future ex-police officer and bald criminal with a nesting urge. Fortunately, the Supra that is here at Essen has been kept quite standard. Now tackling a Japanese is not a sacrilege, in fact, manufacturers build the cars in such a way that owners then continue with them.
Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec (R34)
There is a huge sense of mystique about this car. Look, nowadays, thanks to the internet, we know everything about every car. And if you don’t know, you can find out easily enough. That was not the case in the late 1990s. Through obscure websites like Exvitermini and the videos of Best Motoring we had to figure out what was so special about the Nissan Skyline.
A four-seat coupé with a six-cylinder in-line engine with two turbochargers and particularly smart four-wheel drive. In principle, this über-Nissan is simply a predecessor of the current BMW M4 Competition Coupé. This copy is painted in the most iconic color for the Skyline, Bayside Blue Metallic. There are some upgrades, such as the exhaust and a spring-damper combination, but the Rotiform rims are the most striking. They are clearly inspired by the BBS RG-F, but a few sizes larger.
Acura NSX (NA1)
The most legendary Japanese sports car? Perhaps. It was a direct attack on Ferrari, aided by Ayrton Senna. What else do you want? Precisely! The Honda NSX was not only fast and provided with a fabulous handling, you could also drive normally. Oh, and despite a three-year factory warranty, hardly anyone claimed it. They remained intact.
The Honda NSX was not only a huge image blast for Honda, but a hard wake-up call for British, Italian, American and German sports car manufacturers to seriously improve. That eventually happened. In this case, again, the owners barely modified the car. The NSX is a lot lower and is equipped with lightweight aftermarket wheels and the rear spoiler of an NSX Type-R NA2.
Read more? These 10 cars are tuned better than original!
This article Trio of Japanese sports cars: which one will you choose? appeared first on Autoblog.nl.
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