DRIVER, FOLLOW THAT CAR: Toyota Comfort GT-Z Supercharger

October 10, 2011 9:05 pm Published by

A Comfort? Yes, read on…

So, it’s a Toyota Comfort, just like almost every taxi you see getting around Japan. So why am I putting up photos of it here?

A factory supercharged special! So, it must have some sort of hot engine, right? Perhaps a BEAMS 3S? Some sort of M engine? A 1JZ or 2JZ even?

Um…that’s a 3SFE. A Camry engine. You’re kidding about the supercharger, right?

Nope, there it is! That’s an Ogura Clutch TX07 boosting the power to a monstrous 160ps. I just realised now I probably should have taken a photo of the belt layout.

So what is this car exactly? Back in 2003, Toyota Technocraft decided to make a limited run of 59 supercharged Comforts. What you’re looking at is number 9.

Owner Kurochan put down an deposit for the car after seeing it announced in a magazine. Six months later, he took delivery of it and has been driving it ever since.

Even though it looks like a taxi, the base shells were originally kyoushusha (教習車) custom-made shells for driving schools that had things on them like a brake on the passenger side. Perhaps a driving school somewhere cancelled their order and someone at Toyota had to find a way to get rid of them?

The interior is full of bolt-on TRD parts like the airbag steering wheel, meters, shift knob…

…and seats.

As for the suspension?

I think it’s reasonably obvious that was left stock.

More body roll than the Queen Mary.

15-inch RS Watanabe wheels were part of the modified parts package, but one part of the car that is still obviously standard are the rear drum brakes!

Since it’s not really all that fast, they still seem to work well for a little while. Kurochan says that they get worryingly spongy after a couple of laps of Honjo Circuit.

This airbrushed fuel filler door is Kurochan’s own touch to the styling.

Wing mirrors need to make a comeback, right?

It’s not going to win any beauty contests, but there’s something to be said for being able to fit a couple of dead bodies in the back and still having room for five.

So why drive a car like this? Kurochan says that since he’s been driving it for so long now, he’s been stereotyped as “the Comfort guy” by all his friends and can’t really change to anything else! He said it does get a lot of attention from random car people who see it and know what it is.

I like it.

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This post was written by Alexi

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