What is the obsession with Jap cars?

[r5gttgaz]

rawstrona said:

Back to r5gttgaz original post before we get into a 20+ page thread slating jap plastics. I think Pistonheads defo has a more level headed, mature membership (equal in passion about there cars though) in comparison with the local forums you may have experienced which probably consists of a younger generation on their first cars which are Jap cars affordable for power v cost v reliability thus the blinkered view that they are the only cars that exist, did it myself when i was 18, best car in the world was my mk11 escort with big bore exhaust !!!! nothing else came close. As for Jap cars i have owned the following in the last 4 years. Lexus IS 200 Sport (nice sound from 6 pot, bit under powered but great build quality) Saab 93 Aero (fast mid range, handled great, interior plastics quite poor) Mercedes C220 CDI sport (great build quality, great mpg, great mway car) TVR Chim 4.0 (V8 sound, weekend car for me, divorce forced sale) Nissan 350z (sound, power, reliability, day to day live with, decent plastics too) Dont knock em till you have tried em. I bought TVR despite everybody going about reliability - loved it, never let me down. Ive currently got a 350z - and its alot of car for the money.

Thankyou.

[__LEE__]

Jap cars take a lot of stick and come under the same generalizations just like many other types of car i.e. the American cars which apparently can't go round corners and the British cars that are made of tin foil and balsa wood (allegedly).

I would like to see some respect to peoples cars on pistonheads as quite often it just degenerates into name calling.

I bought my Civic Type R after driving all of the rest because I loved the Jekly and Hyde character and also the furious engine when on cam.

I am not in any camp, I just found the Civic to suit my character the most, it was fairly relaxed when driving it normally and then had that explosive character when abused.

I now own a French car for my sins!

[Davi]

__LEE__ said:

Jap cars take a lot of stick and come under the same generalizations just like many other types of car i.e. the American cars which apparently can't go round corners and the British cars that are made of tin foil and balsa wood (allegedly). I would like to see some respect to peoples cars on pistonheads as quite often it just degenerates into name calling. I bought my Civic Type R after driving all of the rest because I loved the Jekly and Hyde character and also the furious engine when on cam. I am not in any camp, I just found the Civic to suit my character the most, it was fairly relaxed when driving it normally and then had that explosive character when abused. I now own a French car for my sins!

I'd agree with that for the most part Lee, but obviously, it can never be anything BUT open day for attacks on french cars ( owning one myself I think I'm allowed to say that )

[skinnyboy]

i'll wade in then being a Jap Car owner!!

I drive a multitude of cars everyday, from mofo HSV Senators, monaro's, FPV Ford V8's, XR6 Typhoons, Honda S2000's, Nissan 350Z'z BeeEmm M3's, pretty much the current run of performance cars and run-of-the-mill cars. (im a Panel Beater BTW)

My findings are based on on actual driving and disassembling these cars:

BMW's - Excellent build quality, intelligent if a bit over engineered construction, beautiful engines.

Honda - Superb construction, simple but elegant, fantastic engines for their capacity, versatile. Interiors a bit drab (but when you peaked with the 4th gen. Prelude interior, nothing else mattered lol)

Toyota - The last 5 years they have improved but the older models are a nightmare to work on bodywise, "why use 1 screw when 5 will do the job Takumi-san?"

Nissan - 350Z interior is the rankenst plastic i have ever seen, the leather is mutton dressed as leather i think. Creaks more than a 15 year old dog. Rest of the range is mediocre.

Mercedes - Hideous plastics, Well engineered, "ugg boot in lard" throttle (WTF is with that)

Australian Ford/Holden - They try, current examples are miles ahead of the old crap, but they have the air of a new plastic shoe about them. HSV's? pffft the way the parts are put together behind the scenes that you don't see as a user, you don't want to know, or you would ask for your money back.

Euro Ford/Holden - Mondeos, Astras, Vectra's..... Talk about Wheely bin plastics, i think Dusty Bin is alive and well in these vehicles.

Korean - Hyundai in particular, the only one i like working on is the current Sonata, nicely put together but still crap plastics. the rest of them were designed by only 500 monkeys with 5000 typewriters.


So in conclusion, Jap cars are OK, theyre catching up to the better Europeans, the curent Accord Euro model, would seriously hammer the equivalent 3 series when it comes to build and refinement.

/flamesuit

[The GMan]

I am not blinkered when it comes to cars Japanese cars. There is some older and newer Japanese car’s out there that deserve all the credit they get, because bang for bucks they are spot on but there is some European stuff in the same category.

I’m looking for a cheap drift car at the moment and really wanted to stay with a Jap car but if I see a decent BMW I might go for that. As for people thinking as soon as they have 200sx they are Ken Nomura, more fool them they will end up in a hedge.

Some body mentioned the Fast and the Furious types that spend a fortune on their cars. I don’t put myself into that category, but I have spent a small fortune on my car and will continue doing so as it is my weekend toy and I won’t be getting rid of it. I also have a little project that I want to carry out that involves and RX8 and an RX7, but Mrs GMan doesn’t what me to pursue it. So my next daily driver when I drop out of my company car scheme in December will probably be of the German variety, just trying to persuade Mrs GMan that a 911 is a real 4 seater car!!!!

[Mr E]

skinnyboy said:

Toyota - The last 5 years they have improved but the older models are a nightmare to work on bodywise, "why use 1 screw when 5 will do the job Takumi-san?"

Try a homologation special.....

[tuttle]

Love Jap cars, but not exclusively. When it comes to cars monogamy is not my thang

Someone earlier said 'lotta car for the money' & that hits the nail on the head for me ( & I presume many other people), who love to drive some thing with some degree of performance etc but can't afford the the hefty price tag of many alternatives.

[rotarypower]

I also love Jap cars, but again, not exclusively. I haven't yet found a better "bang for your buck" type car that is reliable & fun to drive. In my case however it comes down to engine, the Japanese are the only nation to build cars using rotary engines since NSU ceased building them in the 1960s. Until someone else comes up with a turbocharged 1.3l engine that produces 280bhp as standard, I doubt I'll look elsewhere.
Saying that, I'd love to have a Porsche 993 in the collection as well, I love cars that are engineered "differently" the rear engine, air cooled, rwd porsche is fantastic, the RX7/8 rotary - great, Subaru's flat 4 - nice engine, etc etc.

If you don't like the plasticky interior of a Jap car, you could always strip it out!

[chevy-stu]

Just got rid of my my 4 year old Accord. Was impressed with build, reliability and reliability but a very bland car. Was gonna replace with Audi/BMW/Saab, tried all three but disapointed with value for money. Build quality and plastics etc seemed no better or worse (on the Saab)than Honda. My girlfriends last two Vauxhalls have terrible build quility and interiors. I ended up with a Mitsubishi by the way..

[havoc]

Marquis_Rex said:

I think it's just like any other type of car, certain narrow minded types will get blinkered toward that type. I can totally empathise. Alot of American boards are very Pro japanese. Does my head in. Locked into a certain way of thinking. Alot of the classic car fraternity will only concentrate on British marques. Anything German doesn't have character, even though it has an aircooled burbley flat six has the engine in the wrong place, but still zero character. Guess it does stem from ignorance. No, actually it's usually more to do with bias. I've never got into the Japanese car thing, but only a fool would say they're crap or dismiss them out of hand. They're usually very accomplished and when I see a mean wide arched Supra ( that isn't chaved) I'll always roll down the window to have a listen. Sadly "lack of character" is often cited against Jap cars also, alot in part because they usually quite dependable.

It's classic tribalism, just like football teams - "My BM is better than your Honda!" sort of attitude. And frankly it's rather sad. When I was looking for my weekend toy I test-drove British, German, and Jap, because I couldn't care about a badge or image, only about what it does for me!!!

I like any car that involves the driver. Unfortunately, most of the European ones are either too expensive to buy (BMW, Porsche), too expensive to run (TVR, Porsche), or have questionable build/reliability (Renault, BMW, TVR). And I, like most people, want the most fun for my money...which the Japs do really well...probably because their performance cars (Z excepted) aren't fashionable so depreciate quite quickly.

So I'm on my third Honda in a row (I nearly bought a VX220!), because I love the engines/handling/..., appreciate the foolproof build quality/reliability, and like the comparatively cheap servicing. My old Civic VTi didn't have much character, the DC2-R and the S2000 have it in spades...despite not breaking down every other weekend!!!

But I've got a Focus TDCi Sport for the daily-run, and it's a genuinely good car with better feedback and poise than most other cars I've driven. And I never thought I'd say that about a Ford!!!

[MeLLoN Stu]

[redacted]

[judas]

Podie said:

I like Jap cars... not owned one (yet)... just wish they could do interiors without them looking like the "house of plastics"

Until very recently I've never been much of a fan of Jap cars - because I've mostly only been in/driven Hondas - while I can appreciate VTECs on a technical level, they don't hit the right buttons for me in terms of driving experience.

However, I'm now in the market for a new car and have test driven a couple of 350Zs - and they're fantastic! Loads of character! But, as Podie said, the interior plastics are a bit too naff. Having said that though, the only competition for the 350z is a Boxster S - quite a difference! - but so far the 350Z is edging ahead in the race for my hard-earned

[havoc]

I didn't get on with the Z I drove...great engine, too little feedback and too twitchy at the back to be a nice drive (and I now own an S2000! Just to put it into context). But the interior is really poor for a car in that price-bracket...doesn't help the Jap-car cause.

I would guess you've been in the wrong Hondas, judas - no-one who passengered in my 'teg came away anything but impressed, and the few who drove it were even more effusive! If you don't know how to use a gearbox, get an automatic!!!

Agreed on earlier comments re: new Hondas - IMHO everything S2000 onwards has been built to Germanic material quality as well as build quality (which has been done for years). Shame they've ditched double-wishbones in the quest for more profit.

[iaint]

I do find all the Brit vs Jap vs US, my car's best yadda yadda yadda crap a tad boring. Mainly when it gets stroppy and serious (a decent ribbing never hurt anyone).

The club I'm in with my Jap car had it's montly 'southern' pub meet last night and all the regulars turned up with sparkly cars.

Another club also turned up (having been recently ousted from thier usual venue) and it couldn't have been more opposed interms of motors if you tried.

We're all rotaries and they were all 'street rods'. Mostly big V8 monsters.

Now you'd think there might be some petty rivalry and mine's better than yours but it was great. Everyone admiring the good points of the different cars and a real sense of petrol heads together.

That's more like it.

[judas]

havoc said:

I would guess you've been in the wrong Hondas, judas - no-one who passengered in my 'teg came away anything but impressed, and the few who drove it were even more effusive! If you don't know how to use a gearbox, get an automatic!!!

I'm hoping you missed the by mistake...



The Hondas I've experience include a couple of Integras, a 2.2 Prelude with *all* the toys, and an S2000 - so not exactly the shabby end of the market. I think you've misunderstood what I said - I have no complaint with the performance/handling - on the contrary I was *very* impressed. I just have a preference for fat torque growlers rather than high rev sceamers. That's neither right nor wrong - just a personal preference.

[judas]

Gazboy said:

so what are we comparing them to?

In this case, the Boxster S and my current Alfa GTV, which has a superb interior - better than the Ferrari 355s I've driven

[dai capp]

lanciachris said:

Honda is the only Japanese car company that was started by someone who wanted to make cars, the rest set out to make money. Enough said

Yes 'cause Mazda made millions from the RX 7 didn't they...

[simonprelude]

If you like carpet

judas said:

Gazboy said: so what are we comparing them to? In this case, the Boxster S

[tuttle]

dai capp said:

lanciachris said: Honda is the only Japanese car company that was started by someone who wanted to make cars, the rest set out to make money. Enough said Yes 'cause Mazda made millions from the RX 7 didn't they...

Yes, heaven forbid that someone should go into business with the intention of making some money

[_Batty_]

Gazboy said:

judas said: Gazboy said: so what are we comparing them to? In this case, the Boxster S and my current Alfa GTV, which has a superb interior - better than the Ferrari 355s I've driven I do like those Alfas. I really liked Batty's at the Jap weekend in Wales.

many thanks sir.
have to say its a be-atch to keep clean