Japan Strikes Back 1991 Soarer, UZZ32

[Michael. 2313]

As some of you would have seen I sold my V8 1UZ E36 last week. Quite pleased, so now I've purchased my sixth Soarer coupe, but an ultra rare UZZ32 type, Toyotas flagship car back in the day, this is no. 32 of 873 made. These were sold for in excess of 150,000k NZD back in the early 90s.

It offers 4 Wheel steering, active hydraulic suspension (replaced with coils, yet I shall endeavor to restore it to the hydro sus) GPS, touch screen a/c and audio controls, reversing camera, all the bells and whistles, quite easily one of the most feature packed cars of the 90s, 23 years on it still works (some simple repairs made in recent years)

Plan is to restore it to a condition it deserves performance wise and cosmetically.

In no particular order

4-2-1 headers, full dual exhaust of some variation.

 

5 Speed manual conversion

 

Larger 4 pot front brakes

 

Facelift side skirts

 

Stand alone ECU + retune

 

17 or 18" BBS' classic / mesh style.

 

Anyhow here's a few pictures pre cleaning. I only got it on Sunday! (cheers for the lift Earon, aka DSCOFF)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2017 by Michael.

[charles28 138]

Nice car, i had a 2.5L Turbo version years ago, fantastic car

[M5V8 337]

japanese luxo at it's best. Sweet. Will probably outlast us all.

[KwS 2429]

i love the engineering on these things. Even the door hinges had to be grossly over engineered to handle the weight of the doors. Fantastic.

[MISS BM 712]

I cried seeing this car and it's overpowering features compared to my E46 Parked in front..

Didn't think Toyota had the brains to make a 91 so flash.. Was very cool testing the bells and whistles though..

I like this one Mike, it's actually nice

[jeffbebe 1560]

You found the perfect car... Excellent! Should be fun, though you'll still never convince me that it's a great-looking car, even when it's outperforming, outlasting and more cost-effective than the 8!

[Michael. 2313]

Hehe not perfect yet. Needs a lot of work in detail. Doing belt bearings at the moment, current ones are stuffed!

Ever since clapping my eyes on them 10 years ago and now onto my 6th I've never found a car in my budget I appreciate the aesthetics of as much. It's very much a love hate car.

[Michael. 2313]

This gif here shows the suspension doing its thing during hard cornering. Hence why i want to get it working again!

[m325i 711]

My mate had the 2.5TT one too, same colour.

Then the electrics (dash?) died and it was pretty much a write off.

Wasn't the TT one 'better' than the V8?

[MD13 496]

This gif here shows the suspension doing its thing during hard cornering. Hence why i want to get it working again!

Looks parked to me :-)

[Driftit 2093]

My mate had the 2.5TT one too, same colour.

Then the electrics (dash?) died and it was pretty much a write off.

Wasn't the TT one 'better' than the V8?

Yeah I found them a bit gutless. Just a big cruiser.

I was looking to buy a 1JZ version or an Aristo back in 1999. They were cheap as chips back then. But a factory manual didn't show up in time and we purchased some other cars. One showed up 1 week later....

[Michael. 2313]

I've made a facebook restoration page for this car, rather than a forum based one.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1704783899747828/

My mate had the 2.5TT one too, same colour.

Then the electrics (dash?) died and it was pretty much a write off.

Wasn't the TT one 'better' than the V8?

The TTs were the go fast low spec ones, good for a thrill, not so much a cruiser with the toys. Both cars have such different characterstics, I never like the TT versions, too gutless downlow then too fast when the turbos kicked in.

Looks parked to me :-)

Hehe, with extreme tyre flex

Yeah I found them a bit gutless. Just a big cruiser.

I was looking to buy a 1JZ version or an Aristo back in 1999. They were cheap as chips back then. But a factory manual didn't show up in time and we purchased some other cars. One showed up 1 week later....

Yeah they aren't a fast car stock, the V8s need to be supercharged, a Camry V6 Aurion is a faster car stock vs stock.

Mmmm manuals do pop up now and then, but sure are a rarity.

[KwS 2429]

You suck, Facebook is blocked at work

[Driftit 2093]

No V8 manuals. Just the turbo models. And it was something like 2 or 3 % of them.

[KwS 2429]

Even then, wasnt it only the facelift single turbo 1JZGTE with VVTI?

[Michael. 2313]

Nah you could get the early 1991-1996 twin turbo as manual, and the later single turbo type.

A good blend, but I hear you really need to work the gearbox to get the most out of them in stock form.

My plan was to manualise the V8 as soon as possible, but restoring the active suspension is the priority now.

[qube 3570]

photoshop!

[Michael. 2313]

I asked on of the local (Australian) Soarer UZZ32 Gurus in Australia that has been playing with them for over a decade the following:

Mike Beck -

" Hi Rob, Just a general question about the UZZ32s, being that I've never had the privilege of driving a working one yet, how do you describe their ability when the road gets twisty? Are they "race car" like with their cornering ability or is that being a little optimistic?

Rob Hayden -

"Mike, beyond race car. I can outdrive my Ferrari or Pantera in the 32 on street tires all day any day. In a recent trip through NSW with a bunch of guys in various supercars, not one could catch me through the hills, even in full race mode 360 CS or 599 Fioranno Ferraris"

[Michael. 2313]

Hmmm, it's been a while since I shared anything about my Japanese toy on this German car forum. So here goes

This morning I got a warrant for the UZZ32. It had been months since taking it out for a good drive so decided to head out east to some fantastic windy B roads.

The car went so well with the new wheel and tyre setup, so much grip. The way the 32 handles on the tight bends second to none, totally effortless and builds confidence on top of confidence! Before my 32 ownership I used to ask an Aussie owner of 7 of these cars what 32s were like as a driving experience, while his comments gave me an idea of what to expect, actually driving one is the only way to really appreciate such suspension technology.

I've never driven a car that can do what it can around the bends, it might be a heavy hector but the way it's composed makes it feel like a sub 1500kg machine with race prepared suspension. How it turns into the bends with such crispness really is the business, probably one of my favorite characteristics of the cars handling dynamics.

A few days earlier I drove the folks Motorsport BMW 330i E46 on the same roads, a very nice car and plenty of fun to drive but it does require a lot more effort to put through the same bends and tends to want to loose traction easier than the UZZ32, tyres not the issue too as it was running high quality rubber like the Soarer is. Also notably, the BMWs ride was a lot more jarring and tiring than the UZZ32s when cursing at 100kp/h.

Anyhow when I reached my destination I took a few pictures of my machine, only with my mobile but they came out alright. Enjoy!

Edited November 24, 2015 by Michael.

[qube 3570]

nice photos. those wheels suit the car really well!

[Breaker 980]

Nice Michael, really is a true GT then, built for fast open back roads

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2136]

Looking good Mike!

[kulgan 1042]

Yup, I'll grudgingly admit I do like the Soarer.

Nice one Michael.

[Young Thrash Driver 1020]

Lovely pre-facelift SC430 you have there

Why is your rego label so high on the windscreen Michael?

[Michael. 2313]

Lovely pre-facelift SC430 you have there

Why is your rego label so high on the windscreen Michael?

SC430? Ew haha, you mean SC400.

That is the best place for them, I put all my rego lables up there.

Having them at the bottom is really bad, they obscure visibility in the corner, its easy to loose rego tickets down the dash board if they fall out, and cleaning the adhesive sticker stuff when replacing the holder can be difficult due to the tight space between the bottom of the window and dash board. Its where they put them in other countries too.

Imagine if WOF stickers were shoved down at the bottom of the window, crazy!

Edited November 25, 2015 by Michael.