in my eyes, and i know i am shooting myself in the foot....
The is200 was never meant to be modifed to sports spec, whereas the altezza
( rs200 was!!!)
Hence the HUGE amount of tuning options available for the altezza..
Tell your mate to buy an altezza, ( or even an is300 and ship the parts over from the states!!!)
bang for buck, i don`t think that you can go wrong with the altezza!! i would say that even if i wasn`t in the trade!!
personally have drove loads of each, and cannot see that much difference in the quality of ride between the is200 and altezza!.... i am expecting a barage of abuse for saying it but it unbelieveable that someone might spend £2-3k on an is200 to get the same sort of performance the altezza has as standard!!!!!
FACT: TOYOTA`S WITH THE ENGINE ENDING IN FE ( 1G-FE) WERE NEVER MEANT FOR POWER... WHEREAS ENDING IN GE ( 3S-GE ) WERE!!
one is for sports cars, one is for cruising along motorways!!