We take a dive into the world of turbo six-cylinder and rear-wheel drive sedans (nice and specific, huh?).
All I want for Christmas is…. A fat rear-wheel drive sedan with a turbo-charged six-in-line. It may be the ideal car. Since it is the subject of a list for Monday evening, that is of course the case. We will also explain it for you. It is in fact the simple setup, almost classic. A sedan is almost the standard car, four doors, five seats and a spacious trunk.
The layout of a straight-six with rear-wheel drive is brilliant. Nothing runs better than a six-in-line, except for a V12 (which actually consists of two six-cylinder in-line engines). Behind the engine you have the transmission that fires all the power to the rear wheels via a cardan shaft. Not only is the running culture unprecedented, it is also good for weight distribution. There is another bonus, with a six-in-line it is much easier keys: after all, there is a lot of space. The only drawback is that an atmospheric six-in-line is often not very powerful and has to make a lot of revs.
That’s why we have a very specific yet cool category of cars for today. Namely thick sedans with turbo six-cylinder and rear-wheel drive. Torque, power, style, space and great performance. What does a man want more?
To make it clear what we mean by sedans with turbo six-cylinder and rear-wheel drive, the following requirements:
- Sedan with four doors
- Inline six petrol
- turbo (or two)
- Rear-wheel drive
If you know one or more that could have been in this overview, let us know in the comments!
Koenig Specials 300 E Turbo (W124)
1986
We wanted to limit it to petrol engines, otherwise the list would be full of OM606 projects (which is the most legendary six-in-line diesel from Mercedes-Benz). Even before the V8 came into the 500 E, tuners had to make do with the 3.0 six-in-line. Oettinger (yes, that VW tuner) increased the displacement, as did Carlson. Koenig Specials tackled it rigorously by mounting a turbo kit on a 300 E. Not much else is known about it, except that they have converted a few. And yes, Koenig was in the 1980s what Mansory is now: a bit exuberant.
Alpina B10 BiTurbo (E34)
1989 – 1994
Nowadays Alpina are a ‘Bi-Turbo’ due to the fact that BMW already builds them that way. That was not the case in 1989. The Alpina B10 BiTurbo is not an M5 alternative. No, much more than that. The engine is the M30 from the 535i, but with Mahle forged pistons and twin Garett T25 turbochargers. Result: 360 hp and 520 Nm. Of course, the chassis was also adjusted with thicker anti-roll bars, Bilstein dampers and a lot of other small adjustments.
The top speed of the Alpina B10 Bi-Turbo is 291 km/h! That’s still crazy fast now, but otherworldly in 1989. This car competed with Ferraris and Porsches. The disadvantage was the price, because it was twice as high as a BMW M5. In the end, 507 copies were built.
Lotus Carlton (Type 104)
1990
Perhaps the thickest addition in this list of sedans with turbo six-cylinder and rear-wheel drive. Er, correction: this is by far the thickest of the list. General Motors had bought Lotus and wanted to do some fun things with it. The Corvette ZR-1 has a Lotus-developed engine, for example. Coincidentally, the Opel Omega modified by Lotus uses exactly the same ZF S6-40 manual gearbox.
The engine was enlarged to 3.6 liters and equipped with two turbos. But it wasn’t the engine that Lotus tackled, everything was different. So a limited slip differential, lowered chassis, new bumpers, modified steering (from the Opel Senator) and thick AP Racing brakes. The power of 382 and in particular the torque of 568 Nm was unprecedented at this time. Still a legendary car.
Autech Nissan Cefiro (A31)
1990
Although Nissan struggled to make a profit in the 1990s, they made the most beautiful cars. Not so much the design (that was often just ‘so so’), but in terms of technology. The Autech Nissan Cefiro combines the best of both worlds. This rear-wheel drive saloon has the RB straight-six engine from the Skyline R33 and the chassis of a Nissan Silvia S13. Skyline power with Silvia handling. It doesn’t get any better.
The RB20DET engine has been fitted by Autech with a larger turbo, larger intercooler and new ECU. This provides 225 hp and 294 Nm. The transmission is of course manual, exactly how you want it. The performance is not extremely impressive in 2022, but keep in mind that this car is mainly built for handling. Also cool: in the interior you will find Conolly leather! We want one.
Tom’s X540 Chaser (X100)
2000 – 2001
Proof that good cars are not always successful if they don’t have a premium badge on them. The Toyota Chaser is a brilliant car on paper. The car comes from the time when Japanese manufacturers did everything with beautiful technology. The Chaser is of course equipped with a six-in-line turbo engine and what kind: the 1JZ-GTE, which you can see as the little brother of the 2JZ from the Toyota Supra. The power was ‘276 hp’, so significantly more.
The Tom’s version takes it a step further: thanks to a few mechanical adjustments to the engine, it produces 315 hp. The weight of the car is less than 1,500 kg, so that 315 hp is more than enough. The most important thing, however, is the chassis. The car is so rare that we have no press photos of it. However, Tom’s X540 Chaser can be controlled in Gran Turismo 4. The images you see here are of a Chaser that has been modified by Wald. Looks almost the same.
Toyota Aristo Vertex Edition (S160)
2000
Lexus GS owners will say that their GS300 has a Supra engine and that is technically correct: the 2JZ-GE without turbo is available in the GS300 and the Toyota Supra. In the Netherlands, the Supra always had the Twin Turbo engine and the Lexus GS300 the non-turbo. In Japan there was choice.
The GS is then called Toyota Aristo V300 Vertex Edition. This model is equipped with the 2JZ-GTE engine with two turbos and almost unlimited tuning options. Disadvantage: Toyota mounted a four-speed automatic … The five-speed automatic could not handle the power and a manual gearbox was never delivered in this model. So you have to ‘swap’ the Getrag from the Supra to use the full potential.
Nissan Skyline GT Turbo Sedan (R34)
2001
With the name Nissan Skyline we all naturally think of the GT-R and that makes sense. But before the R35 generation, the GT-R was a variant of the Skyline. The GT-R is the ‘BMW M5’, but there are also other BMW 5 Series, so to speak. For example, the Japanese businessman could also order a simple 2-liter sedan with an automatic transmission. A bit in between is the GT Turbo Sedan.
This has cool rims, bumpers, sports seats and a 2.5 six-in-line turbo engine with rear-wheel drive. Not as impressive as a real GT-R in terms of tuning potential, but here too you could easily get 400-500 hp. The engine already delivered as much as the GT-R as standard: 280 hp, although all German cars can reach 250 km/h, of course. Special: the Super HICAS four-wheel steering system could get it!
FPV F6 Typhoon R (BF)
2007
In Australia, Ford had been building the Falcon XR6 for a long time, a Falcon sedan with a large four-liter six-in-line and rear-wheel drive. FPV, Ford Performance Vehicles, is the counterpart of HSV (which makes Holdens faster). FPV initially did eight-cylinder, but later also six-in-line turbo engines: the F6 models. The thickest ever made is the FPV F6 Typhoon R.
The straight-six engines had less power than the V8s, but had more torque and delivered it earlier in the rev range. The six-cylinder engines were also easier to perform. The R-Spec has a stiffer chassis and larger wheels. The idea was that you could use this F6 for track days. In Australian tradition you could get them in the most wild and striking colours. 300 copies were built.
Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo Sprint (FG)
2016
It’s the same with Australian cars as it is with Australian animals. It looks a bit like what we have, but then it’s bigger, more different and a little more dangerous. The Ford Falcon was not only built in Australia, but also for Australia.
The sales market was therefore relatively small, while the development costs of such a large battleship are quite high. Almost at the same time as Holden discontinues the Commodore, Ford discontinues the Falcon and therefore its fast versions, the XR8 and the XR6 Turbo. In fact, the last example of the Falcon was a bright blue XR6 Turbo.
BMW M3 (G80)
2021 – present
And we end this overview of sedans with turbo six-cylinder and rear-wheel drive with the BMW M3. Say what you will about the nose (we have done that often enough), the technology is mouth-watering: a 480 hp strong six-in-line with a manual gearbox! In 2022 you can do this order from BMW.
That is really very well done by BMW to get through the Euro 6d emission requirements. As much as we praise these, the chances are extremely high that everyone will automatically order the Competition models with automatic transmission, with or without xDrive. So in 40 years this will be the version you must have at the auction. Enjoy it while you still can.
Read more? These are 10 obscure Japanese station wagons!
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