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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
July 2003
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What car to import??
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Thu, 01 July 2004 02:56
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After selling my much loved ra-23 i have been looking for a car to import. I was very keen on the mk3 supra's but have been told they are laggy and parts are hard to source? I have also been told by a few ppl to go for a mr2 or soarer are these good choices? Can anyone enlighten me and tell me these facts about the supra are wrong? If they are consider me driving one in a month 
I live in Adelaide so anyone with knowledge base in the area about part sourcing would be great. Cheers guys any feedback would be great as im researching as much as posible about the cars.
MAtt
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
May 2003
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Re: What car to import??
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Thu, 01 July 2004 04:51
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It all depends on your preferences really.
If you're going for a MR2 (AW11 at least), you'd be someone who appreciates fun driving and handling over raw power, (although they still are relatively zippy... The supercharged aw11's are pretty damn quick too.) They're easily the most fun car i've driven, (I can attest too, we've had everything from a V8 Soarer to a 180sx SR20DET, and i've driven quite a few other cars.) It's like driving a super-powered go-kart. Getting parts for them isn't too bad... but luckily they're well built and pretty reliable for their age.
SW20's, (the next ford-probe shaped model up  ) are also great cars. They're not as fun to drive, (I haven't driven one, so I can't really talk... but it seems the general consensus that AW11 is more fun...) but they're faster than the AW11 with the 3GS motor variants.
As for the supra's, I have never driven one personally, but they are real nice cars. I have heard problems with the turbo cars, but I think they generally apply to any turbo car of that age. I believe they're damn quick too. (the turbo variants.)
As for Soarers, as I mentioned before we used to have a 91' Soarer.(the lexus SC400 model) and it was dreamy. We had the full luxory version with leather seats, TV, crazy stock sound system, GPS System (not working in Australia. Could apparently be modded to), adjustable suspension (whilst driving!), electric EVERYTHING (even the seats were electric. You could save driving positions which adjust automatically to the person in the car!)
The V8 was pretty gutsy, and the difference in power from the twin turbs model was pretty miniscule. I'd say the major difference between them would be that the twin turbs would have better modding capability. (don't quote me on this.)
I never felt like it was a performance car though, it was simply too nice. It seemed more like a luxory merc than a sports car... It wasn't the sort of car I'd do extensive mods to and throw around a mountain track. (hell, the thing had 4 mufflers. Quite as anything.) The twin-turbo model again, may be different. I can't attest to that.
Electrics were a bitch too. It had quite a few problems, but they are all relatively common ones among soarers that can be fixed pretty easily as I recall. There's plenty of writeups online.
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Location:
sunny coast, qld
Registered:
October 2002
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Re: What car to import??
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Thu, 01 July 2004 05:24
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the twin turbo soarer jzz30 or jza70 supra would be my choice.
twin turbo soarers feel a lot quicker than the v8 soarers BTW.
how much do you want to spend?
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Location:
Adelaide, SA
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: What car to import??
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Thu, 01 July 2004 06:08
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Mk3 Supras are not hard to find parts for, but the MA70 3lt turbo's have a reputation for blowing headgaskets. If this has been rectified they're a great car. Not laggy - it's a 3lt with lots of torque potential, but the engine desgin is damn old and they're getting long in the tooth. N/A 3lt are OK too, but not world beaters.
Pick of the bunch is the jza70 - powered by a 1jz twin-turbo. Excellent engine and great car - hard to find as manual though but well worth it.
The runt of the litter is the GA70 - powered by a 1g-gte twin turbo. These are laggy and slow because they don't have enough torque to lug the supra body around. OK once they get moving (4000 rpm plus) but not really a "performance" car. Usually a bit cheaper than the MA70 and a lot cheaper than a JZA70.
I'd be inclined to get a Soarer with the 1jz twin turbo engine. Lots more "seat of the pants" punch than the V8, and are the sportiest of the Soarers. Still, a GT/Lux car rather a sportscar. But 5-speed manual's are pretty rare.
Still, for what you want there's plenty of local cars around that have already been imported - don't bother importing one yourself. Plus imports are more expensive to insure.
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
July 2003
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Re: What car to import??
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Thu, 01 July 2004 14:49
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thanks guys ur imput has been very helpful and will definatley be one of the three i have mentioned.
I have started lookign and will be looking over some this weekend and will make notes of the car plus engine i should get as mentioned by u guys.
Cheers guys
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
September 2003
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Re: What car to import??
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Sat, 03 July 2004 07:15
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toyota chaser 
just need a manual conversion.
got the choice of 1GGZE or 1GGTE with the ones you can import under the 15yr thingy
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