So the story goes as follows, had a scoob as a kid for about 3 years, loved it and sold it to introduce myself to an r33. Loved the scream of a straight 6 but sold it because of commuting at the time, tried a starlet to include the go kart to the rally car and straight line bruiser list and then followed it up with a mapped diesel. Bored again I decided to go back to scoob and bought a bug, just about managed a year with it until a friend bought a v8 lexus LS for £600, kitted , on 19s and being sold due to the age and fuel.

Well this v8 got my cogs thinking seeing the amount of luxury (all working), the power of the v8 and the surprising fuel economy being better than the scoob.

I started to look at lexus...
IS200, too slow, the yamaha beams version, 210bhp but no turbo, couldnt do it.
Gs300 - They are nice but no turbo, supra NA lump so would be sluggish and I was hanging between the MK1 and 2. Looked at the gs430 with a 280bhp V8. Wasnt sure on how id tune it.
LS lexus - same thing with the engines, how would i tune it without a big supercharger bill.

Then I spotted this. Toyota aristo which is the GS sport model with the 2jz gte lump in. Incredibly rare, eveything in it electric, tv etc and it scares the hell out of passengers to. Its an auto but when its on boost I dont think there are to many cars (of course there are still plenty) that will keep up on it in the mid range.

The book spec always claims the gentlemans agreement in Japan of 280bhp however they are rumoured to be about 360bhp out the box. It is definitely faster than my old skyline which was 330bhp.

So if you are looking for an incredibly fast yet lazy car that on a run isnt all that bad on fuel try to pick one of these up.













I have to say its already surprised a few of the local chavs...

 

I've always liked these ,
Top secret have done a few that have cracked 200mph .
Big luxury fast wolf in rather nice clothing .

 

a real sleeper

 

I had a 450bhp twin turbo supra couple years ago. Bpu it and will be an animal the supra used to scare me on cold nights! Amazing engine. I would have another one if this country had better weather but rwd and that sort of power was a nightmare! Enjoy

 

More of a rocket armchair than a sleeper - but easy to mod

 

These are fast. My girlfriends brother has one and it really surprised me the first time I went in it.

 

epic, love it!

 

I have a gs300 sport, i love it! Would love to try the turbo version for a laugh

 

I do like sleeper cars, nothing better than wiping the smile off Audi sales reps and local Chavs.

How many GS sport's did they make?

 

Had a spin in it with him made me realise how uncomfortable a scoob really is!

Get that rad sorted yet John?

 

my mate had one of these with what looked like a bus turbo and a screamer pipe set up running big bhp but still looked standard , it sounded mental on boost and was quick as **** good find mate

 

Cheers guys. So far I have already had one guy text a friend asking what the f@&£ is in that Lexus and an evo driver say to me he couldn't believe an na would keep up so well. Had to correct him on the na part to make him feel better ;-)

Hoping to run at pod this week providing my radiator holds out. Not sure what it will do being an auto but hopefully in the 14s which for weight of car I'll be happy with

 

wow, like the look of these... what ball park price should I look at?

 

I had similar, 480bhp twin turbo - also scared the hell out of me!! The 2jz-gte engine is VERY tunable!! The 6 speed manual getrag gearbox is awesome as well! Loads of parts available over on the supra forum, Im still member there - great bunch, always helpful!

Hybrid twins will get you up to 480bhp, maybe 500...
Singles (with supporting mods) will see 500-1000+bhp, depending on needs and budget.

The Aristo is just a supra with a back seat and a boot Enjoy and becareful with it!

 

I've never seen one of them before!

Very nice motor

 

Nice motor ...

 

Well just thought I would post an update, been a couple of months since i have owned the car. Absolutely love it. Had a problem with the radiator which cost me a little packet to fix. After that all has been going ok. Fuel economy I am getting around 23 miles to every tenner which sucks a little but smile factor makes up for it.

Can genuinely say i havent missed my scooby once at all. Was glad to see it go. I love the surprise factor this gives to some people that want to play.

Anyhow I hated the old wheels above, they were ****e, so an ebay play around presented these. So in the interest of my non ownership of an impreza now but continued poking about on the forum I thought I would share.

Needs lowering then we will crack on with unlocking 400bhp i think...

Comparison of the two wheels....



Little bit of dish on them....



Quick snap from the side....

 

Looking good, what's the handling like? Brakes etc?

 

For a big car the brakes are surprisingly strong. They can have a straight change with the Mk4 supra from what I understand. One weak point with the cars from what i have read is the master brake cylinder which can be a £1500-2000 part i understand...

Handling wise its very stable, I had found it wallows a little but then that said I took it out the other week and with the 4 wheel steering and giving it a stab down some back roads its suprising for its size.

In terms of anyone thats thinking about skidding one its similar to the skylines, you need to disable the 4WS with a lockout bar. Without it they will break traction easily but you end up with a nice elevator type chime as a warning siren.

Its no impreza on handling but for an 1800kg car you can still push it a bit.

 

Just found one if any of you have any cash to burn

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000-TOYOT...item4abf9961be