Yuro Sabre | A Legendary Blade
“If you want to be strong, learn how to fight alone.”
The Yuro Sabre (Japanese: セイバー Hepburn: Seibā) is a 2-seater, mid-engined sports car that was manufactured by Yuro in Japan from 1992 to 2006. Gaining fame as the legendary Japanese sports car that rivaled the European exotics with its advanced design and superb driving dynamics.
Background and Development
In 1989, following the discontinuation of the Yuro 3500 gran tourer with no planned replacement, Yuro was essentially left without any dedicated performance oriented car. Wishing to fill the void within the company’s lineup, Yuro had multiple choices. To develop a successor to the thousand-series gran tourers, create more performance oriented models of the Glaze, or to design an entirely new car capable of rivaling European exotics.
The latter was chosen, and came the birth of a new project; internally named “Project Blade”.
The first prototype vehicle was built in late 1989; It was a mid-engined, aluminium bodied sports car which traced its roots from the Glaze. Suspension for the prototype was borrowed from the Glaze and downscaled to fit into the cut down chassis. The engine is a 3.0L DOHC V6 engine derived from the Classique, with an updated injection system and performance oriented headers and made somewhere in the range of 250-260HP. It is currently on display at the Yuro Heritage Museum in Takasaki, Gunma.
Over the course of its 4-year development phase, 20 different test mules were built, all utilising different engine types, including an experimental SOHC V12 engine (Which was more or less 2 V6 engines welded together, which subsequently binned because of its poor reliability.) that made 400HP, and an experimental transversally mounted inline-5 engine which never actually made it into the car.
Eventually after much testing, the final prototype was finished in mid 1991, it had an entirely built from the ground up chassis and suspension, and was powered by an aluminium-block and head DOHC V6 engine that made 280HP and could rev to 8000RPM. It could accelerate from 0-60 in less than 5 seconds because of its incredibly light 1200kg curb weight.
It took another couple of months before the car would officially become production ready, in which the car was officially given a name, one that would reflect its light weight, agility, and design; The Sabre.
Debut
At the 1992 Geneva Motor Show, the Sabre made its debut. The car was initially thought of as “just another Japanese European exotic knockoff”, however it was way more than that.
Upon its debut, the Sabre was an entirely different machine compared to what the Europeans could offer. Its longitudinally mounted aluminum block 3.0L V6 was said to make 276HP (This wasn’t actually the case, as Yuro was part of the Japanese gentleman’s agreement. The engine in actuality made over 330HP.), and was mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. The aluminium body and lightweight steel chassis brought the car’s weight down to 1173kg, which meant the car was capable of hitting 0-60 in 4.1 seconds. Suspension were double wishbones on all fours, with forged control arms connected to forged 17" alloy wheels. Other incredible feats included the engine only having regular forged conrods and pistons, yet being able to achieve a redline of 9000 RPM. Its brakes were 350mm vented disk brakes with 3-piston calipers on all fours, which was more than capable of stopping the car in a very short distance.
The exterior had a very time-consuming and delicate 40-step painting process, which included a highly complicated chemical coating for the aluminium bodywork which would help to increase the paint’s vibrancy and achieve a very vivid and exquisite look to the paint.
The car was built in a special plant in Takasaki, where a group of hand picked specialists would assemble the car using advanced aerospace-grade manufacturing techniques. (???)
By the car’s discontinuation in 2006, 27,000 cars were made since 1992 over a 14-year span.
Variants and Facelifts
Sabre RS-GT (1995-1996)
A special track oriented variant of the Sabre was introduced for those who seeked for a no-compromise racing experience designed to dominate racetracks called the Sabre RS-GT. To achieve this, modifications were done to the car’s interior and engine at the expense of customary creature comforts.
To begin, they took out the leather-wrapped, power operated seats and swapped them out for custom designed carbon-kevlar seats. Everything was stripped out, including the traction control system, interior sound deadening, airbags, the stereo and sound system, as well as the any leather wrapping on the dashboard and wood grain on the centre console. Higher strength and lighter weight suspension parts were also added. Weight was down from 1170kg to 1070kg.
Using Yuro’s new racing-oriented moniker, the Sabre RS-GT was more than a stripped down Sabre. Combined with lighter reinforced parts, the coilovers, dampers and swaybars were tweaked and were made stiffer. The engine was modified highly for racing, with the mufflers taken out, the camshafts modified to allow for more aggressiveness, and a tweaked ECU which increased power at the expense of fuel consumption. The engine made over 354HP and was only sold in Japan and certain parts of Europe.
The car was finished in a special RS-GT exclusive April Red Pearl paintjob matched to 17-in white aluminium wheels.
Sabre Targa (1994-2005)
Sabres with removable carbon fibre targa roofs were also available. Because of reduced structural rigidity with the lack of a solid roof, strut bars were added below the car to increase structural rigidity.
Facelift (1998-2005)
For model year 1998, the Sabre’s front end was entirely redesigned, with a new triple headlight housing instead of the twin one in previous model years, the Sabre looked more modern and more aggressive. The lower grille was made larger to allow cooling for a larger radiator. The front air dam was made larger and lower, which helped to increase downforce.
The rear was modernized, with the exhaust tips enlarged, and the twin taillights previously separate now merged into one cluster.
Suspension was stiffened in order to handle extra loads at higher speeds. The front tires were made wider in order to improve cornering abilities.
A new 3.2L DOHC V6 engine with variable valve timing and electronic valve lift was now available, and made over 350HP and was now mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. The 3.0L DOHC V6 without electronically controlled valve lift was also available and could be paired with either a 4-speed automatic or a 5-speed manual.
The new facelifted Sabre was capable of 0-60 in 3.8 seconds, making it the quickest accelerating production car of its time.
The car was also available with a targa bodystyle, which had extra strut braces in the car to improve handling due to the lack of a solid roof.
RS-GT Facelift (2000-2001)
The second iteration of the Sabre RS-GT was unveiled in 2000. Like the previous one, it was highly stripped down and various technical tweaks were done to the engine and suspension, such as reworked racing style headers, and a modified cam profile and ECU tune. The new modified engine produced over 410HP, while the car weighed 1047kg.
With these modifications, the car was capable of a 0-60 time of 3.6 seconds.
A new special “RS-GT Silver” color option was available, but for those who enjoyed the older April Red Pearl color, it was still an available option.
Discontinuation and Final Edition
In 2005, with the Sabre’s sales slowing down, and the rise of newer, more modern looking and performing sports cars, a final edition Sabre was made, dubbed the “Finale”.
Featuring a modernised interior with a SatNav, gold lined rims, and a redesigned front and rear fascia, this Sabre would mark the end of the famed Japanese sports car.
The engine was identical to the one in the RS-GT, and made 410HP.
150 of these Sabre Finales would be made. With one of them being owned by famous collector Lay Jeno.
Production was halted with no planned successor.
Specifications
1992-1998 3.0 S & S-Targa
Engine: 3000cc DOHC 90-degree V6
Bore/Stroke: 86.6mm x 84.9mm
Compression ratio: 11.9:1
Power: 330HP at 8,600 rpm
Maximum Torque: 243 lb/ft at 5,800 rpm
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Chassis: Steel platform & sub-frame
Suspension: Independent all round
Brakes: 4-wheel Disc ABS
Max. Speed: 254 km/h
Acceleration: 0–100 km/h: 4.1 s
1/4 mile : 12.31 s
1995-1996 3.0 RS-GT
Engine: 3000cc DOHC 90-degree V6
Bore/Stroke: 86.6mm x 84.9mm
Compression ratio: 12.0:1
Power: 354HP at 8,700 rpm
Maximum Torque: 249 lb/ft at 6,800 rpm
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Chassis: Steel platform & sub-frame
Suspension: Independent all round
Brakes: 4-wheel Disc ABS
Max. Speed: 270 km/h
Acceleration:
0–100 km/h: 3.6 s
1/4 mile : 11.82 s
1998-2005 3.2 S & S-Targa
Engine: 3000cc DOHC 90-degree V6
Bore/Stroke: 88.4mm x 86.8mm
Compression ratio: 11.0:1
Power: 350HP at 9,100 rpm
Maximum Torque: 237 lb/ft at 6,700 rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Chassis: Steel platform & sub-frame
Suspension: Independent all round
Brakes: 4-wheel Disc ABS
Max. Speed: 276 km/h
Acceleration:
0–100 km/h: 3.8 s
1/4 mile : 11.94 s
2000-2002 3.2 RS-GT
Engine: 3000cc DOHC 90-degree V6
Bore/Stroke: 88.4mm x 86.8mm
Compression ratio: 11.9:1
Power: 410HP at 9,200 rpm
Maximum Torque: 265 lb/ft at 6,900 rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Chassis: Steel platform & sub-frame
Suspension: Independent all round
Brakes: 4-wheel Disc ABS
Max. Speed: 292 km/h
Acceleration:
0–100 km/h: 3.4 s
1/4 mile : 11.35 s
Gallery
Car files for you to play around with in BeamNG (Targa version unavailable)
3.0 S
Yuro Sabre - 3.0 S.car (53.9 KB)
3.0 RS-GT
Yuro Sabre - 3.0 RS-GT.car (58.7 KB)
3.2 S
Yuro Sabre - 3.2 Facelift.car (56.8 KB)
3.2 RS-GT
Yuro Sabre - 3.2 RS-GT Facelift.car (62.1 KB)