Chaser

The JZX100 Chaser

The sixth and last Chaser went on sale in September 1996, and orders closed in June 2001, when the Verossa took its place. It shares its rear-wheel-drive platform with the Mark II and Cresta, but the Chaser was the one Toyota sold on sport: a four-door hardtop with short overhangs, round quad headlights and a shark as its mascot. The Tourer V carries the 2,491 cc 1JZ-GTE, now with VVT-i and one turbo in place of the X90's two, making 280 PS at 6,200 rpm and 378 Nm at 2,400 rpm. A five-speed manual with a limited-slip differential or a four-speed automatic drives the rear wheels, and at times the manual Tourer V made up nearly 30% of Chaser sales.

The August 1998 facelift brought the round four-lamp tail lights and a new grille, bumper and fog lights. A TOM'S Chaser won the 1998 Japanese Touring Car Championship, and the car is still driven at the top level of D1 Grand Prix drifting.

What Chaser owners upgrade

Clutch kits from the drivetrain range are what Chaser owners buy most, ORC's above all. The single-turbo engine answers boost well: a full exhaust system, a pod filter from the intake range and a larger intercooler kit from the cooling range come first. On the factory turbo, 1.0 bar is a sensible ceiling, since the standard pistons start to suffer detonation at around 1.3 bar.

Drift and track use explain the rest: rotors and pads from the brakes range, and arms and stabilisers from the handling range. HKS, Project Mu, Cusco, APEXi and Blitz are among the names owners choose, with Clear World for tail lights and indicators.

Genuine parts

Around 100,000 km, a worn turbo starts to leak oil and shows as white smoke; past 200,000 km, rod bearings are the risk, number six usually first. The front crank seal is known to leak, and the rubber in the crank pulley hardens until the pulley can come apart, so both are worth renewing with the timing belt. Our genuine Toyota parts catalogue lists the JZX100's parts.

Wheels

The Chaser left the factory on 15x6 +50 and 16x6.5 +50 wheels, and 16x7.5 +55 is among its factory sizes too, all on a 5x114.3 bolt pattern with M12 x 1.5 nuts. The full list is on the wheels that fit the JZX100 Chaser.