JDM Street Battle 2026: Supra Mk4 vs. Evo vs. STI vs. 370Z

These four cars don't really share a brief. The Supra is a 1,500-kg grand tourer with a twin-turbo straight-six and pretensions to autobahn cruising. The Evo and STI are rally-homologated sedans with all-wheel drive that were built to hammer dirt. The 370Z is a small naturally-aspirated coupe with a V6 and rear-wheel drive. They were never head-to-head competitors in showrooms.

But they share something the modern market cares about — they're the late-90s-to-late-2010s JDM icons that the under-40 collector crowd has decided are worth chasing. Five years ago you could buy any of them for sensible money. That window is closing.

Here's how they actually compare in 2026, and what I'd buy at €40,000 if I had to pick one.

The spec sheet, honestly

I'm focusing on the most iconic generation of each: Supra Mk4 (A80, 1993–2002), Lancer Evolution IX (2005–2007), Subaru Impreza WRX STI Hawkeye (2006–2007), and Nissan 370Z (2009–2020). These are the cars that anchor the conversation in the EU collector market right now.

The 0–100 numbers look close. They lie about what these cars actually feel like.

Toyota Supra Mk4 (A80)

The 2JZ-GTE is the engine that made this car a religion. Cast-iron block. Closed deck. Sequential twin turbos that move 320 hp stock and have been documented to 1,000+ hp on stock internals with the right tune. Nothing else on this list — nothing else on the road, in the period — has that kind of headroom from the factory.

What you actually get on the street is different from the lore. Stock, a Supra is fast but not violent. It's heavy, geared long, and prefers building speed across a kilometre to ripping out of a corner. The auto is genuinely good (Aisin-built 4-speed, ECT). The Getrag V160 6-speed is one of the toughest transmissions Toyota ever fitted.

Reliability is honest: the 2JZ is bulletproof if oil-serviced; the rest of the car ages like a 1995 Toyota — fragile electronics in the dash, leaky targa seals on the open-top cars, automatic climate control that fails. The drivetrain outlasts the rest of the car by a wide margin.

EU market 2026: A documented twin-turbo 6-speed manual A80 trades €75,000–€140,000. Low-miles, unmodified, sub-100,000-km examples have crossed €180,000 at the major auctions. Five years ago this same car was €40,000. The Fast & Furious effect is real.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX

The Evo IX is the last great 4G63 Evo. Aluminium head, MIVEC variable valve timing on the intake side, twin-scroll TD05HR turbo. 286 hp export, 280 PS Japanese spec, but in practice the EU-imported Evo IX MR puts down more like 300 hp on a dyno because Mitsubishi understated them.

What it actually feels like: violent. The 4G63 makes torque at 3,000 rpm and revs to 7,500. AWD with active centre diff and Bilstein dampers — the whole car is wound tight in a way that nothing on this list except the STI matches. It's also a four-door sedan with a usable boot, which is the part nobody mentions until they own one.

Things that age badly: the gearbox synchros, especially 3rd. The transfer case if abused. The aluminium intake manifold can crack on high-boost tunes. The rest of the car — chassis, brakes, electronics — is well-engineered for a 2005-vintage Mitsubishi.

EU market 2026: Clean Evo IX MRs sit €38,000–€60,000. Pristine, low-mileage cars (under 60,000 km) with documented history have started crossing €80,000. The Evo VIII MR is similar money. The Evo X Final Edition is in roughly the same band but feels like a different car — heavier, softer, but with SST dual-clutch on the FQ-440 and Final Edition variants.

Subaru Impreza WRX STI (Hawkeye)

The Hawkeye is the moment STI got serious about being a tarmac car. EJ257 flat-four with the larger turbo, 300 hp, DCCD active centre differential, Brembo brakes, six-speed manual. It is — and I'll defend this — the most usable car on this list as a daily driver. AWD all-weather. Real four-doors. A back seat you can actually put adults in. A boot.

It is also the loudest, most flat-feeling thing here. The boxer rumble is unique. The torque delivery is laggier than the Evo but more linear once on boost. The handling is "AWD planted" rather than "rotational" — different feeling from the Evo, which can be made to rotate on lift-off in a way the STI fundamentally won't.

Things to check: head gaskets on EJ-series engines remain a known weak point past 150,000 km, especially if coolant maintenance lapsed. Ringland failures from over-boost (factory or otherwise). Wheel bearings. The transmission is durable.

EU market 2026: Hawkeye STIs trade €18,000–€32,000 depending on condition and mileage. The Bugeye (2001–2002) is the one climbing — clean cars are now €25,000–€40,000 as collector interest sharpens. The 2015–2021 VA Sedan is the cheapest STI on the market today — €22,000–€30,000 for a low-miles example. It's the most refined STI ever made and almost certainly underpriced.

Nissan 370Z

The odd one out on this list. It's not AWD. It's not turbo. It's not the cult-collectable JDM-only car. It's the entry-level "modern" coupe with a naturally aspirated V6 and a rear-drive chassis. And it's also — at €15,000–€30,000 in 2026 — the only car on the list you can comfortably daily-drive for entry-level Japanese sports-car money.

The VQ37VHR is good. Not legendary, but good. 332 hp, redline at 7,500, throttle response is genuinely better than the Evo's turbo car at the same engine speed because there's no lag. The chassis is closer to a BMW 1M than a Supra — short wheelbase, planted, rotates on throttle when you ask. The 7-speed automatic is solid (Jatco RE7R01A, see our reliability piece on the engine). The 6-speed manual has a clunky shift compared to the Supra's V160 but is reliable.

Reliability is the best on this list. Oil consumption is real but harmless. The engine has gone to 250,000 km plus repeatedly. Cars are abundant and parts are cheap.

EU market 2026: Clean 370Zs sit €15,000–€25,000. Nismo variants run €30,000–€42,000. The 2015 facelift onwards is the build to buy — slightly better cooling, refreshed interior trim, oil galley revision sorted.

Where each one actually wins

Picking a winner depends on what you're actually doing with the car. Honest table:

The Supra is a great car. It is also currently a financial instrument with wheels. Most people who buy them now drive them carefully, store them indoors, and treat them like art.

The Evo and STI are the actual driver's cars. If you want to feel something close to rally-stage adrenaline on a Tuesday morning, those are the two. The Evo is sharper. The STI is more livable.

The 370Z is the one that doesn't pretend to be more than it is. Naturally aspirated, rear-drive, manual or auto, no rituals. It's also the only one on this list where €40,000 buys you a very nice example with budget left over for tyres, brakes, and a track day budget.

If I had €40,000 right now

I'm not going to pretend this is hard.

• I cannot buy a clean Mk4 Supra at €40k. The market won't sell me one.
• I could buy a high-mile Evo IX with question marks for €40k. Risky.
• I could buy a really nice STI Hawkeye for €25k and have €15k left.
• I could buy a Nismo 370Z for €38k with strong history.

Or — and this is where I'd actually land — I'd buy a clean 2015–2021 STI VA Sedan for €26k and put the remaining €14k into a track-day budget, a proper alignment setup, R-compound tyres for weekends, and the inspection / service work that lets me hold the car for ten years. That gets me 95% of what the Evo IX delivers, with a longer-term ownership horizon, modern airbags, modern infotainment, and a cabin I can actually sit in for an hour.

If the budget were €60,000, the answer shifts. €60k buys a sorted Evo IX MR with documented history. €60k buys a Hawkeye STI in concours condition. €60k starts to buy the lower edge of the Supra market — high miles, possibly modified, but in.

If the budget were €120,000, I'd buy the Supra. Not because it's the better car. Because the curve says €120k is the floor on a documented example by 2030.

Three things I wish more buyers checked

1. Mileage versus history, not mileage alone. A 150,000-km STI with the EJ rebuild done at 110,000 km and full receipts is a much safer buy than a 60,000-km STI from an enthusiast forum with "rebuilt by previous owner" in the description and no paperwork.

2. Modifications are not always bad — but undocumented modifications are. A Supra with a documented Stage 2 build by a known tuner is fine. A Supra "running 500 hp" with the previous owner unreachable is a coin flip. Same applies double for the AWD cars where the transfer case takes the abuse.

3. The market floor is rising, but condition rules. A €60k Evo IX with paint that's been resprayed badly is worth €40k tomorrow. A €60k Evo IX with documented original paint and dealer-stamped service is worth €70k tomorrow. The gap will widen, not narrow.

The JDM tuner era is closing. New cars aren't coming. Mk4 Supras, Evos, STIs — production ended years ago and isn't restarting. The 370Z is now also out of production. The collector market knows this. You're either buying into it now or watching the prices from the outside in a few years.

I know which side I'd be on.