Toyota Altezza
Toyota
Toyota Altezza: The JDM Lexus IS With a Four-Cylinder Heart
The Toyota Altezza is the Japanese-market version of the first-generation Lexus IS, and the RS200 model came with a high-revving 3S-GE engine and a six-speed manual that the US-market car never offered.
Launched in 1998 on the XE10 platform, the Altezza was sold as a Toyota in Japan and as the Lexus IS 200 and IS 300 nearly everywhere else. The two cars share a body, but the drivetrains differ in a way enthusiasts still care about. The range-topping Altezza RS200 used a 2.0-liter 3S-GE Beams four-cylinder rated at roughly 210 PS with an 8,000 rpm redline, paired to a six-speed manual and a Torsen limited-slip differential. Export cars got inline-sixes instead.
The chassis is rear-wheel drive with double wishbones at both ends, which is a large part of why the Altezza became a fixture in Japanese time attack, drift, and grassroots circuit racing. The lighter four-cylinder nose is often preferred for track work, while the 2JZ-powered IS 300 draws people chasing straight-line power.
The Altezza also left a mark on car styling far beyond its own sales. Its clear-lens, multi-reflector tail lights were copied so widely through the early 2000s that the aftermarket simply started calling that style of tail light an Altezza light, whatever car it was bolted to.