Japanese luxury cars hold a special place in my heart, especially when they’re made by ‘normal’, non-premium brands. You get all the benefits of owning a high end vehicle with almost none of the badge snob. It’s why the Zenshi GT has been on my list of ‘good cars’ for a long time, and now, in the 50th year of the marque, we’ve got a brand new one.
It’s edgier than before, perhaps too much for its own good at the rear, where the top half is decidedly clean cut and good looking, while the bottom half is messy. My rule with good GT cars is that they have to be understated and that rear splittler thing is not understated. Zenshi at providing that characteristic sporty Japanese look, but it feels out of place here.
The front is far more convincing, taking on the crispness of those tail lights and creating an incredibly engaging and well styled face. Time to head inside, where you’ll find the classic leather clad interior in a 2+2 configuration. The infotainment feels a bit tacky for a premium car, but the low price of this car can probably just about excuse that. Just.
And it is worth mentioning at this point how affordable even this top of the range 4.8 S trim is; at $47,550 it undercuts much of the competition almost by half. Other GT coupe offerings will offer the whole hog in terms of luxury interiors and outstanding comfort, but if this car can convince me that it can provide a GT-lite feel, that cost will be justified in my eyes.
On the road and it feels smooth and pliable. The 4.8l V8 had plenty of mid range torque and is responsive, and 0-60 in 4.4 seconds is bang on in my mind for such a car, and the ease of that power delivery is worth merit. It’s a delightful car to cruise in too, favouring that nice 40-60 band that you’ll likely find yourself in on a sunday drive in this thing. I’m not convinced about having a manual in this car though. Go for the option of an automatic or sequential option, or you’ll be forgiven for thinking you’re in a sports car.
In the corners, its very nice too. Not too soft, not too hard, and turning off the traction control will let you get the rear end loose. It’s also pleasant to find a suspension setup such as thing: active dampers and semi-active sway bars retain that solid impression of analogue feel while still giving you difference between setups for harder and softer driving. It simplicity is also pleasant too.
Pleasant, yes. That’s the word with this car. It’s not quite a proper GT car - just to be snobbish - but it certainly convinces you nonetheless. As a premium coupe, treating it as something more of an all-rounder, it’s absolutely bang on. I couldn’t stop thinking of how pleasant it was to be in and to drive whilst testing it.
There are no glaring flaws save for the pointless rear diffuser, and if we’re judging this as a proper GT car, then the interior simply isn’t up to spec. But as a $50k coupe, I really struggle to think what more you could ask for. Especially with that lovely V8 powerplant upfront, it feels oddly unique and almost special. Perhaps that’s its other flaw then; it doesn’t really have a character, mainly because I feel its a bit too confused about that.
Quick, comfortable and good looking (at least at the front). Compared to similarly priced rivals like the Shromet Dragon and Cavallera Okuma (see here for the low-down on those two), it’s the better car overall. Certainly a GT lite, but more than anything else, a solid premium performance coupe.
- Gavin Anderson