Cars in the Fast Lane

The Nissan Skyline GT-R is easily one of the most recognized bad boys in the automotive world. Featured in such films as 2 Fast 2 Furious, it has an enormous cult following even in the United States, where the car isn’t sold because it couldn’t pass emissions. However, there were people who could import the car from Japan, although it’s very expensive (estimated to be $89,500 on the street).

The R34 is powered by an Inline-6 engine with twin turbo, giving it 276 bhp @ 6800 rpm. It features a full time all wheel drive, ABS and vented discs. The car is extremely heavy, with a curb weight of 3672 lbs.

Although heavy, it can accelerate from 0-60 in just 5.2 seconds (very, very fast) and has a top speed of 155 mph.

The Toyota Supra Mark IV (pronounced Mark Four) is the fourth generation of the Supra.  The new Supra was completely redesigned, with rounded body styling partly based on the Ferrari F40 and featured two new engines: a n/a 2JZ-GE 220 hp @5800 rpm (164 kW) and 210 ft·lbf @4800 rpm (285 N·m) of torque and a twin turbocharged 2JZ-GTE making 276 bhp (239 kW) and 260 ft·lbf (352 N·m) of torque for the Japanese version. For the export model (America/European versions) Toyota upgraded the Supra turbo’s engine (larger turbochargers, bigger fuel injectors, etc.). This increased the power output to 320 hp @5600 rpm and 315 lb.ft @4000 rpm. The turbocharged version reached 0–60 mph in just 4.6 seconds and could run the 1/4 mile (402 m) in 13.1 seconds at 109 mph ^[2]. The turbo version was tested to reach over 289 km/h (180 mph) all-stock, but the cars are restricted to just 180 km/h in Japan and 250 elsewhere.

Sales to Canada were stopped in 1995, and ceased being imported into the US in 1998. Production continued in Japan until August 2002 due to restrictive emission standards to be adhered to by 2003.

There are rumors that the Toyota Supra will be once again revived. You can read more about this here: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/toyota/toyota-supra-ar6872.html

Source: Wikipedia

To start off our list, one of the most well-known vehicles of Sports Cars Enthusiasts is the Mazda RX-7 FD3S (1993-1995).

This front-engine, rear wheel drive car was powered by a unique twin-rotor Wankel rotary engine invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of pistons. This design delivers smooth high-rpm power from a compact, lightweight engine.

With the original Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) at a measly $32,900, it was a huge bargain. Easily the best bang for the buck for it’s time.

It has world class handling, and a powerful 255-hp twin turbocharged engine. The engine itself was “de-tuned” and was under the Japanese “gentleman’s agreement” to limit the horsepower. To really open up the raw power the car has, you’ll have to do some modifications.

Some of the things that plagued RX-7 was the declining amount of sales: It wasn’t the best in the reliability department, and some people mentioned it was a tight squeeze. This is where the Mazda RX-8 came in.

However, that doesn’t take away the breathlessness the car gives to it’s drivers.

“The RX-7 didn’t just win the numbers game, it humiliated the field” - Motor Trend 2/93

Sources: Wikipedia, RX-7 Club