Lexus GS300 Sport Big Turbo 2JZ

About This Competition

2JZ… the name of a legend. The name of an icon. A name that, when mentioned in car circles, seems to gain instant respect. It all started with Toyota in the 90s, when they built a silky-smooth straight-six designed to be reliable, refined and make a healthy amount of power. Then came the tuners, who quickly realised Toyota had accidentally built an engine that was seemingly strong enough to survive the apocalypse. Before long, these things were making 1,000bhp and beyond, because as we all know, if you want something strong, you go to Toyota.

This one is a little more sensible at around 450bhp… although we use the word “sensible” extremely loosely.

The car in question is a Lexus GS300 Sport — a big, comfortable Japanese luxury saloon that was destined to waft around town, swallow motorway miles and generally live the quiet life. But at some point, someone looked at it and thought, “You know what this needs? A great big turbo.”

And who were we to disagree?

The naturally aspirated 2JZ was never going to be enough, so a fat turbo was strapped onto the legendary straight-six, along with all the supporting modifications required to make around 450bhp. The result is a luxury barge that can go from quietly cruising along to absolutely flying in a matter of seconds… or, if you’re feeling particularly antisocial, travelling sideways while producing a cloud of tyre smoke.

It’s sitting on Tein coilovers which, rather surprisingly for something this low and this fast, remain genuinely comfortable. The front anti-roll bar has been upgraded to a much larger item too, giving the front end a considerably sharper feel and making this enormous saloon surprisingly entertaining when you start throwing it into corners.

Then there’s the stopping power. Up front you’ll find the much larger LS400 brakes, meaning when all that 2JZ-powered enthusiasm inevitably gets a little out of hand, you’ve got some serious hardware helping to bring it back under control.

But honestly, it’s the noise that gets us.

Twin Japanese-style cans at the back give you that unmistakable straight-six soundtrack, and when you open the taps, the screamer pipe joins the party while the turbo happily flutters away. And in theory… purely in theory, of course… if you were to rev it right out, you might even be rewarded with the glorious sound of that classic 2JZ hard-cut limiter.

We would never encourage such behaviour.

Obviously.

Inside, you get exactly what you’d expect from a Lexus of this era: loads of space, loads of comfort and an interior designed to make long journeys feel effortless. But there’s a rather interesting badge hiding in there… because that says Toyota.

And that’s because this GS has been treated to the full black interior from a Toyota Aristo, including those seriously rare Aristo floor mats. It’s a brilliant little detail that adds to the whole JDM character of the car and makes the interior just that bit more special.

It’s the sort of place where you can sit back, soak up the miles and enjoy the luxury… before putting your foot down and remembering that you’re actually sitting on top of a turbocharged 2JZ.

And that’s exactly why we love this thing.

It’s a proper sleeper in the best possible way. A big, comfortable Japanese barge with enough power to cause some serious trouble, the handling to make it fun and the soundtrack to put a massive grin on your face.

We think this one is going to be seriously popular, so don’t leave it until the last minute. We still get upset messages from people who missed out on the Jaguar XJR after it sold out earlier than expected… and frankly, we’re not emotionally prepared to deal with that again.

Get your tickets in early.

Because 450bhp, a fat turbo and a 2JZ sitting inside a luxury Lexus is exactly the sort of stupidly cool combination that EP-COMPS was made for.