Meet The 5 Insanely Fast Japanese Cars You've Never Seen Before!

Many fast cars left Japan's shores, but here are some that many enthusiasts never knew existed!

Mitsubishi Evolution X FQ-400

Here's one of the most recognisable sports cars to ever come out of Japan. Sure, Mitsubishi isn't the most exciting automaker today, but in the 2000s, the company released two incredible vehicles: the Evolution VIII FQ-400 and the Evolution VIII X FQ-400. Both of these were among the fastest Japanese cars ever made at the time, having received significant upgrades over the standard Lancer Evo VIII.

Not only did Mitsubishi in Japan work on these siblings, but Mitsubishi UK did as well, signing on several automotive expert brands for power and design upgrades. Only 100 were produced at the time, and the FQ-400 quickly became the fastest car on UK roads. Half a decade later, they released the Evo X variant of the car, which was even faster and more aggressive than its sibling, producing 405 horsepower, reaching 175 mph on the speedometer, and accelerating from 0-60 in just 3.4 seconds!

Toyota 222D

When it comes to rallying, legends can be found throughout the Groups. Many people are unaware that a prototype Group S was going to replace the Group B, reducing the homologation requirements from 200 road-going versions of the race car to just 20 units. Not only would this have resulted in more insane cars, but it would also have reduced the burden on engineers' shoulders, leading to more insanity.

Nonetheless, the Toyota 222D was born with the sole purpose of entering (and dominating) the prototype Group S class. The rally car was based on the Toyota MR2 and featured an AWD powertrain powered by a four-cylinder 2.2-liter engine with a ridiculous turbo attached. Unfortunately, Group B died and Group S never existed, so Toyota only built eleven prototypes of the 222, only two of which are said to still exist.

Mitsuoka Orochi

Mitsuoka is primarily a Japanese coachbuilder. They do, however, have a talent for designing and building one-of-a-kind and unusual automobiles. While Mitsuoka typically bases their cars on Nissan and Mazda models, for the Orochi, Mitsuoka chose the first-generation Honda NSX platform.

The Orochi was dubbed a "Fashion Super Car" by the brand. This special car had a limited number of runs. The car's aesthetics are, to say the least, divisive, but it was more than capable of reaching 155 mph on the speedometer with a 0-60 time of 6.0 seconds.

Tommykaira ZZ

If you can recall seeing the Tommykaira ZZ, it was most likely in the popular Gran Turismo or Forza video games. Tommykaira, a Japanese tuning and manufacturing company, introduced its first independent production car, the ZZ, in 1990. The Tommykaira ZZ was powered by a 190-horsepower 2.0-liter Nissan four-cylinder engine.

While that may appear to be a weak engine with low numbers, the ZZ managed to reach 60 mph in just 4.0 seconds. It also had to credit its ridiculously light weight for this. After all, this Japanese marvel weighed only 1500 pounds! Over the course of a decade, this car only sold about 200 units before returning in 2014 with an all-new generation, this time in an electric avatar.

Nissan R390

The Nissan R390 was virtually identical to the Le Mans model, with a monstrous 3.5-liter V8 that was also turbocharged. However, Nissan did 'de-tune' the engine to 550 horsepower, but it was still capable of hitting 200 mph. Furthermore, the R390's rear wing would almost certainly have been flagged as illegal on the road. Nonetheless, it is one of the fastest cars ever produced in Japan.