Suzuki Cappuccino >

 

I like the 5th generation Civic hatchback SI 92-95.

 

No Mazda AZ1 no care.

 

Now you see, all this Japanese sports car MADNESS was before my time, but I still miss it. It's like they really had no idea what they were doing and they didn't care; they were just like, "I think this'll go fast, let's build one and find out!" And then presumably 80% were terrible and 19% were better than anything coming out of Europe and 1% were mad like the above Mazdazuki. :P

The now-gone Mazda RX8 was the last holdover from that era, and the BRZ is one attempt to get it back. But back in day, just think of it - EVERY Japanese carmaker made one, two, three crazy performance cars at the same time; a fair amount of them affordable. Again - crazy. But the globalized auto industry is so fiercely competitive it forces economies of scale, so they design for the US/European/Chinese market all at once and you get cars which are really pretty good ... but always a little bit compromised. :)

 

hahaha, good point indeed. as long as the Abarth doesn't spontaneously combust, i am fine. that was a frequent problem with euro cars that ive read about...including MINI's and VW's.

some problems here and there, i am willing to accept as it's not going to be daily driven. my GE will take care of me on that side.

yah, back 20 some years ago, when you asked a japanese male what he wanted to buy the most, his answer was 'car.' and not the donky little pos cars younglings drive today, they were talking real coupes and sport cars.

if you asked the same question to today's youth in Japan, 'car' is ranked like #24. lol so yah, you completely missed the opportunity. hahahaha.

the BRZ/FT86 is a fun idea, but in reality, im hearing 50+ yrs olds are buying them more than younglings in japan.

i honestly dont believe the RX8 was from that era. RX8 is an uncommitted coupe-like sedan with a weak engine. back then, guys were committed to driving 2 seaters and unpractical cars. cars were for driving, not RV'ing or going to some ikea-ish store.

 

This is why I really, really want to trade the Fit in for an AP1. I don't need practicality, I want to enjoy the experience of driving.

 

now that is an awesome motoring car for sure. the AP2 is a tad more tame. you like raw driving.

 

Exactly, I hear the AP1 actively attempts to murder its driver, that's what I'm looking for.

 

^^ excellent!

 

The S2k's also like to (or at least used to) try to murder their own rear-diffs even at stock power levels.

I always liked them, but I can't fit in them.

Tiago Botelho's 4G63 powered S2K went into the 8s at the shootout last weekend:
4g63 S2K goes 8's at the Shootout 2012, full compilation video - DSM Forums











My Favorite part:


I think he got sick of cleaning up after Honda fan-boi's heads exploding when he popped the hood.

 

Dunno, I think both the s2000 and RX8 qualify as Japanese performance car. Different body styles yes but similar power outputs (and similarly unusable power under normal driving!).

Basically Japanese sports cars went from being cheap reliable and some times odd fun (Beat, CRX, AE86, Datsun 240z) to being very high-tech and sophisticated (Nissan 300ZX, Supra, RX7, Nissan GTR), and then gradually went extinct. Some carmakers just cancelled unprofitable models, others bizarrely started trying to also incorporate practicality in a bid to stay relevant (s2000, RX8) and partially succeeded. I'm not going to claim that the era of the s2000 and RX8 is comparable to back when you could go pick up a hot rear-drive Corolla, but I do think that they represent - for me - the last gasp of the "crazy Japanese sports car."

For me, the GTR sort of continues this, but that is certainly not cheap. The Mazda MX5, the Nissan 370z - these are fine cars but they do not move the art forward, and although I would buy an MX5 I don't view it as being as "special" as a Honda Beat, s2000, or the RX8. All these cars had some strange feature that nowadays would be changed before production.

Honestly, I really like it when carmakers do halo models that aren't massively expensive but that incorporate crazy technology or speed - I like that they are subsidizing these models in order to create dreams in their young customers. The s2000 was a 30k$ car with the performance of a Porsche Boxster/BMW z3 etc. The BRZ does a similar thing. So that's nice. Maybe in 10 years I'll look back and say, you know what, the Japanese sports car did not die with the RX8. Let me think about this a little more :)

 

I'm no scare. I won't try to launch the car, that's not what they're built for.

As for the fitment, being built like Lewis Hamilton I can fit into any car haha

 

yah, the RX8 was never a japanese "sports car" in my book. RX7 yes, RX8 no.

 

So I did some looking and talked with the person who will cosign for financing for an S2k....looks like I'll be working my way into an AP2 next summer :D

Right now the goal is to sell my GD stuff and pay off the rest of what I owe on the Fit to get the best down payment/trade bang for my buck possible.

 

Mike, would you say it's better to pay off the Fit as much as possible and have a lower down payment for a new car or pay off the Fit as per normal term agreement and save up that money for a chunky down payment? Or is it essentially the same thing?

Curious of your thoughts on this.

 

I'm going to pay off the Fit as much as possible, sell all my mods, put that into paying the car off some more, hopefully that'll leave me owing nothing to very little. Once that is complete I'll put the car up for sale, see what I can get from CarMax, etc. Sell the car and use that as a down payment and see what I need financed from there. It may not be the best solution per say but it seems logical to me.

BTW PM'ing you.