Not everybody can afford supercars and some enjoy tinkering with engines. Inside the import tuner culture, Japanese cars reign supreme. They are very affordable, loads of aftermarket parts are available and they seem to be much easier to modify than American or European machines. Here are the top ten import tuners from a gear heads’ standpoint.
- Volkswagen Golf
The only European-made car on this list. It has been very popular especially with the younger Brits as an entry tuner car.
- Nissan Silvia / 240SX
The Nissan Silvia / 240SX and all the cars in the Nissan S series such as the 180SX and the Sil-80 were the choice of tuners who could not afford the Nissan Skyline. The SR20DET has a smaller engine but packs a lot of power. It is also popular because of the ease of bolting on a Nissan RB26 twin turbo engine from the Skyline. So if you can’t afford the Skyline, have a look at these alternatives!
- Honda Civic
The Honda Civic has been a very successful car for tuners as it is affordable and the plethora of aftermarket parts made it a huge hit. Honda is the only manufacturer to have two official aftermarket tuners Mugen and Spoon. The EK9 hatchback is still highly sought after car even today!
- Subaru Impreza
The Impreza had success as drift and rally car. With a mix of power and agility, this car also proved a hit with tuners. The 22B model is the most sought after version of this all-wheel drive, four doors. Who could ever go wrong with a Subaru?
- Toyota Supra
If you’re a fan of The Fast and the Furious, this would be familiar to you as this was introduced as Paul Walker’s car. The Supra has the mighty 1JZ-GTE engine under the bonnet. Adding just a few aftermarket parts made this car a 500bhp drag machine. And this is why it’s in The Fast and Furious franchise!
- Honda / Accura Integra
It has the looks and along with the B18c3 engine powering this coupe. The Integra is a high-revving street machine popular in the United States.
- Mazda RX7 / RX8
The RX series cars have a unique rotary engine that is coupled with a turbocharger. It’s very fast and also well balanced. It is also popular in the drift scene and was prominently featured in Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. Of course, why wouldn’t it be?
- Sprinter Trueno / Toyota Levin
This classic car was made popular by the Initial D Anime and Manga. The car is very lightweight and has a host of compatible engines as a bolt on modifications. The popularity of the “hachiroku” or 86 (the Trueno had a model code of AE86) recently got a remake in the new Toyota 86. So if you fancy Initial D, you might want to take a look at this car!
- Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Have you ever encountered the clip where a four-door saloon was running circles around a Lamborghini on Youtube? The four-door in that video done by Top Gear was a limited edition Evolution 9 MR FQ400. The Evolution series Lancers were very successful both as a rally car and as a tuner car. But please leave the stunts to the professionals.
- Nissan Skyline GTR
The Skyline probably has the best motor in the tuner world in the RB26 inline six engine. The big engine coupled with the all wheel drive made the Skyline ”men amongst boys” in the tuner scene. The success has continued with the new GTR as it has conquered famous Nurburgring track in just seven and a half minutes!
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