i have had many turbo jap cars in the past, the best of the bunch tbh is the evo! i have had most jap cars, and nothing is quite as quick out of the box as an evo. i had a v2 impreza wrx sti type ra aswell, and tbh the evo would spank it.
i currently have an evo 4, which i took round goodwood when it was in near standard form, around 300hp, stock brakes and suspension. nothing overtook me all day, nothing kept up with me, and i overtook pretty much everything there, including new gtr, new 911s, caterhams etc etc. they are unreal down a good a or b road.
i have now thrown 10k at the evo which is my current track toy. the power is the same, but i have gone to town with chassis mods and making it lightweight. it now runs wide arches, alcon 6 pot 360mm race discs and calipers with pf01 pads, rollcage, bucket seats, coilover suspension, spherical bearing adjustable suspension arms, 18x10inch wheels with r888 or slicks, and much more!
there is only one word for the car now, and thats incredible! the next step is to forge the engine and strap a bigger turbo on it, and go for around 500hp. at which point nearly nothing will stay with it on track. a 700hp evo in time attack set a new lap record for a non single seater car at cadwell the other week, in a 4 door saloon car!
basically what im saying is evo is king of the jap car world when it comes to pure pace. and tbh you dont see a lot of them around any more, espcially in comparison to subarus which are everywhere!
if you were to get an evo, i would recommend a 5 or 6, they are the pick of the bunch and can be had for sensible money. a tommi makkinen version is ideal, and they wont drop in value either!
have a go in one!
heres mine, widearch evo 4