Friday Fun Thread: Rice Rockets...

Today's fun thread is going to appeal to certain people a bit more than others, but hey, we're all about diversity here at MArooned. Today's Top Ten list is going to center on the sports cars to come out of Tokyo, the Japanese contribution to the "I Can't Drive 55" crowd. There's significantly fewer offerings than among the American or European automotive world, so it should be an interesting list.

Here goes!

1. Acura NSX. Hey, it was the car driven by "The Wolf". Honda Motor Corporation's first attempt at a world class supercar wasn't a bad effort at all; the NSX was powered by a 270HP 3.0L V6 engine that propelled the light car to 60 MPH in just over 5 seconds flat.

2. Mitsubishi 3000GT. Okay, this one makes it high on the list for personal reasons - this is my favorite car on "Need for Speed 2" on the PlayStation. Along with it's twin, the Dodge Stealth, the 3000GT (in VR-4 trim) was powered by a 296 HP twin-turbocharged V6.

3. Toyota Supra. From 1979 until 2002, Toyota offered a rear-wheel drive honest-to-goodness sports car in its lineup. The Supra started life as variation on the Celica, but spun off in 1986 when the Celica was switched over to front-wheel drive. Engines varied widely on the Supra, from a 110 HP I4 to a turbocharged 280 HP inline 6 cylinder.

4. Datsun 240Z. Gotta give props to the car that started it all. The first Z, it was the first Japanese sports car imported to the US in 1969, at a time when 450 horsepower V8-driven American muscle cars ruled the streets. Gotta give Datsun credit for daring to cut into that market with a teeny little two seater...

5. Subaru SVX. The windows are the most prominent design feature of the SVX, a bizarre "window-within-a-window" look that was rumored to be based on a fighter jet canopy. Performance of the SVX was disappointing, providing a slower 0-60 time than a standard issue Mustang GT (which sold for about half what the SVX did - and that was at a loss to Subaru!).

6. Nissan Skyline GT-R. Although it was never imported into the US, the Skyline GT-R deserves to make the list on its turbocharged inline 6 cylinder engine and 6-speed transmission capable of a top speed somewhere north of 180 MPH.

7. Toyota MR2. Yeah, it's small. Yeah, the introductory model was shaped suspiciously like a door wedge. But this teeny mid-engined two seater had a 242 horsepower turbocharged engine wedged behind the driver and passenger seats. For a car that weighed a little over a ton, that's a killer power-to-weight ratio.

8. Subaru WRX STi. The only sedan to make the list, the STi makes the list for having an engine variant that produces upwards of 316 HP. And they offered it as a wagon, too. That takes guts... No list would be complete without a grocery-getter that can humble a Camaro...

9. Mazda RX-7. A 1.3L Wankel rotary engine powered sports car. Oh yeah, this has gotta make the list... The last version of the RX-7 had an optional turbocharger that brought the engine output to 270+ HP. The rotary engine was so smooth that a buzzer had to be added to the tachometer at 7,000 RPMs...

10. Honda S2000. Naturally aspirated inline four cylinder engine putting out 247 horses? And the badge on the front is an "H", not a Lotus? Honda's first rear-drive roadster since the 1960s was intially overpriced, but offered performance not typically associated with the normal offerings from Big Blue.

---

So there's my list of favorite Japanese sports cars. I'm certain that there's a bunch I've overlooked, generally pulling from my own admittedly limited knowledge of the riceburner scene in general.

What else should have gone on the list?

That is all.