Which 80's Japanese Muscle Car

You guys are all a bad influence. I know they aren't practical, don't get good mpg's and may not even been reliable, but I want one. So learn me up on these cars and which one you would choose for a DD and why.

The contenders are:

Mitsubishi Starion: Pros: Box flares, deep dish wheels, sharp lines, decent handling, had a couple G-stock wins back in the day

Cons: Not sure how reliable it would be and I imagine parts would be harder to come by on it. Hard to find in good condition, heard of rust issues also.

Nissan 300ZX: Pros: Indestructible engine, plentiful parts, decent examples not too expensive.

Cons: Rear suspension camber issues, rust issues, no hardotp in Turbo trim only T-tops (maybe).

Toyota Supra: Pros: Toyota build and parts quality, most power of the bunch, no real rust issues that I know of. Wanted one since I was 15.

Cons: Head gasket failures, heavy, hard to find a turbo car that hasn't been overly abused for decent money

Mazda RX7: Pros: Lightweight, better than average handling, good parts support.

Cons: I haven't had any experience with flying triangles in a box. Turbo cars hard to find and seem to command a premuim when in decent shape.

Strictly for a DD? The 300zx. Most bulletproof in 100% stock form in my opinion.

To make obscene power with and my choice for a project car? The Supra (torque the head gasket RIGHT and there's no issues). Followed closely by the RX7 simply because i love them.

The problem is that i LOVE the StarQuest as well, and would probably cry with joy if i had a minty one in my garage.

Soo.... this is an impossible question. (I'd still prefer to DD the Z31)

From my very quick hunt for a Conquest, I learned that you want to buy the best, most sorted, later model as possible. They have a lot of issues, but once sorted they can be okay. Head issues were common with them, the usual beatings they took from people hooning them into the ground, numerous electrical woes, The fuel injection on them can be a bit wonky and causes a lot of the no-start issues. If you can find a well kept sorted version, I'd say do it. They definitely have an awesome 80's appeal to them.

Out of all of those, I like the Supra the best, but I can never find a turbo model anywhere around here that hasn't been beaten seven ways to sunday. They also seem to be the biggest (heaviest? maybe?)option of the bunch.

I don't think there's bad choice there, honestly. They are all very pretty cars with good attributes. I've owned an FC and driven a Starion. My personal ranking would be those two as 1 and 2, followed by the Supra then the Z, but realize that would be separated by tenths of a point. I really do like all four of those cars.

If you want a GT Cruiser that will comfortably eat the highway miles---- Supra or 300zx depending on condition. I'd lean towards a totally stock late Turbo Supra (if you can find one)

If you want a sportscar------ RX-7-- clearly the most nimble, and best handling car of this bunch.

The Starquest won't do anything better than the others except look cool. It will also break more often. But they do look bitchin.

I'm not 100% sure i'd say an RX7 handles better than a Starquest... those were SRS bzns cars when they came out. RX7 certainly has more aftermarket to help it, though.

i like them all. you have a choice of two gen of the rx7's and the supra but you could throw in the 280zx. there are other sleeper japanese cars i would own before the 4 you picked... i love the S12 200sxse just about the same drivetrain as z31 and turbo model is cool also. forum members who have been to my place are shocked that i own 4 of these cars my one se has a procharger on it with some other work and dynoed at 412hp at rear wheels.

i have owned everyone you have mentioned i would stay away from the starion they are by far the sexiest but like anything that is really sexy it is very hard to maintain

Are all 300ZX turbos T-Tops? I know on the Z32 they were, but I can't find that info for the z31.

In reply to t25torx:

yes all t-tops.......again there are suppose to be some z31's that are slicktop but i have never seen one in real life or talked to anyone that seen one

Conquest: Too rare and fragile. Great looking though.

300ZX: Boulevard cruiser. Pass

Supra: See above. Without serious mods, too heavy and slow.

RX-7: Turbo II has great stock performance, and tons of potential and support. OK, its a rotary, but people know how to make them work.

Those are pretty much all the contenders there are, so you'll have to chose from one of them. I think pinchvalve outlined them pretty well. Only other "sports car" would be Prelude, but it's far from a muscle car.

cutter67 wrote: In reply to t25torx: yes all t-tops.......again there are suppose to be some z31's that are slicktop but i have never seen one in real life or talked to anyone that seen one

Thanks, that's what I was afraid of.

pinchvalve wrote: Conquest: Too rare and fragile. Great looking though.

As much as I like the Conquest I was getting that feeling from all the info I was gathering

Starquest + 4g63t FTMFW?

I thought that generation of supra had rust issues with the Hatch?

(I can't see pics.)

The 2nd gens did, not so much a problem on the 3rd gens. If you want muscle car, you want a 3rd gen since the 2nd gens are pretty slow. (Until you swap in a 3rd gen motor or something.)

pinchvalve wrote: 300ZX: Boulevard cruiser. Pass Supra: See above. Without serious mods, too heavy and slow.

For the base models yeah, but with a turbo or two it's a whole different story...

The FC would make a very fun DD, IMO. Given the class of cars you're looking into, I'd also consider the 944...

I remember stumbling across a great starquest site that lead me to believe that could be the perfect daily/track car. Can't find it now - mostly easy solutions to problematic areas. It's my favorite of the the bunch as far as looks. Drive some, buy one, and let us live through you.

My next door neighbor had a 300Z of that era in the late 90s/early 00's, and it was a great car. He was able to keep it working in top order on a 18 y/o's budget, in his driveway, with hand tools. It was very reliable, easy to work on, relatively simple to maintain, and handled well.

Personally though, Id still prefer a Supra, on looks alone.

cutter67 wrote: i love the S12 200sxse just about the same drivetrain as z31 and turbo model is cool also.

Yeah and I thought trying to find a nice StarQuest was hard, I love the 87 200SX SE, but finding one of those in good shape is gonna be fun.

Since you specifically said for a daily driver, I vote 300ZX. Looks good, cheap, easy to find, reliable, easy to work on and parts cars in every pick and pull across the country.

It seems that lately the Z31 has gotten a bad rap, but I was a teenager with a license when these were new and I don't recall that anyone mentioned any performance deficiencies then. I particularly like the way the later models look (like the picture at the top of this thread).

Nissan 240sx? Just squeaks in as an '89 model.

Of the ones listed, I am partial to the Supra as daily driver, though I would get a non-turbo model.

In reply to t25torx:

you can have this one for $3,700.00 1988 200sx se 97,000 miles

In reply to cutter67:

I loved my S12

I had a 1987 Toyota Celica GTS liftback once. That was a really cool car to drive. Not the most powerful though. My uncle had a Toyota Cressida and I remember the power delivery being so linear you waould have thought it was electric. Same should go for na Supra motor too. J