7 Amazing Japanese Performance Cars That I Wish Had A More Expansive Global Market

First of all, I am really big into the Japanese car scene (my favorite car brand is Toyota FYI), and I know I’m not the only one.

I’m pretty sure a sizable percentage of the CarThrottle community are Japanese car enthusiasts and for sure, many of you lament upon a lot of amazing Japanese cars that have never gone formally internationalized with the exclusion of imports and Australia.

This article will be about 7 of many great Japanese cars that I wish were sold in many other areas around the globe.

1. Honda Civic Type R EK9

We all know about the ubiquitous Honda Civic, but the Civic Type R is the Civic that Japanese car guys, especially Honda lovers, go head over heels for. And why not? Its a fun and very sporty hot hatch jacked up on weight reduction and a sweet B16 V-TEC engine that was regarded as one of the greatest 4-cylinder engines made in its time, (a title similarly donned to the venerable Honda S2000 as well.), not to mention being one of the sharpest handling front wheel drive cars ever made… Its basically a DC2 Integra Type R as a hatchback.

Lovely.

However sadly, this little JDM sweet treat was never officially introduced to other countries, and therefore, many people who fancied themselves one had to do it via import, legally or illegally. Truly, the want for high powered V-TEC was strong. Only the Japanese had free access to these brilliantly quick and capable hot hatches that is capable of silencing immature haters once they see it in action.

2. Toyota Chaser JZX- series

Sure, USA and the general worldwide market had the similar Cressida, but what they didn’t give to us was the faster, stronger, sleeker, and overall better car, the Toyota Chaser.

Whether it be the JZX90, the JZX100 (shown), or the swan song Chaser, the Mark II JZX110, the JZ engine sporting midsize sedan was a lust-worthy car for Japanese car enthusiasts, and for good reason.

It had variety in its trim levels, whether you wanted the more luxury oriented, 2JZ powered Avante model or the sportier 1JZ powered Tourer V model, any type of Chaser you bought would have still had you brimming with happiness with the creamy inline-six powering the rear, or all wheels, depending on the trim model.

It was essentially a Supra with four doors. Refined, practical, powerful, had plenty of room for tuning, reliable, and sporty. Who would turn down a car that has all the aspects a good car should have?

There’s no doubt that the Chaser is, in my opinion, one of the greatest cars Toyota has made, and its also, one of my dream cars next to the Mk4 Supra RZ.

3. The Nissan Skyline series

Ah. The Nissan Skyline. One of Japan’s most prolific cars, and Nissan’s prized heifer.

The world’s most iconic Japanese car, spanning a rich history since the late 1950s as a dependable Japanese coupe that represented the face of Nissan.

Then came the revolutionary “Hakosoka” Skyline GT-Rs that soon became a huge hit among car enthusiasts for its character and richness.

After that, were the lesser known R30 and R31 GTS-T Skylines that have only recently caught wind in here thanks to the now infamous “Any love for the -x-“ posts that used to be the surefire way to rake huge amounts of upvotes in just a few days.

Finally, the well known and beloved modern BNR series Skyline GT-Rs, the R32, R33, and the R34, and not to mention its more tamer GTS-T series. Some would call them overrated, but then its for a good reason. 4WD (or RWD if its a GT-T/GTS-T) monsters with the beloved straight-six RB series engines that roars in all its twin turbo glory and earns the respect and worship of millions of car enthusiasts as well as kids who’s stones have yet to drop with the amazing ability to turn an online comment section about cars into a burning train wreck with their delirious statements of blind love for these cars.

After being popularized by the Fast and Furious series, the Skyline cars, starting with the R34, have become wildly sought out for by car collectors and enthusiasts all around the world. Their tight exclusivity also consequently meant infamous cases of illegal importing or insanely high prices in auction sales. If anything, finding a legitimate and good quality, and most especially, an unmodified Skyline for sale outside of Japan would make finding the Holy Grail look easier in comparison.

The Japanese have all the luck, don’t they?

4. Nissan Pulsar GTi-R

Essentially a GT-R in a hatchback body with a SR20 engine, the want for the GTi-R is very strong among JDM car guys, and no wonder.

It had many components that basically made this car a rally car made for the road, similar to how Ford homologated the Escort RS Cosworth to be mass marketed and Lancia the Delta Integrale HF, among a few examples. It had unique components such as the GT-R’s ATTESA AWD system and a modified SR20DET engine that could net 0-60mph/0-100km/h times in less than 5 seconds, impressive for a hot hatch in its time, not to mention the hood scoop and rear wing that was as subtle as fireworks at a funeral.

But this car was truly as sprightly and exciting as a firework, and its undoubtedly considered as one of the greatest compact cars of the 90s.

5. Toyota Crown Athlete (2000s generation)

There are certainly many Crown Athlete variants to suit to a petrolhead’s needs, being a historical flagship vehicle for Toyota like the Skyline is for Nissan, but for me, the 2000s generation is my favorite and it deserves some recognition.

Other than emanating a rich aura of history and character like the Skylines do, the Athlete trims are certainly sporty and fast to a degree, with an impressive hybrid V6 engine called the 2GR-FSE that makes 300+ horsepower and a 0-60 time of under 6 seconds, but other than that, what makes it such a nice car is that the 2000s generation Crowns had innovative technologies that was never found in any car. The Crown Athlete was the first car to brandish a wide plethora of luxurious equipment, such as a 3-dimensional sat nav system supported by A.I, anti-collision detection radar systems, pedestrian night detection system, and a Driver Monitoring System that can scan the driver’s face, highlighting the eyes to see if he/she’s awake or active enough to drive safely, and the car will optimize itself to ride accordingly to the driver’s condition. This sensor can see through sunglasses as well.

Now I know petrolheads dislike any sort of driver aids for cars for maximum enjoyment, but I can’t help but find the driver aids system in the modern Crown Athlete so impressive, I’d have it that way. After all, it still has a sporty element, but it holds an impressive level of comfort and safety.

Its a shame that this generation was mostly present in Japan and China, because if this model Crown Athlete were to be exported to farther areas such as Europe or USA, it would certainly be a worthy competitor of cars like the BMW 5 series, Audi A6, Mercedes E-Class, to name a few.

No good video for the Crown Athlete so here's a refreshing break from Japanese cars.

6. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution I to VII

Before the VIII was localized into the US, the Evo lineup before it was mostly based on Japan and a few other places, but mostly in Japan. The iconic Mitsubishi rally car homologations were certainly and still are amazing cars, and one could certainly not forget about the iconic Lancer Evo VI Tommi Makinen Edition, with its fabulous livery and unique rally car level parts that turned the awesomeness meter up high.

Even now, many Evo enthusiasts, despite having the VIII, IX, and X models with them, are craving for the older generation Evos, from the Evo I and the Evo VII and why not? The 4G63 powered 4WD monsters are legendary cars that can trigger emotion even to the most stoic car person even if he/she does not show it. Its a devilish sports car that promises fun and high performance, and isn’t that what we all crave for as petrolheads?

7. Mazda Eunos JC Cosmo

Another luxury/sports car. Its the Eunos JC Cosmo, the world’s only factory triple-rotary powered GT car. And that, is awesome.

It yielded surprising amounts of performance and luxury and was considered rather advanced for its time, and its rotary engine was truly the magic of this car.

These days, a lot of tuners are buying the engines off of these cars instead of the car itself to be used to swap rotary engines in their other Dorito powered masterpieces, the RX-7s, so obviously, prices are hiking fast for the JC, and even if you do have the money, importing these cars are quite difficult, however, its no doubt that that is a small price to pay for die hard rotary engine worshippers.

So there you have it, 7 Japanese performance cars that deserve a larger global audience than it does right now.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have cars like these in these all around the world? Some would say yes, because it would give joy to many JDM loving petrolheads. Others would say no, mainly because car culture might become boring without the feeling for craving and adventure, as well as some risk taking to get the car they want. I guess life’s meant to be this way, huh?

Thank you so much for reading this far! I’ve spent a good amount of time to make this. I hope this article was good enough for its size.

Thug Bird, out B-).

chirp chirp

Man, this guy is super persistent in getting his car back, its becoming a game now for both parties.