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Back Ground Of The Altezza
So lets start at the very start. The Toyota Altezza is the Japanese variant of the European Lexus IS200. Both cars were designed to compete in the same market as the 3series BMW. It has been available in Japan since 1998, at which time it received many accolades and won Japan's coveted Car of the Year award with its VVTi engines and Beams Tuning. In Japan, the car is produced in two forms, the Inline-6 DOHC 24v VVT AS200, and the more powerful RS200 - with an Inline-4 DOHC 16v VVTi engine.
Adrians Altezza is a variant of the main stream Altezza known as the Qualitat, It has a few unique touches compared to the RS200 Altezza, like body kit, wheels and interior.
Spec List For Donut46 (aka Adrian) Altezza
Toyota Altezza Qualitat RS200
Full Qualitat body kit
Red and Black Modellista Interior
Black Qualitat Head Lights
JDM Yellow Fog Lights
17" standard rims in gold
4000K H.I.D kit
HKS mushroom filter induction kit
HKS exhaust manifold
Manifold heat wrapped
HKS Hi-Silent Power cat back exhaust
HKS Hypermax Coilovers/TEIN basic damper coilovers
Cusco front strut brace
Denso IK20 Iridium plugs
TRD Oil Filter
7" flip out DVD headunit
Top of the range alarm
Tezzaworld.com Club Stickers
Pics
What made you pick an Altezza as your car?
I was looking for a new car and had been bitten by the RWD bug by having owned a BMW. I decided I was looking for a car with a bit of power and a bit more reliability as the BMW broke my heart. At the time I couldn’t get insured on an Evo or Scoobie. A friend of mine had a Qualitat Altezza and after driving his car I knew that’s what I wanted. I searched through auction after auction and ended up finding a mint example very close to home.
How long have you had your altezza?
Have it since September 2008. So just over 2 years.
How much you have spent on the car?
I suppose nearly €1500 on mods but I have spent a lot more, maintaining the car since I got it, between regular services plugs, oil, and filter. They all add up.
Did you buy your Altezza modified or is it your own work?
The kit and interior is standard qualitat spec, the car came with all the hks gear already in it. Only mods I did are the H.I.D kit and the Tein coilovers and a few small touches.
If it’s your own work, where do you get your ideas?
Some ideas came from Tezzaworld, a lot of my ideas however come from pictures of cars from America were they slam their cars with big rims, thats the kinda style I’m aiming for in the future.
What is Your favourite thing about the car?
Well I love all the car and it’s hard to pick just one thing. If I had to pick, I’d pick the kit and interior and the fact that the car its self is rare. You don’t see Qualitat’s that often because they were made in such limited numbers only 500 worldwide and maybe 5 or 6 in the country, it’s hard to say. Anyway you look at it it’s a limited edition car so that’s another reason I like it.
Is there anything you don’t like on the car?
I would love more power after two years of ownership its getting a bit boring, Saying that though it being such a limited edition car I don’t want to go down the turbo or supercharger route until I have enough money to do it right . To be totally honest I don’t think I will ever sell the car.
What part of the car would you like to modify next?
More HKS stuff, putting the HKS coilovers back in once they have a refurb and rebuild and that should lower the back of the car more. Then add a few more HKS bits for the engine, few shiny bits and refurb the wheels. I’m also getting a qualitat badge for the front grill, mine was missing and after 2 years of looking I have one coming in the next few months, they are almost as rare as the car.
Where do you get your parts?
The only bits I’ve bought are the Tein coilovers and I got them from Murray Motorsport in Dublin. I’m get a service kit and timing belt kit of NICK, He’s a site trader on Tezzaworld soon. He seems to be hard to beat for genuine toyota parts. So I guess Nick and Murray Motorsport.
Does price or quality make a difference when choosing parts for the Altezza ,like if its cheaper to get the same part from Japan or USA than where would you buy it?
Yeah quality does matter I only put the best into the car.
Have you ever got your car dyno'd? If so where did you get it done and what was the result??
Yeah twice the last time was at Tezzaworlds Dyno Day last year and it rolled 192.6 BHP and 209.6 NM of torque at the flywheel down in Westward Engineering in Enfield. I’d highly recommend Martin there.
What is your favourite modified car?
Garage Saurus R32 GTR
Adrians car is truly one of the few mint Altezzas around and is a credit to him, not only has it impressive looks but also well maintained and looked after. We look forward to seeing what ideas Adrian comes up with in the future and how the car progresses. Keep up te good work buddy
KEEP AN EYE OPEN FOR FEBRUARYS FEATURE ! !
