Here's Why Nineties JDM Classics Still Beat The Class Of 2018

JDM classics were pulling so-called 'modern' party tricks 20 years ago, and Dan Trent reckons they're still better than any equivalent you can buy new today
Here's Why Nineties JDM Classics Still Beat The Class Of 2018

I was lucky enough to spend some time with the Hyundai i30 N the other week. Very much my kind of car it was too, combining useful stuff like rear doors, five seats and an exploitable on-road footprint with an explosively turbocharged 2.0-litre engine good for 270-odd horsepower and a clever electronically-controlled diff able to send it to the wheel best placed to use it.

And strut braces. Strut braces are always cool, especially when they turn up in unexpected places. Like the boot of a Hyundai i30. This is a subtle but important sign of the engineering priorities that went into the car and flashes a huge clue about the way it drives. Which is to say brilliantly.

The i30 N is a great modern hot hatch. But the 20-year-old Evo is already at the next corner...
The i30 N is a great modern hot hatch. But the 20-year-old Evo is already…

Then my brother turned up in his absolutely gorgeous Evo IV, a car I have coveted from the moment he went out and bought it a few months back. And I thought, hang on, that’s got rear doors, five seats, an exploitable on-road footprint, 270-odd horsepower and a clever electronic differential too. And it had all that – not to mention four-wheel drive and a sod-off rear wing – 20 years ago.

I’ve talked previously of my mum’s current-shape 1.5-litre MX-5. Great car it is too. Personally I think the fact Mazda has matched the size, weight and character of my 1993 Eunos is an incredible achievement given all the extra kit it’s had to include to meet modern-day crash regulations and customer expectations. But the point remains that the template set down in my 25-year-old rattlebox is as relevant now as it was then.

Mazda has returned to the template it set a quarter of a century ago and there's no harm in that
Mazda has returned to the template it set a quarter of a century ago and…

There are obvious caveats that shouldn’t really need addressing, but I have to anyway because this is the Internet and, if I don’t, somebody will call me out on it. Yes, an Evo basically needs a full service after every journey. Yes, as a Eunos owner I’m fully aware 90s JDM cars rust away to nothing if you don’t look after them properly. They don’t have CarPlay, blind spot warning sensors, configurable driver modes, adaptive dampers or any of the other paraphernalia we now expect in even a hot Fiesta. And it goes without saying that if I was going to be in a crash in an MX-5 I’d rather it was in my mum’s and not mine, no matter how awkward the phone call was afterwards. Because at least there would be a reasonable chance of there being an afterwards.

Whatever Japanese manufacturers were on in the 90s was clearly good stuff
Whatever Japanese manufacturers were on in the 90s was clearly good stuff

There are various reasons those of us afflicted by the 90s JDM habit have it so bad though. Gran Turismo is obviously one of them. But out here in the real world I continue to be amazed at just how in tune with what proper drivers want out of cars these modern classics still are. This purple patch in Japanese performance car development gave us a generation of machinery packed with character and technology perfectly suited to driving conditions literally half a world away.

Sure, I’d love a retro Porsche, a ‘90s M car or an original Mercedes E500. They’re lovely. But they’re also geared for three-figure Autobahn blitzing irrelevant to what you can do over here, and they’re ridiculously expensive to buy and run. Even with a reasonable recommissioning budget my brother’s Evo cost him a chunk less than what you’d pay for an E36 M3 of the same vintage. Even so, the way it tears apart a British B-road in conditions fair or foul remains an absolute revelation. Laugh all you like at the plasticky interior, lack of gizmos and comedy bodykit. Plenty in the family have. But as a machine to drive there’s nothing in the market today to equal its mix of size and punch.

If it's this or a 911 of the same vintage, JDM rules for half the price! Image: Jacob Ashworth/Torque GT
If it's this or a 911 of the same vintage, JDM rules for half the price!…

Earlier this year I was writing elsewhere about an FD RX-7 Spirit R for sale with one of the glitzier importers for £30,000. See how far onto the 90s 911 ladder that would get you and all of a sudden the engine rebuilds seem a lot less scary. That car was way, way more beautiful, more interesting to drive and more technically fascinating than anything the Germans were doing at the time. And for the true tech nerds let’s not forget the Mitsubishi GTO, a car packing four-wheel drive with differentials of all flavours, electronically adjustable dampers, active aero, switchable exhaust system, four-wheel steering and a hard-hitting six-cylinder twin-turbo engine. All kit the latest Porsche 911 Turbo sells for six figures as being the absolute cutting edge of sports car technology. Hmmm.

Tech to make a modern 911 Turbo S blush... sorry about the tiny image, though
Tech to make a modern 911 Turbo S blush... sorry about the tiny image,…

OK, with the best will in the world even I’d confess that I’d struggle to choose a GTO or 3000GT over a modern 911 Turbo. But the point is there – the 90s and early noughties were a period of incredible creativity and innovation in Japan and the cars that came from it deserve every bit of the fanatical love they get.

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Comments

Bryan from Philly

Hyundai is not JDM

07/28/2018 - 23:49 |
1 | 0

Thank you! I really don’t understand that aspect of this article! JDM would imply also to be for the Japanese Domestic Market and this thing is definitely NOT in that spec! It is amazing, how the level for knowledge and research is dropped in this one….. Mazda talks about SkyactiveX to increase fuel efficiency and Toyota makes more hybrids. This guy certainly doesn’t understand economics or needs of modern society.

07/29/2018 - 09:05 |
4 | 0
KamitoRings

i find it more and more pleasing to me dreaming about a Supra. i always liked that one car, and its the one i can actually see myself driving. coming from a guy who prefers small cars. idk something about 90s cars are aesthetics.

07/29/2018 - 02:44 |
0 | 0
Here's Why Nineties JDM Classics Still Beat The Class Of 2018
HF_Martini6

The 90’s JDM Cars are great and all and i realy realy did love my S13 (and i’m still said i had to sell it) but, modern Cars are way better to live with.
Modern Cars (usually) don’t rust, they are way more comfortable with more creature comforts, Servicing is less expensive (usually) and less frequent.

But modern Cars are also Soulless i mean they don’t have quirks, they mostly look the same and driving feels disconnected.

07/29/2018 - 08:38 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

so is Hyundai JDM now all of a sudden?

07/29/2018 - 12:23 |
6 | 0
White Comet

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

hahahahahahaha

07/29/2018 - 19:11 |
1 | 0
Anonymous

A steel silver Evo IV has been my dream car since at least 5 years ago, when I was 12. Your brother is a pretty lucky guy

07/29/2018 - 21:38 |
0 | 0
The Blue Corolla

Did anyone else read this and hear it in Alex’s voice in their head?? No, just me then? 😂 😂

07/30/2018 - 07:17 |
0 | 1