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Posted Nov 19 2009, 12:15 AM by Dino Dalle Carbonare with 19 comment(s)

Speedhunters
After spending a long weekend hanging out with Andy & Emily of Powervehicles.com up in Ebisu, I couldn't head back home before grabbing at least one picture of their JZS161. This is the car they use as their daily driver, and is one of the cleanest Aristo around. It has been dropped on 19-inch AEM TM-02 wheels thanks to a set of GP Sports G-Master suspension and sits nice and flush thanks to the flared rear arches and front Kazama Auto FRP fenders. The unique look comes from the full Kazama...

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Posted Mar 27 2009, 03:21 PM by Mike Garrett with 8 comment(s)

Speedhunters
Was taking a look through Manabu "MAX" Ordio's official blog this afternoon when I found this cool photo of the JZS161 Aristo that he will be drifting this year. From what I can gather, this is the same car that he used in Formula D last year, with a few changes. There's some new graphics repping Orido's long time friends at the Nihon Automobile College, a set of Weds wheels, and the new Ridox aero kit that was seen on his blue street car at TAS this year. This shot was taken earlier in the week as the car was undergoing some last minute prep for this weekend's D1GP opener at Ebisu Circuit....

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Posted Mar 05 2009, 07:46 AM by Mike Garrett with 21 comment(s)

Speedhunters
As you probably gathered from the teaser photo I posted the other day, I recently took a trip to the famous headquarters and factory of HKS, which is located near the base of Mt. Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture. Japan's clogged highways made for a long drive out to Shizuoka from Tsukuba, but It was more than worth it to experience the home of what's probably Japan's biggest tuning company. I'll be posting more about my visit to the HQ itself later on, but right now I want talk about the the JZS161 Toyota Aristo drift car which was designed for HKS's favorite racing driver, Nobuteru Taniguchi....
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Posted Feb 08 2009, 04:18 AM by Mike Garrett with 5 comment(s)

Speedhunters
As cool as the JZS161 Toyota Aristo is, the car was always known more as a relaxed highway cruiser compared to it's athletic European counterparts like the BMW 5-series. Luckily though, the JZS161 shares a lot with cars like the Toyota Supra, and that means it has potential to be much more than just a luxury sedan. I've seen a few Aristos at the track, but none as serious as this example, which I spotted at Tsukuba last spring. This plush sedan is loaded with parts you'd normally see on an Evo or Impreza - vented carbon hood, big intercooler, light weight Volk CE28N wheels, and a huge GT wing. Under the hood is a single-turbine 2JZGTE that was powering the Aristo right past some of the more traditional sports cars on the track. ...

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Posted Nov 19 2008, 07:43 AM by Mike Garrett with 10 comment(s)

Speedhunters
Over the past few weeks I have been on kind of a JZS616 Aristo kick, digging up everything I can about these sexy four-doors. I have found that it's not the VIP versions that impress me so much, but the traditionally tuned versions like this one from Impact Magic which was shown at Tokyo Auto Salon this year. To me, this car is perfection. Aggressive, but not ridiculous wheels (19" Advan RS's), mild body modifications and the 600+hp TD07-fed 2JZGTE make for a perfect street-tuned sedan that should be able to run away from nearly any car on the road....

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Posted Jun 04 2008, 02:10 PM by Antonio Alvendia with 16 comment(s)

Speedhunters
Man, this car was sure fun to drive! To be completely up front with you, I don't have a ton of photos of this car - because most of the time I spent with it, I decided to drive it rather than document it. The car you're looking at is a JZS161 (in the USA, it's a Lexus GS300 or GS400, depending on which engine it has) - a fairly common car to see in Southern California. Especially in the area where I live, I see a ton of VIP "work in progress" JZS161s, and even **sigh** some...

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