Is there a Japanese equivalent to a manual E39?

I own a 540 6 speed, it's amazing and I thoroughly enjoy it. 

But if course

GS300??

In the import side there are plenty of big Japanese barges with manuals available. In the US market, you're out of luck unless you want to swap yourself.

G35 6MT sedan, if you can find one that hasn't been lowered or drifted.  Probably not too different from the 1st gen Lexus IS in that regard.   

Infinity G37 sedan.

SEADave said:

G35 6MT sedan, if you can find one that hasn't been lowered or drifted.  Probably not too different from the 1st gen Lexus IS in that regard.   

Not too different from a E39 540i, either.

Hyundai G70? Is that still available with a manual?

Acura TL Type-S? It’s FWD but well balanced on track. 

I was gonna say IS300/350, but did those come to the USDM with 6 speeds?  

In reply to golfduke :

Yes, you could get an IS300 with a stick here in the States but they’re rather rare. It’s also a little smaller than a 5 Series–felt more like a 3 Series. 

buzzboy said:

In the import side there are plenty of big Japanese barges with manuals available. In the US market, you're out of luck unless you want to swap yourself.

Yeah, Toyota JZXs were the first thing that came to mind. Oh how I'd love a JZX100 Chaser.

yeah, I was more just thinking manual rwd sedan, but I definitely see your point... 

G37 is a pretty good analog though. 

Mazdaspeed 6 maybe, although that's awd and turbo rather than big displacement grunt.

FWIW, I’d say that an Acura of that era feels a bit more upscale and BMW-like than the Infiniti. 

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

GS300??

I'd say GS400 or GS430 before 300. Those have V8s, compared to a naturally-aspirated inline-6

amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) said:

Hyundai G70? Is that still available with a manual?

I see what you are going for there, but that car is Korean, right?

wvumtnbkr said:

amg_rx7 (Forum Supporter) said:

Hyundai G70? Is that still available with a manual?

I see what you are going for there, but that car is Korean, right?

I'm reminded of the one local Hyundai/Kia dealer, who was kind of a memorable character, and he did an ad where he was reportedly at the top of the Empire State Building and could see all the cars he sold, with the line of "It looks like Tokyo down there with all them Korean cars." I remember hearing that ad and thinking "I believe you mean Seoul or Incheon, Billy."

In reply to NickD :

Well there's the Korean cars that were discarded Mazda tooling, the Korean cars that were discarded Mitsubishi tooling, the Korean cars that were discarded Opel tooling... wait that one isn't Japanese

For example https://www.japaneseclassics.com/vehicle/1998-toyota-chaser-tourer-v/

its not Japanese but the Chevrolet SS (and the GXP G8) were LS powered full sized sedans available with a manual.  

Oh wow, authors note: This was not supposed to go live. There was more to this post and I must have fat fingered this thing into existence. 

Basically, the idea was that you can't go very far without hearing of the doom and gloom of owning a vintage, early 2000's BMW. Everything explodes and you're life is miserable. 

Mine, well it's been completely trouble free, but I did get a well maintained copy, and have kept up on maintenance. 

But, I can't disagree that vehicles from the big firms in Japan are widely considered more reliable over the long term. So my curiosity, as some have added their thoughts too, was a reasonably sized, manual sport saloon. 

Just wasn't ever clear to me why we didn't get some of the slick 4 door cars that were available elsewhere, the list seems pretty short if RHD isn't an option. FWD is a possibility, but I always thought those big bodied Acura cars gave up quite a bit of rear seat room to a 5 series, but I may be wrong. 

Acura Legend. Both gens came with a manual.

In reply to Steve :

I think the closest they ever got was the 2nd generation G35S / G37S. It's a car you know is great within a few blocks.