In The Mix – Toyota Altezza RS Qualitat TRD Version 2000

Back in those days his ride was a ‘87 Ford Laser TX-3 turbo. It was modified, it had five per cent tinted windows (they were legai back then, you know!) and it slammed on 14-inch alloy wheels – 15s simply didn’t exist.

After forging a bit of a reputation in that machine (he smoked me and my mate in my mate’s Cordia Turbo numerous times) Gav moved on. Anything quick sparked instant interest, and I guess that’s what explains his ownership of at least 25 fast motorcycles, including the famed Ducati 916 and Honda CBR900 Fireblade.

Lately, however, the Toyota Altezza has become Gavin’s auto choice, and he owned a silver ‘99 before a chance meeting with this very rare Qualitat limited run model. A deal was made and he slipped out of one, and into the other.

Just 500

In producing this special Altezza (word has it that only 500 were ever produced) Toyota used some in-house assistance from its motor sport branch TRD (Toyota Racing Development), but outworked the exterior and interior fine tuning to Qualitat, a company more associated with putting finishing after market touches on expensive Euro rides.

As far as those touches went, a new front bumper spoiler complete with Cibie driving lights, side skirts and rear bumper spoiler were part of the Qualitat package. Gavin’s is finished in Blue Mica and offset with factory-painted golden-hued 17-inch Altezza alloys. Under the hood the Altezza’s 2.0-litre, six cylinder Beams engine pumps out around 160kW thanks to some subtle upgrades from TRD.

With an 11.0:1 compression ratio, Toyota’s VVT-i (Variable Valve Timing with intelligence) continuously optimises valve overlap right throughout the engine’s speed range to virtually eliminate the traditional compromise between low-end torque and high-end power. Maximum torque of 295lb/ft is developed at 3800rpm.

A TRD Fujitsubo-engineered cat-back exhaust provides a little more performance and a sportier note from its free-flowing stainless steel construction. The suspension set-up got a bit of a work-over with a TRD street package, as did the interior which received slightly different front and rear seats complete with red web trimmings. Nice work.

With an obvious interest in music (he’s a DJ, remember!) Gavin’s always enjoyed car audio set-ups of various descriptions. Booming came first, but it was soon replaced with a liking for high-quality sound. The system in this Altezza was directly swapped from his previous one, with all work commissioned to Rob and the team at Auckland’s Rapid Radio.

An Alpine 7876RB CD/receiver commands the whole system, providing a host of Alpine features that include Bass Engine Plus, BBE sound processing, triple preouts and Versatile Link capabilities. Featuring both a MOSFET power IС and MOSFET DC-DC converter, the head unit is able to deliver true 60wx4 power through its V-Power amplifier, and that’s more than enough to effortlessly drive both the factory (yes, factory) front splits, and rear single-way speakers within the system.

Another interesting facet of the: head unit is its Bass Forward adjustment, which allows the lower frequencies to creep into the front speakers to enhance reproduction – something that’s especially noticeable when playing movies with good surround sound.

So while the high-quality CD/receiver wasn’t a cheap proposition (Gavin had originally intended to spend less on the source unit) he trusted Rapid’s experience, and believe me, spent his money in the right area. While the install of the Alpine six-disc MP3 changer, now discreetly tucked into the glove compartment for practicality and ease of operation, was an easy proposition for the talented installers, the mounting of the Sony XTL-W70 LCD widescreen monitor was a little more tricky.

While this Altezza came factory-optioned with a pop-up navigation system on the dash top, Gavin’s previous one hadn’t, and Rapid had used the redundant spot that Toyota had fashioned into a tray as the ideal place to fit the screen. It took a bit of work, but the final finish was hard to pick from factory. But back to the new car, and since the in-car satnav didn’t work in New Zealand anyway Gavin, still in possession of both Altezzas, simply swapped the dash-top trays over and re-wired in the screen – problem solved.

A Sony PS2 console was added to the equation, powering into the system via a dash-mounted audio interrupt switch. The PlayStation’s not only for games, but also serves as the DVD player in the car, and is operated through a centre console-positioned PS2 hand controller.

To power up the twin, boot-mounted Infinity Perfect 10 subwoofers, a Sony XM-7527 amplifier offering 150wx2 or 360wx1 into one ohm was installed. It does the trick nicely, just like Rapid’s custom sealed box it built for the subs.

So how does it sound, you may ask? Well, bearing in mind that – excluding those two Infinity subwoofers – the system relies on Toyota speakers to fill in the upper end and mid range frequencies, we’d have to say very good indeed. In fact, after listening to a good range of music at varying volumes, our ears were telling us that this was one seriously good-sounding system, and one that in an SQ competition environment might have a very good chance of upsetting a higher-specced competition.

While ifs a simple system the fine-tuning, and especially that of the on-board Digital Time Correction for optimum sound imaging, has played a big part in the end result. The system integrates nicely into the car, and through a well thought-out installation has become part of it, rather than just in it.

The rare Altezza, with its uniquely styled exterior, half-decent naturally aspirated performance and now very sweet sounds really is a nice piece of luxury kit indeed. Leaving the club at 5am… what more could you want? Well, apart from the supercharger kit, Gavin!

Source: Performance Car

Tags: alpine, auckland, infinity perfect, jdm, mosfet, new zealand, toyota altezza, toyota altezza rs qualitat trd version, toyota racing development, trd, vvt-i