Okay! Now we've got ourselves a car park, we need something to fill it with. Back to the Car Shop!





: Customer, if you're in the parking lot…



: It's okay now, you can put as many as you want



Yes, through the power granted to us via blackmail, we appear to have the ability to store unlimited cars in front of that old man’s house. Maybe we could even store some of them inside his house.... He wouldn't want people to know his horrible secret, after all...


: Is that so? That's good. By the way, what kind of car are you looking for?


: We have a wide variety of cars in our store


: I'm going to do zero-yon. So it has good acceleration and is cool. And it's as cheap as possible



Cheap, Fast, Reliable. All three please.


: Is that so? We are a sports car specialty store. I'm sure you'll find a car you'll love.


: Well, it's best to see it in person. Come on, this way


: Now I have a car like this….



The Toyota Starlet GT





It's small for a Toyota minimum car, but...That running style is called baby gangster. It is appropriate.


Ah, the humble Starlet. The car that Daisuke Fujiwara humiliated us with. This car is a true wolf in sheep’s clothing, with 135 horsepower output from only 860 kg weight. Baby gangster indeed!

This car is a classic example of why people love ‘JDM’ - it’s a car model known by people all over the world as a boring little commuter car, but in its home country of Japan there’s inexplicably a super spicy race focused variant that no one else gets.

Sadly, we only got the boring variants here in Australia. But that didn't stop them making some ill-advised marketing that compared it to a Formula One car.





If you’d like to refresh your memory, we had a good write-up on the Starlet GT in Zero4 Champ 1



The Toyota Corolla Levin GT-Z





There are countless young people who got their driver's license in order to drive a Levin, and there are also countless young people who honed their skills with a Levin.


I suspect there’s countless young people who lost their drivers license in one of these too.

Another Japanese only spicy special, this ain't no regular Corolla. With a supercharged 20 valve 4AGZE engine putting out 170 HP, these cars were real sleepers.

There’s been several Levin models over the years, the infamous AE86, the AE92 (which we wrote about in Zero4Champ 1), and the AE100, which is this one. There's even another model after it!

We also had this same model in Zero4Champ 2, but because of our sheer number of cars in that game I only featured it once - arriving to the dealership in style...

Sadly we can only represent it in standard Corolla guise in BeamNG - I have been unable to find a GT-Z variant.


The Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg R





The cute body style is equipped with the MIVEC engine, the world's most powerful in the 1600cc class


Ah the mighty Cyborg lives once again! We covered the first model of this guy back in Zero4 Champ 1, but this is the second generation, which boasts 175 horsepower and ever so slightly edging out the others for stock power to weight.

Man, Mitsubishi really were on their game in the 1990’s. This is yet again, another crazy Japanese only variant of a standard commuter car. Their engineers just couldn't help themselves.

The standard Mirage was marketed as ‘cute’, mainly to women. Indeed, they were also manufactured here in Australia and I remember it being the go-to first car of many young women.





But, back in the homeland, this spicy turbo version was marketed towards men…

… tough men, the kind of men that are faster than other men...





Ok, well, what makes a good man is thought of a little differently in Japan.


The Mazda MX5 (aka Miata)





This cute two-seater car is a versatile vehicle that combines the fun of a FR with the exhilaration of an open-top car.


Yes, Miata is always the answer, it’s the MX5! This car really does need no introduction, they were introduced in 1989 and are still being manufactured today. There’s been lots of little changes over the years but at their core they are the same, drivers focused car.

Often mocked for being small by people with small penises and smaller brains, if you meet someone in an older one of these today, you know you've met a true car enthusiast. Because chances are they drive it pretty hard on an autocross track.

Known for their balance, these cars are fun as hell to drive, and very easy to drive hard.

Perhaps their poor reputation amongst dudebros has something to do with how lame the ads were in America.







I mean, I get they are very much a throwback to 1960’s roadsters, but way to make anyone who bought one look instantly old with your commercials, Mazda.


These cars should be marketed showing what they do best. Tearing it up and driving like a maniac.

Thankfully us Aussies had it covered.





The Honda Civic SiR





Honda generously utilized its F1 technology.The power of the wild B16A, equipped with a VTEC engine, has been proven in races.


With the 5th generation of the Honda Civic, Honda certainly didn't hold back on the SiR variant.

One of the most powerful cars here, and naturally aspirated to boot. There was a reason these things were so popular - you still see people getting around in them today, and they were really a staple of the tuner era, especially in the USA.

But hey, don't ask me, ask Jodie Foster:





The Honda Integra VTEC





With a 100 horsepower per liter VTEC engine and a double wishbone suspension, it aims to be the fastest FF car in INA history.


Alright, now we're talking. The Integra was very similar to the Civic, but was designed as a purpose built sports car. It’s the most powerful car here, and had a lot of the fancy tech that Honda was known for.

It also had some real commercials, as befitting a sports car.






The Selection

And there we have it. Zero4Champ RR’s collection of starter cars!

This is much more… manageable… list than Zero4Champs 25 or however many that game started with. It's also focused entirely on sports cars. There's not a Kei car or a Pajero in sight... I guess this is a good thing.

However, Taro is still blinded by choice, and like you did in the other games, he needs your help making a decision!

Any of these options would be a great choice and I think we'd be happy with any. The only exception is the Toyota Starlet GT, which I sadly not find a matching model in BeamNG :( ) .

Cast your votes!