Remembering Japanese cars from the past

Tag: Toyota Soarer (Page 3 of 4)

DOTS: 200SX S12, Starion and Soarer


Two months ago I posted some older Down on the Street by me from a period where I didn’t even have a proper digicam yet. So, here are some more beautiful cars taken on a crappy phonecam!

Let’s start with this nice S12:
Down on the Street: Nissan 200SX S12
Down on the Street: Nissan 200SX S12

The Silvia S12 was called the 200SX in the US and even though this car has the “normal” CA18ET under its hood it is still badged as the 200SX. ;)
Back then the owner of this car lived in the center of Amsterdam and took the habit of parking it close to my house (waiting time for a parking license in Amsterdam is about 3 to 4 years!) so I saw it many many times. According to the RDW this car no longer exists in the Netherlands…

How about a non-widebody Starion then?
Down on the Street: Mitsubishi Starion
Down on the Street: Mitsubishi Starion

Owned by the same person who owned the Starion widebody and disappeared a few days after I took the picture. It is no longer registered on the Dutch roads, so I don’t have to guess what happened to it…

This Soarer parked in front of my house was a nice surprise after a long day of work:
Down on the Street: Toyota Soarer JZZ31
Down on the Street: Toyota Soarer JZZ31

Back then I still had my AE86 so within 20 meters apart there were an AE86, a Starion widebody and a Soarer! Too bad they were not directly parked next to each other…

Ten minutes after I took this picture the Soarer left. Engine sounded like a non turbo 6 cylinder engine, so most definitely a JZZ31 with a 2JZ-GE. Only the badge makes it a Toyota Soarer and not a Lexus SC300, the rest of it is identical. However I still like the idea of seeing a real Soarer! ;)

video: Soarer MZ11 versus Soarer MZ21

After Thursdays overkill in Soarers I started searching on some videos. I found this short 1987 comparison video of the old (1986) and new (1987) Soarer:

As you can see: the new MZ21 Soarer with Air Suspension did improve a lot over the older (yet already amazing) Soarer with TEMS. The Air Suspension clearly compensates breaking out the new Soarer and keeps it in a straight line… Also the 0.2 liter increased 5M to 7M really makes a difference: about two seconds on the 0-400m run. But that is rather normal for a 70hp increase. Still I personally prefer the MZ11 styling above the MZ21…

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