Comments on: Car For Sale: Nero Turbo

By: Orion

Orion — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 21:28:08 +0000

Thanks for the comments Komeko, always good to see there are still some enthusiasts out there.

I guess what I meant to say was that when people talk of ’80s Jap turbos with a certain fondness these days they rarely ever mention the Piazza, but are quick to remember the Supras, Starions and their ilk.

With regard to the Lotus suspension being better, this was based on an old neighbour of mine having one “donkeys years ago” that he said handled pretty well. Granted it probably had aftermarket shocks and springs fitted also, which would have affected his perception of the car somewhat.

and I agree that the auto press can be an enthusiast’s worst enemy at times.

By: kyteler

kyteler — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 19:41:50 +0000

I want this. It would be good to the fun, I would even convert it to 5spd if I could find the damn parts elsewhere. At which point, I believe legend says… that I will become a god! Mostly to myself but that’s fine by me.

By: Komeko

Komeko — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 16:03:52 +0000

Piazza ownership should be a compulsory requirement of every Australian before the age of 20. Otherwise, the Australians will continue to repeat the same inaccurate information about the cars until the end of time.
The Australian and US press both hated the car, because Isuzu would not play ball with (bribe) them, and because GM did play ball with them.
The Australian Piazza did not receive the more desirable Bosche/Hitachi hot wire MAF fuel injection system, and instead received a (locally GM sourced ?) trap door system that did not provide the higher performance level of the hot wire system.
Lotus did not “fix” the handling of the Piazza. The best handling model of the line was the 1987 RS, which had an in house designed suspension. The Irmscher is very good too. The Lotus springs are too soft, and the body roll is excessive. A base model with slightly stiffer shocks will out handle the Lotus tuned suspension.
Not sure what you are calling the west, but in North America, Cordias disappeared 25 years ago, all the Celicas and Supras rusted away 20 years ago, and no one has seen a Starion for 15 years.
Specific to the Starion, which is one of my favorite cars, the Piazza/Impulse matches the performance numbers of the Starion ESI-R with .1 or .2 above or below in every single category. And the US press hated the Starion too, saying it had a truck engine. Plenty of unjustified negative comments to go around from the automotive press, leaving the public to take everything they write with a grain of salt.