3000ways

What happend to Toyota and performance? The two words don't seem to go together anymore. Mitsubishi has the EVO, Nissan has the 350Z, Mazda has the RX-8, Honda has the NSX and S2000, Subaru has the STI, and Toyota has the... How can a company that created such a well built and performance monster called the Supra Twin Turbo not offer anything with aspiring performance? Sure there is the MR2 Spyder, nice handling, quality braking, and SLOW. Matrix XRS and Corolla XRS, both are SLOW. I say these cars are slow because many cars in their class will show them tail lights any day and any night. Even fixing these cars up is a hassle, there is TRD, but after that there isn't much. I'm sure Toyota is doing just fine, selling it's family friendly and modest performance cars. When many people think of Toyota, they think of reliability and quality, but when I think of Toyota, I think of boring. How does Toyota match up performance wise with Mitsubishi, Nissan, Mazda, Honda, and Subaru?

dorphat

Corolla-S blow away lancers.....


My family (asian side) has always used toyota's because my grandfather was a mechanic and toyotas are some of the easiest cars to fix. The parts are much more readily available and tends to be cheaper too.

Performance-wise, you're choices are the MR2 and the Celica... are those even considered choices? I hear they're supposed to bring back the supra though. cross your fingers!!

Charlie-GT

if they bring it back (supra) they said it will probably be NA....hmmm ill just buy a used supra

MarcioTheGreat

Celicas are pretty fast, i hear they can run like 14s stock. Well and the tC coming out... Not powerhouses anyway but decent.

MisterSpoot

You'd be pressed to get a Celica GT-S to run anything quicker than a low 15, bone stock. When TRD finally gets the supercharger out for the GT-S, then yes, you'll see them break the mid-high 14s. They handle well, but that's really it.

I'm the only non-Toyota driver in my family. I've never had one, and unless they change, never will. Why? Because I want my car to be more than an A-B appliance. It can be built like a tank and get solid fuel economy all it wants, but if I'm going to spend $15,000+ on anything, it better do more than just the basics -- even if it does the basics exceedingly well.

imapunkclaimer

iTrader: (29)

infinity has the g35, dodge has the srt4 (or viper), chrysler has the crossfire, ford has the cobra

Dookie

Yeah, I think Toyota has dropped out of the "fast" car thing. Hopefully they will bring back a turbo Supra or something to that affect.

oguratevo

iTrader: (7)

Bring back the supra!! or the 2-door Levin/Trueno!!

new_B

i like old school toyotas such as AE86, corolla liftback (my car in philippes) i also have a heavily modified toyota hilux. it is lowered, land cruiser valve springs, cam 5, adjustable cam gears, headers, and many more. the corolla liftback mostlu has TRD parts on it. and now my friend is selling his AE86 for a 94 toyota supra and i want to get my hands on it. one reason: easy to mod, results are awesome, killer looks (well not compared to EVO, but still)

vegasboy301

iTrader: (9)

XB! Toyota=Scion=XB. that is the pimpest of pimp cars.

HoLeeRay

iTrader: (4)

what about that tc? i mean, no one really knows much about that car yet..

Az3ar

iTrader: (18)

you brought a very good point. I read few weeks ago that Toyota is scared because its market is shifting towards older people. that's why they have the new scion. I love Toyota but I am sure soon they will come out with something. In Japan they have rally corolla which is faster than our EVOS.

MisterSpoot

Heck with the base Crossfire, the SRT-6 is a bloody animal. Too bad it's going to come in at about $46,000 stock -- unfortunately I'd expect a base C6 Corvette to run you a similar price tag. The XFire handles very well, and I'd expect no less from the SRT-6.

MisterSpoot

Sports cars? Not sporty cars... who has what? This is my list of what qualifies as a "sports car" from each manufacturer, (barring exotics) that is still in production:


Acura .......... NSX
Audi ........... S4
BMW ............ M3 Coupe, Z4 3.0i,
Buick ..........
Cadillac ....... CTS-V
Chevrolet ...... Corvette
Chrysler ....... SRT-6 Crossfire
Dodge .......... SRT-4 Neon, SRT-10 Viper
Ford ........... Mustang GT
GMC ............
Honda .......... S2000
HUMMER .........
Hyundai ........
Infiniti ....... G35 Coupe
Isuzu ..........
Jaguar ......... S-Type R, XKR
Jeep ...........
Kia ............
Land Rover .....
Lexus ..........
Lincoln ........
Maserati ....... Spyder, Coupe
Mazda .......... RX-8
Mercedes-Benz .. C55 AMG, SL55 AMG
Mercury ........
Mini ........... Cooper S JCW
Mitsubishi ..... Lancer Evolution (all variants)
Nissan ......... 350Z
Oldsmobile .....
Pontiac ........ GTO
Porsche ........ Boxster S, 911 (all variants)
Saab ........... 9-2X
Saturn .........
Scion ..........
Subaru ......... Impreza WRX (all variants)
Suzuki .........
Toyota .........
Volkswagen ..... Golf R32
Volvo .......... S60 R, V70 R


So what types of companies lack a sports car?

• Value-oriented manufacturers (Hyundai, Kia, Saturn, Scion, Suzuki)
• Truck/utility manufacturers (GMC, Hummer, Isuzu, Jeep, Land Rover)
• Venerable American luxury manufacturers (Buick, Lincoln, Mercury)

So who does this leave? Toyota/Lexus. Now, they do have some "sporty" cars -- MR2 Spyder, Celica GT-S, IS300, SC430 -- but no true sports car, unless the first three mentioned receive some serious "oomph", or the SC430 trims some weight and runs a considerably more sporty suspension.

Toyota/Lexus seems very out of place with the lack of a true sports car.

Kid Lancer 7

iTrader: (7)

maybe when hell freezes over