(First posted July 28, 2013) Having had somewhat recently divested myself, for no particularly good financial reason, of a fairly new VW Jetta and a decently running motorcycle in favor of an aged Subaru, I, along with my girlfriend, then decided to move from San Francisco to San Mateo, one of the suburbs on the Peninsula. Of course, this meant that although my girlfriend’s commute would get much shorter, mine would increase quite a bit. For a short time I took the train and later used the Subaru as a daily commuter. It wasn’t long before I’d become tired of it, so when an opportunity came up to buy a car I’d always found very attractive, I jumped at it…
Behold the 1993.5 Infiniti G20. Offered as an entry-level introduction to the brand, the G20 was basically a Rest-Of-World’s top-of-the-line Nissan Primera wearing Infiniti badging. Having never offered a Primera in North America, this initially appeared to be good strategy on Infiniti’s part. As you probably know, Infiniti started their U.S. venture with the excellent Q45 and lukewarm M35 coupe (basically a rebadged and somewhat aged Nissan Leopard), but soon discovered the need to expand their range: Thus was the G20 introduced.
Having previously lived near an Infiniti dealership, I often took evening strolls around the grounds and had seen many a G20 when they were introduced. In the end, they probably never lived up to management’s sales expectations, and were often advertised as “loss-leaders” with heavily discounted pricing. Usually they were the base model, and, well, this was exactly what I found advertised by a private party in the San Francisco Chronicle classifieds.
After driving up to San Francisco one dark evening to take a look at it, we met the seller, a nice guy named Blaine. It turns out that when the car was new, it was given to Blaine to use as a company car for two years, and was offered the chance to buy it when he left the company. Since he liked the car, he did so; now, some time later, he’d decided to start his own organic soup company and needed to sell the Infiniti to help raise cash for the venture.
We looked at the car, test-drove it around the city, pulled into a well-lit gas station and found that its only cosmetic flaws were a one-inch-diameter black ink stain (thanks to Blaine’s fiance’s mother, as it turned out) on the back seat, and some surface scuffs and scratches on the horizontal surfaces, likely from placing materials on top and then dragging rather than lifting them off. Mechanically everything seemed great, even though the mileage was already just over 80,000 on a 3.5-year-old car. After we’d agreed on a price of about $8,000, and he’d thrown in a few jars of his homemade organic soup (yummy), we drove the car home. (The top two pictures are of my actual car.)
You’ll recall I mentioned it was a 1993.5 and not a 1993 or 1994 model. It wouldn’t be the last time I’d buy a half-year model, and this one definitely was different than those of the adjacent years. Versus the 1993s, the mid-year models had dual airbags instead of motorized seatbelts, R134a A/C instead of R12, an upgraded audio system and some different options. The 1994s also received a revised front grille, chrome plated door handles, a different (and not quite as highly regarded) version of the engine and slightly larger tires. So the 1993.5 was sort of a half-step between them.
Mine was black, with a gray velour interior. Yes, mine was probably one of the “loss-leader” versions, with its cloth interior, no sunroof and stick shift. If it was a Lamborghini, it would probably be called a Superleggera and command a premium price; in mass-market America, a car with a luxury badge, cloth seats and no sunroof is usually just called sales-proof. Fortunately, I like quality cloth upholstery and don’t really care for sunroofs, so it was perfect for me.
Overall, I think these would have sold better at another time. For the most part, the early-to mid-90’s were a time of $1.20/gallon gas in Northern California. Where I lived, large engines were still very much in vogue and premium manufacturers did not offer many four-cylinder engines. Nowadays, it’s a totally different story, and I am surprised that Infiniti (and Lexus, for that matter) don’t offer much to compete with the smaller European offerings, virtually all of which now are four-cylinder (albeit turbocharged)-powered.
Size-wise, these are very similar to a Jetta of the same vintage. Performance-wise, they’re in a whole different league. The 2.0-liter, 140-hp DOHC (code SR20DE) is the same engine people rave about in the Sentra SE-R. Contrary to popular opinion, the G20 is not based on the Sentra at all despite sharing the Sentra’s top engine option; in actuality it is a size larger and very close to the original Altima but again, doesn’t share anything of note with it either. With a redline of 7, 500 rpm and coupled to an extremely smooth five-speed manual transmission, the engine delivered great performance and excellent fuel economy, and was an absolute pleasure to drive in any situation. (Note: I understand that the automatic version is a lot less interesting, but I’ve never driven one personally.)
Standard features included power everything, four-wheel discs with ABS, A/C, Bose stereo, alarm, cruise control and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. Weight averages about 2,700 lbs., depending on transmission and options.
All in all, a very high quality, well-built car that felt solid, drove great and looked nice. I drove it all over the place, and nothing ever went wrong with it, it was extremely comfortable, had plenty of room for four people and their luggage, and was just a joy. I replaced the tires (at the time, 185/60-14 was a very common size, so there were plenty of options to choose from) and found annoyance only when it was time for an oil change.
I did try to change the oil myself a couple of times at first. While doing so wasn’t really a problem, it was still a bit different than with most other cars: the drain plug is in the expected place, but the filter is not. Instead, it’s located near the top of the engine, which seems great until you realize that its horizontal mounting causes about half a quart of oil (with no obvious way to contain) to drain out when you loosen it. What’s more, it’s sort of buried under other stuff, thus necessitating either very small hands or a large supply of band-aids. After a couple of times of cleaning up oil and bandaging myself, I just started taking it to quick-lube places.
Once, I found a coupon for a place I’d never been before. Knowing it was a pain to change the filter, I watched them from the waiting room. The time from the car leaving the waiting area to when it came back was under 10 minutes. I couldn’t believe they’d managed to change the filter in that time, since Jiffy-Lube always took longer. I popped the hood before leaving, and peering through the wiring I could just make out the red “Ji” on the Jiffy-Lube filter. Problem was, this place wasn’t Jiffy-Lube, which had done the last oil change. I dragged over the manager (who was refusing to believe me) and asked him to please show me what in his inventory of filters matched what was currently installed on my engine. Obviously unable to do so, he offered to redo the work; naturally, I refused and took a full refund instead. Then I went to Kragen, bought a filter and oil and, once more, did the job myself in my driveway.
The only other thing of note was a persistent minor water leak in the front-passenger foot well. During a heavy rain, (and especially with the car in motion, not parked), water would drip from under the dashboard onto the carpet. There never was a huge amount of it, and it would dry overnight in the garage if I left the windows cracked open, but I never did track down the source of the leak. More an annoyance than a serious issue, it was nonetheless just a bit out of character for the car and its otherwise total sense of quality.
A couple of years after buying it, we found ourselves moving again, this time to our first owned home, in Dublin, an East Bay suburb much farther from my work in San Francisco. At this point the car had over 120,000 miles on the odometer, and while it still ran great, it was time to end the relationship. With somewhat mixed feelings, I sold it, and while some potential buyers were turned off by the cloth seats and no sunroof, the eventual buyer was able to look beyond that to see the wonderful car underneath. A great car, one I’d buy again in a heartbeat. It was perfect for the time and place, and I highly recommend it.
Great car! I’ve always loved the under-appreciated ’90s Infinitis (or is it Infinities?). The G20 was certainly an interesting car. I actually liked the ones with velour seats better, as the leather didn’t look all that premium.
It’s odd how Infiniti discontinued the G20 in 1997, only to reintroduce the slightly updated and larger, yet similarly styled P11 version 2 years later. Although I like the grille on the P11, I prefer the rest of the P10 better. I don’t like how all 1999-2002 G20s got ground effects, regardless of model.
Many people don’t like the idea of a luxury car that’s essentially a rebadged version of a mainstream car sold overseas. However if the donor car is well engineered, and the upgrades are nice I find nothing wrong with that. My 2010 Acura TSX is an example of this. It is basically a more luxurious version of the Honda Accord that Japan, Europe, and Australia gets, along with a bigger 3.5L V6, and and Acura grille. As long as Honda doesn’t sell this version of the Accord here, I’m fine. Mine could also be considered a “loss-leader”, as it doesn’t have the technology package. New TSX V6 models now all come with the tech package standard.
I’m also surprised Infiniti and Lexus don’t offer more smaller cars with 4 cylinders. Especially Infiniti, as the current G37 isn’t all that small. Acura has the ILX, although we all know how much hate that car gets.
I completely agree re: the 2nd generation G20, not a fan of the ground effects either and the inside looked cheaper as well (or maybe the competition had just moved on and gotten better over the years). Overall somehow the car also looks a bit “pinched” compared to the older ones.
I think some people in the US thought the G20 was basically an Altima which was not the case at all. Size-wise they were very similar though, and the Altima was quite a bit less expensive.
I always thought of these like the base C-series 4 cyl Mercedes sold here in the United States. Cars for people who HAD TO HAVE A ___________.
At least you didn’t say Cimarron…It probably did compete sort of with the C230 and also the BMW 318i. I would say the G20 performed better and possibly handled better (at least compared to the MB, maybe not the BMW). What is certain however is that significantly less maintenance was required.
It did not help that Infiniti seemed to mention the price all the time (as is the ad above). Constantly mentioning the price does not make anything feel upscale.
Infiniti’s image wasn’t at a point (in my opinion) where a lot of people were brand-snobs. The Q was considered a great car by the media, not so sure about the populace at large. Certainly Lexus was considered the winner in the “Japan-luxury” wars. Acura was already fading by the mid 90’s.
I was going to bring up Cimarron, but you (fourth comment on the page) beat me to it. Nothing brings out the hate-baiters more than that word! I like the Cimarron and I always found these handsome.
All that is wrong with the American idea of “luxxury” Rebadge a Nissan Primera as a Infiniti and charge accordingly. Oh dear..What can possibly go wrong. Americans just don’t get it.
Car makers had been getting away with that for years especially in Britain and America.I never saw an Infiniti in the UK yet.
What’s exactly the “ahead of its time” aspect of this Utterly Plain Jane Nissan from the early nineties ? Every competitor had a similar sedan (or hatchback) to offer in the 2.0 ltr. class in those days. The 1989 Ford Sierra sedan 2.0i DOHC comes to mind for example.
In the US 4cylinder and “luxury” were not really considered as going together. I think a similar car today could do much better. We also never had the regular Nissan Primera over here so it was considered a distinct model.
I see, a compact luxury car combined with a 4 cylinder engine. Thanks.
Yep, there were the C230 (or was it the C220?) and the 318i as well but those were the lower trims of their 6cylinder models, the G20 was 4cyl only.
Yeah but it is one of the best, if not they best 4cyl engine from the era. You really need to drive one, linked to a 5sp, preferably the G20t/SE-R’s limited slip version, to understand.
A four-cylinder compact with a lot of what were considered luxury features at the time wasn’t as unheard of in the U.S. as people occasionally imply Japanese automakers in general had made higher specification a major part of their U.S. marketing strategy for years, particularly once the Voluntary Restraint Agreement began in the early ’80s, capping the number of cars they could sell here. And of course there were European imports like the Audi A4 1.8T and of course you could still get a four-cylinder C-Class Mercedes.
Ironically, the ’90s were a point where a lot of Japanese automakers began de-contenting pretty aggressively, due to unfavorable shifts in the dollar-yen exchange rates and the Japanese economy slumping.
The multi-link front suspension was ahead of its time, for one thing. That made the G20 one of the best handling front-wheel drive sedans around. The G also had a true cab-forward layout where the packaging of the power train allowed the passenger compartment to sit further forward. Nothing could top the G20 for space efficiency.
Inside the use of slush-molded soft plastics gave the crash pad and door panels the feel of a more expensive car. This material did not crack over time like lesser materials did.
True cab-forward layout as in transverse engine~FWD ?
Already the norm in the late eighties for this class. Ford was late at the party since the Sierra was RWD and its FWD successor Mondeo only arrived in 1993.
A direct early nineties Japanese competitor for this upgraded Nissan could be the
Toyota Carina E 2.0 GTi. (FWD, 158 hp, 5 speed manual)
Used G20s were pretty cheap here, and as a “kid” I always was interested in them. I was tired of the nickel-and-diming of a Cadilac (V8); maybe that’s why I steered clear of another luxury marque and went with a Buick (V6). Or maybe because 4-cylinders weren’t exactly en vogue as they are today. I think they look especially good in lighter colors such as white and champagne. I don’t care for sunroofs either, and I enjoy a premium fabric (80s GM) but this material looks way too Nissanesque. If I knew how reliable they were, I too would have bought one.
Hilarious to hear that the G20 was marketed as a premium car, aiming at Mercs C’s and BWM 3’s, whereas the Nissan Primera (what it basically is) in Europe had to compete in the plain jane bread-and-butter mid-size (Euro mid-size) market segment, competing with the cars such as the Mondeo, Peugeot 405 and VW Passat. It didnt sell nearly as well though and was generally considered to be the most boring offering of them all.
And over here the Mondeo (as a Contour) was not very popular, Peugeot pulled out after 1991 and the Passat was very much a niche model sold in very small numbers. Of the 4, I’d say over here the overwhelming majority would say the Japanese competitor was the better car. It’s very interesting how similar cars are viewed so differently in different parts of the world. In fairness, I think the G20 was the equivalent of the top-spec Primera.
@Walter, it definitely was, it was a Primera, but a well equipped one. The deficient dealer networks of the European brands must have played a role for their lack of success. What I understood from the CC readership, Peugeot led a marginal market presence for most of the time in the US. The G20 was a one-off Euro offering in an otherwise fit-for-US product portfolio of Infiniti. Much unlike the downmarket Euro brands which had no offerings specially aiming at the US.
I think Walter makes an important point: That U.S. buyers are also considerably more predisposed than most European buyers to have a favorable attitude towards Japanese automakers. By 1990, the major Japanese brands had claimed a big swath of the U.S. mainstream audience, which thereafter needed a pretty strong enticement to stray to anything other than one of the European premium brands. The French, and Italians’ U.S. operations all folded except for the extreme high-end exotics, the Swedes tried with marginal success to reinvent themselves as premium brands, and of the British, the only survivors were Jaguar and Land Rover. The domestic nameplates have spent the past 30 years trying desperately to insist that their latest products are really, truly, they mean it this time competitive with the foreign brands as something other than the bargain basement/fire-sale alternative.
My impression is that in Europe and the U.K., the major Japanese brands are distinctly second-tier as far as the average buyer’s attitude; that the Japanese automakers have their partisans, but haven’t really established themselves as the default choice outside that niche. (Ironically, that’s how I would describe Volkswagen’s image here. Speaking strictly for myself, I’ve occasionally been moderately tempted by some VW product, but have always shied away both because of the price and a hard-to-shake feeling that the Japanese alternatives would be safer choices as regards reliability and running costs.)
Definitely one of the most under-appreciated cars of the last thirty years.
My sister had one, her first foreign car. And the start of twenty plus years of not considering American nameplates under any conditions. Then again, she’s a north east liberal DINK, an MD, and lives in fashionable Bucks County, PA. American brands are for rednecks in flyover country.
It was a really sweet automobile, and when trade-in time came, since I like it so much she offered it to me for what the dealer was willing to give her. Unfortunately, it was an automatic, so no deal. She was happy enough with it to go right back to Infiniti and looked at a J30, which just didn’t hit her right at all (despite my pushing like crazy to go for it). Instead she bought a Volvo 850. By the third year of ownership, she wish she’d had bought the J30.
For those of you deriding the G20 I’m pretty sure you’ve never driven one. The SR20 is a wonderful engine that begs to pull to its redline, and the chassis is very well sorted. It was in a class by itself a great combination of ride vs handling, power vs MPG, exterior vs interior size. Sure it had a pseudo luxury brand badge but for the small premium you payed vs a car with a regular brand you did get something that couldn’t be had in those regular cars.
I do disagree about the mouse fur feeling like it was quality, definitely no better than that found on a Ford of the era. The leather wasn’t the greatest having a bit of that cold, hard, Germanic feel, and similar poor wear, but still a lot better than the cloth.
I had a professor at college many years ago who would bring up his G20 sometimes. His was probably no newer than a 99. He was the archetypal history professor. Spoke with good diction, had a bushy beard, sport jackets. Older fellow…Specialized in the time of the European Crusades before Dan Brown. Anyways he loved his car and I just remember being somewhat of a car guy, that he would inject into a discussion every once in a while. I still like these cars when I see them. Very understated. Look quite comfortable too. Always liked the made in Japan only cars that were re-badged and brought over here like the G20s. Infinti/Nissan really made some nice engines I must say. And like Ken said in his article, I really loved the early Q cars a lot. Off tangent again, but had a friend’s father who bought a new Q probably around 93 or 94 eventually turned it in for a Volvo 850 because he said it was much too fast.
I do like these. We only got the P10 in wagon (aka Avenir) form new here, as the U12/13 Bluebird filled the sedan hole in Nissan NZ’s range. When the P11 and P12 came out, the Bluebird was gone and Nissan gave us all three Primera variants new – sedan, wagon, liftback.
Thankfully, being the Land of the Used JDM Import, we received plenty of P10 sedans and a few liftbacks over the years – in 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 petrol form, as well as the 2.0 diesel. A very good friend bought a 1992 Primera TE sedan around 1997/8. The TE was the top-spec sports model, and my mate’s went fantastically well – fast with excellent ride and handling. It had a poise and elegance to its handling that felt very ‘European’. Unfortunately the TE variants were quite sought after by folks who didn’t like to pay for their cars. My mate’s was stolen twice, the first time saw it recovered minus (aftermarket) stereo, the second time minus its interior and running gear. My mate was heartbroken and didn’t buy another.
On a slightly-connected tangent, I photographed this clever owner-customised badge last week on the back of a P12 Nissan Primera:
That’s funny about the “land of the JDM import” – When I visited New Zealand I remember thinking I saw more interesting Japanese cars there than I had in Japan…probably due to finding older cars more interesting than nearly-new ones.
The imports started in the late 1980s, as a teenage car-freak it was an awesome time for me to grow up in. Up until then our motoring fleet was largely elderly British cars, with a variety of pre-1973ish factory-RHD Americans thrown in; not to mention the Aussie Falcons and Holdens. The sheer variety of what started turning up here ex-Japan in the late 80s was fascinating. Of course as time has marched on most of the earlier imports are long gone, and once daily sightings like the P10 Primera are much less common now. Still an amazing variety of interesting JDM cars around though – and also less interesting cars with interesting features, like my 17 year old Nissan with its factory widescreen TV. And the really cool thing about New Zealand is that when you get tired of all the JDM cars, there’ll be an interesting Australian/European/American car only a street or two away!
Not such a good thing when they break down though the whole car is japanese no English or Maori word or writing on them and they are different to our local market new cars and get scrapped rather than repaired the simple stuff like these Primeras are easy to fix and the parts swap around ok. Some JDM should never have left japan they seem designed to last until the first shaken test then scrap them.
I have owned my 1996 G20t for about 7 years now. Wonderful car with great packaging. A great handling car with its’front multi-link suspension. Replaced the motor with a JDM spec SR20VE. This motor just plain ass hauls. Anyways on a recent trip to Vancouver from Seattle, i attained 40 mpg while averaging 70 mph. Very unusual since i make that trip once a month and usually averages 34 mpg. I did clean the air filter, cleaned the throttle plate by hand and replaced the tps sensor because of unstable idle. Anyways a very pleasing vehicle.
Ooh, the “t”‘s were very nice with those bolstered seats! Enjoy it, nice car!
It is the japanese emission rule which is that the drivetrain has to be replaced at approximately 30k miles. These used engines or cars are shipped to all over the world.
When I was working on the island of Kyushu in Japan in 1999, my office had a Primera car to travel around with VIPs, etc. We, the peons, couldn’t be seen in a big, fancy car, so we all got identical 1.5 litre/5sp manual Primeras. The handling on these cars was superb and the interior was really comfortable and large.
Even with the 1.5 the Primera had lots of soul and would scream up to its 7000 rpm limiter. It felt plenty fast enough for me.
For years I had thought if there had been a G20C we would have bought one new for my wife instead of the Nissan 200SX SE-R we did get; the Nissan had a downscale feel to the interior where the rest of the car was great. Alas, looking closer at the G20’s insides… not really an improvement.
Another YES vote on the SR20DE engine.
I bought a 1992 G20 off eBay for the grand sum of $700 in 2007 when in college and in need of cheap wheels. The guy even delivered it to where I was staying – and boy was it rough! 300,000kms, holes in the floor boards, windshield wiper mechanism that would come apart in rain storms, blown suspension, no heat, wouldn’t start after a rain storm – among other things.
I drove the car for over a year and besides it looking like a total beater and the damp weather electrical gremlins it never missed a beat – never used any oil either. I sold it after backing down the driveway through a snowbank and tearing half the exhaust off. That was the last straw.
Sold it to a kid for $300 that was planning to do an SR20DET swap to it – but I checked the VIN a few years later and it still showed that it was in my name – I assume the only conversion it had was into a pop can.
Pic is what was used as its eBay picture – obviously years newer than the time of purchase
I purchased a 93.5 Infiniti new in Clearwater, Florida. It had a manual transmission (which I prefer to this day), no sunroof, and velour interior. My car had a slight leak on the passenger floorboard after rain. It wasn’t major but it was not something we expected with a premium brand. The car ran great until it didn’t. My transmission went, somewhere around 75k-80k miles (it was almost 20 years ago). Clearly, the vehicle should have lasted longer for me but I sold it instead of paying for the transmission repair. That was the end of my Infiniti ownership experience. Never again have I owned an Infiniti (or a Nissan as I owned a 1989 Pulsar NX-SE that also had a manual transmission go bad).
I’ve owned about 2 dozen cars, so far, and one of the cars I owned was a 92 G20 with a manual transmission. I also owned a 92 Acura Integra with an automatic transmission at the same time. Of the 2 cars I REALLY enjoyed driving the G20.
Our European friends can’t understand what all the love for the G20/Nissan Primera is all about. “It’s just a Nissan” is their common refrain. Unfortunately, the U. S. doesn’t have access to many cars European buyers have access to. Admittedly, some vehicles sold in North America aren’t available in Europe, either.
The G20 had a smooth, rev happy engine that was matched to a slick shifting transmission, and the suspension…especially the rear suspension was 1 of the most sophisticated to be found in a small car (in the U. S. anyway).
I am constantly on the lookout for another G20, but so far, all the ones I can find have huge mileages and worse, automatic transmissions.
If I could find a same year Nissan Sentra SE-R, I might consider it as a slightly better car.
Philip:
You don’t say what is entailed in a “bad transmission”, but these G20s had a reputation for developing a 5th gear “pop out”. Yes, I imagine the repair was expensive, but if it was done by an independent shop it wasn’t outrageous.
My 10 year old G20 had the pop out problem…something the seller didn’t disclose up front. I made the repair of the transmission a term of the sale. The seller went ahead and did it, no balking over the terms.
Ever so slightly on topic: I once knew a man named Blaine. He made me a better person.
http://davesanborn.blogspot.com/2016/07/in-defense-of-name-blaine.html
A nice looking car with a nice interior. I dislike leather in cars and would never buy one with it, so for me the cloth seats are a must. I’d also never buy a manual-shift car, again an automatic is a must or forget it.
Hardly ahead of their time just a good midrange Japanese car the range topper had 4WD as did everything else JDM in this segment, leather seats are not luxury horrible slippery things that get hot and sticky in summer and cold in winter, I’ll take cloth any day, I just drove a leather seating Holden back from the south island a very uncomfortable car considering it was an upscale Calais model the seats were terrible.
Cloth seats in these were not uncommon. In theory you could get the second generation with cloth seats but I’ve only ever run into one so equipped. It was also the only one I’ve seen that didn’t have the automatic climate control.
I’ve found the seats in these (and pretty much all the Nissans from this era that weren’t lower-end models) to be very comfortable whether they were cloth or leather. Which made the decontenting they did later all too obvious.
It seems like a very nice car to me, not only because of the fine engine and overall quality, but also the cloth seats, manual transmission and understated design.
I’ve never owned or even ridden in a G20, but I’ll echo the perspective that these filled an appealing niche in the US. Not as overtly sporty as an Integra, with nothing similar from Lexus at all, and as a Primera not a Sentra derivative, the G20 was distinct from any Nissan. The closest equivalent I can think of was the Volvo V40 in its “rebranded Mitsubishi” guise, and the G20 was far better.
I bought a used 1996 G20 when we finally recognized the need for a “kid’s car.” It was well equipped, having leather seats, sunroof, CD and cassette players, and most importantly, a 5-speed manual… so our kids could learn how to drive a stick. (I had a ’95 SHO with a five speed, but it was a company car and they couldn’t use it. The G20 was great, more than filling the need. Four kids learned to drive stick, it was comfortable, roomy and fun to drive. No problems, and sold it with over 160,000 miles… and original clutch.
We later picked up a used 1999 second gen G20t to add to the kid car fleet and had a similar positive experience. The ’99 felt heavier, otherwise pretty good.
I owned a 1994 G20t, definitely ranks as one of the top two handling cars I’ve ever owned (the other was my 2002 Mazda Protege ES.) My car was white with the 5 speed transmission and black leather interior. I would love to find another in good shape, but they are as rare as another of my favorite cars, the Lexus ES250.
Having owned two 5-speed P10s as well as a 5-speed 2002 Protege ES, I agree about how much of a blast these are to drive. It’s a shame that 5-speed P10s are almost impossible to find locally now and the BJ Proteges are all rusting away quite quickly. I’d love to own either one again if I can find one in decent shape.
I absolutely affirm most of the positive comments about the P10 first Gen G20. It’s a wonderful car that check marks a lot of must have’s. To start excellent engine!!! The transmission in 5 speed guise is to die for and last but not least the suspension. Theses are a steal if you can find one. I’m surprised values have not risen. What an absolute sleeper. Integra’s are a close second but the ricer/tuner crowd has all but beat to death that car. SHHHHH don’t tell them about the G20’s lets keep that our little secret. It’s bad enough their scarcity nowadays especially in 5 speed form.