it's essentially an 80s engine, and the engine that it replaced which the JZ was based on is essentially a 60s engine so yea probably not the best for MPGs lol

 

it's a damn shame they didn't

in the mid 90s when lexus still had that level of momentum going toyota could've really established itself as a serious performance contender with the GS being an M5 / E55 alternative... especially considering how EASY it could've been... the engine bay is literally already the perfect size and shape!

that's funny about the service advisor though... the supra i (eventually) drove originally came to the dealer being owned by some older guy who was looking at a RAV4 for his granddaughter lol... all the service guys were looking over at it pulling up

 

You have to remember though, that, after the mid-1990s, the high-performance versions of the Supra, Mazda RX-7, Nissan 300ZX, Dodge Stealth, and Mitsubishi 3000GT were pretty much driven out of the American market by high insurance premiums and high list prices. For the period, it took a LOT of cash to buy, operate, and insure them.

Yes, some of them came back to the American market several years later, such as the Mazda RX-8 and Nissan 350Z, but they weren't really the same cars anymore, and had de-masculated engines.


And there was a reason why insurance was so high on these cars. As me and a friend of mine were walking down a street in, we watched a overconfident young man crack up a brand-new 300ZX about 100 feet or so, right in front of us, as he floored it, hit an undulation in the road/driveway with the low front end, spun out, and bounced it off a high curb on the side of the street. Fortunately, neither him, his passenger, nor us were hurt....we ran to help him, but he was in a state of shock, and shouting and banging his fist on the steering wheel. After a couple of minuted, when he gained his composure, he said it was his dad's car and only a week or so old. Probably totaled......I didn't see any feasible way they could repair it with the unibody frame all out of whack and all four wheels damaged.

 

Yes, a car is done for if it has frame damage. At least, I wouldn’t touch it.

 

Yeah, that's why insurance was so high on those 90s-vintage Japanese sports cars. I'm not saying that everybody drove them that way, but there were simply too many cases of careless, inexperienced, overconfident, or aggressive drivers cracking them up. And that has always been a problem, of course, with V8 Mustangs.

 

The Jap sports cars were made to have the snot beat out of them.

I don't know anyone who ever bought one that went easy on it.

For cruising, people bought sedans. Lol

 

I was behind a Supra the other day with Historic tags. It was right hand drive too.

 

....but in a safe, responsible way.


How about all of the aggressive drivers that bought BMWs and other sport-sedans...and drove them like sports cars?

 

Possibly shipped over from the British or Australian markets, but most likely a Japanese-market version.

 

I like to think that sedans can get away with more because they blend in with other cars.

A bright red 350Z going fast is just begging for unwanted attention and get pulled over.

That's my theory anyway and have no idea if that's reality or not.

 

As far as I'm concerned, sedan or sport car, simply drive within the law, and you won't have to worry about whether your car "blends in" or not. Most of the time, people bring on their own speeding tickets....although cops and speed-cameras usually won't bother you if you are within about 10 MPH of the posted limit.

 

you think even more so than a BMW M3/M5 or AMG mercedes? it's just frustrating how toyota and nissan especially always keep the best stuff for themselves in japan lol

 

margate is right, those cars are meant to have the crap beaten out of them, which is why they're built to a higher standard and can be driven harder and faster before becoming "too fast"

 

It's been my experience. I got multiple speeding tickets in the ~4 years I had my black Ranger and bright blue Dakota, but never another once I got my first 3-series in 2000, despite having also driven fast on a more consistent basis.

 

Im sure it was JDM.