Toyota Altezza rs200

iaind said:
Never understood the point of these when the IS300 exists. Can anyone enlighten me?
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The Japanese are all about their highly strung revvy little 4pots due to the way their tax and emissions laws work, which is why this car exists. A big NA 6 pot will cost a lot more to run over there.

Personally if I were looking to buy a JDM Toyota saloon, I'd be looking at a Chaser rather than an Altezza.
 
Seems like a lot of money for such an old car, I wouldnt be able to go for that over a UK spec Accord Type-S, a much newer example in excellent condition on an 04/05 plate could be had for that kind of money
 
Joshy said:
Absolutely awesome cars :cool:.

Desperately want one but it looks like I'll have to wait until I'm at least 21 :(.
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I am very tempted by one to replace my 300zx as I need 4 doors now. It fits the bill of big, fast and plenty of toys. They aren't too expensive around £5k for 2000 plate its a lot of car for the money.
 
I wouldnt want one after a gti-6 the gti picks up quite a lot in the middle of the rev range THEN goes nuts at about 5.5k
A RS200 is a bit, nothing... nothing.. nothing.. 5.5k POWERRRR, I would have a beams Mr2 though oddly
 
[TW]Fox;17965561 said:
Actually at £5000 for a 10 year old Jap saloon it's bordering on 'Not very much car for the money at all'.

I thought they'd be around £3k?!
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Given the fact that £5000 is around about the starting price of a decent example of it's much older, more less practical cousin with very similar underpinnings it's a lot of car for the money. MK1s will span from anything from £1000 (I.E worth more in parts) - £3000, MK2s are usually seen for £3000+, £5k for an enthusiast owned car with a few mods :).

Even at £5k I think it's a lot of car. Very quick (with the possibilty of being made 100BHP quicker with ridiculous ease ;)), very comfortable and all this with very reasonable parts and servicing costs and good reliability.
 
It's the same price as a 540i of the same age and same power output, or even an E55 of similar age and MUCH more power.

No thanks.

The whole point in Jap is that it's cheap - bang for buck.
 
If you're judging the Aristo entirely on it's standard performance figures you are missing the point (this is starting to become a habit of your's Fox ;)).

The potential is utterly immense.
 
I'm not missing the point at all - you can't compare a car based on its potential once you've modified it, if modification was all people bought them for there would be no standard cars available after 10 years.

I don't 'miss the point', I disagree with it.

The fact that a Supra is obscenely overpriced for what it is doesn't make the Aristo a bargain, it makes it less of a ripoff.
 
[TW]Fox;17965849 said:
I'm not missing the point at all - you can't compare a car based on its potential once you've modified it, if modification was all people bought them for there would be no standard cars available after 10 years.
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Doesn't work quite like that with imports. There are certain models that get imported and very rarely remain standard afterwards, but you can still find 100% standard examples for sale in Japan. There's also models that are sold specifically for modifying such as the Mitsubishi Evo MR models that came with crap brakes, steel wheels and no spoiler.

The prices are also different because some people are prepared to pay extra for a more unusual car rather than something comparatively common like a 5 series.

Note the use of "comparatively" in that sentence before having a go, I'm not trying to imply that the 5 series is common as dirt...

...that's the 3 series. :D
 
It's a GS300 with a different badge/engine - it's not exactly exotic, unless you count the Aristo in its own right, in which case if you wish I can tell you exactly how many 540i's were sold in 2000 :p
 
I tend to go for something different and like Jap stuff always have, but then again I like the e39, I know buying performance saloons at this price bracket and age is a risk but I took a risk buying my 300zx 8 years ago and its been pretty reliable and once you get to know the layout and get in with the forums you can maintain and run them relatively cheaply.
 
If you happen to like wringing silly power out of a 4pot engine then the car is a better buy, one you can't get over here.

Personally, having had my eyes opened to how much better 6 cylinders + small turbo is compared to 4 cylinders + big turbo I wouldn't go back, but that's just personal preference. The kind of person who likes wringing the nuts off a 4 cylinder turbo engine probably isn't going to be happy in a BMW designed as more of a tourer.

I have to confess to not seeing many GS300s around, but then I hardly ever see Lexus cars on the road for some reason.
 
Lum said:
I have to confess to not seeing many GS300s around
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They didn't sell very well because comparatively speaking it wasn't very good - it was pitched at Audi, Mercedes and BMW and came up short. Too much like a Toyota with some leather and a different badge. It took Lexus a few more years to be a really credible premium player with the current shape offerings. Until then they were playing catchup.
 
We've also got the reliability/running costs argument.

An Aristo will return around 30MPG on a run with ease, a 540i will struggle and an E55 just won't.

An aristo will almost certainly cost pennies to run/keep on the road in comparison to the 540i and E55 you mentioned. In the world of Jap performance cars Supras are always noted for being rather cheap to run given their performance and the Aristo is certainly no different.

And you can't really deny the "potential" argument. Almost anyone who knows what an Aristo is over here and would prefer one over say a GS300 or GS430 will be modifying it, And with that you open the door to a world of possibilities.

Not saying that they are for everyone but for those of us who are partial to a bit of Jap they are a cool choice. Arguably the very best turbocharged "Super Saloon" to come out of Japan.
 
fox you mentioned an e55, an e55amg would be absolutely insane wouldnt it, Id kinda love to own one but the running costs must be astronomical.

I love big cars, The altezza seems like a bad Idea from what you are all saying. Id never seen an Aristo till just now, interesting but not for me.

The Peugeot has woken an occasional boy racer side of me, but I want some class in my future car .

I want to own a car thats not often seen on the roads
 
Hedge said:
fox you mentioned an e55, an e55amg would be absolutely insane wouldnt it, Id kinda love to own one but the running costs must be astronomical.
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Absolutely, I wasn't saying it was a recommendation for you but neither, really is an Aristo Twin Turbo. I got sidetracked talking about what poor value £5000 on a 10+ year old Japanese saloon is :p
 
Joshy said:
Not saying that they are for everyone but for those of us who are partial to a bit of Jap they are a cool choice. Arguably the very best turbocharged "Super Saloon" to come out of Japan.
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I suspect plenty of Skyline, Impreza and Evo owners would disagree with you on that one. Yes they do make 4 door Skylines.

I still think you should have a look at the Chaser as well, when considering Toyotas.
 
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