PIAZZAworld's Australian Review Page. Last Modified: 20 April 1997

Piazza with puff
Turbo power takes on rotary and four valve technology
by Paul Gover
Published by Modern Motor July 1986
Turbo, Rotary or twin cam? Today you an have your choice, but which one is the best for high performance motoring, Aussie-style?

All provide performance, all provide driving enjoyment and all provide more then just motoring tedium. In the case of the Holden Piazza, Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Celica, they also provide fierce rivalry in the toughest sector of the Australian new car market. The sports-GT market has been tougher and it's because the class of '86 is easily the best ever seen in this country.

Apart from the three contenders for our triple test there are also the Toyota Supra, Nissan 300ZX Turbo, Mitsubishi Starion Turbo and Alfa Romeo GTV6 and each has something worthwhile to contribute. But it is the Piazza which is the newest recruit to the Australia sports-GT lineup, and the one battling to establish it's own reputation and territory in this highly-competitive environment.

Introducing the Piazza today is like throwing a bleeding man into a marauding school of sharks. It needs to do the automotive equivalent of walking on water to survive unmarked, and even a tough, battling performance is still likely to involve a severe mauling.

The Piazza has arrived in Australia with a big build-up, although it is hardly new. It was first seen in the late 1970s as an Italian styling exercise by the famed Giorgio Giugiaro, but was soon put into production by Isuzu as a sporty flag waver. Since then there have been persistent rumors that the car would don Holden badges and arrive Down Under, but it was not until this year that it finally made its debut.

According to GMH, one of the reasons was the company's decision to wait for a Piazza with a turbo engine and development suitable for local conditions. That happened nine months after the turbo's Japanese debut, which made it suitable for Australian unleaded petrol, and also gave GMH some- thing to crow about as it tries to regain ground lost to Ford and Toyota in the new car sales battle. Sadly, the swan-diving Aussie dollar also meant the Piazza arrived in Australia with a price near-as-dammit to S35,000, and that's a lot of money even when the loaded RX-7 and Supra are close to 40 grand.

Still, a gleaming new red Piazza made a stylish addition to our virgin white RX-7 Sport -- fresh from a S3000 price drop, lowering the price to S31,900 -and a racer-red Toyota Celica. No matter where the trio were assembled, trackside at Oran Park or cutting through the city traffic or the rolling countryside, they were an impressive battle group. And they provided surprisingly close straight line performance from surprisingly diverse engineering backgrounds.

The RX-7 has been the subject of widespread discussion, much of it in print, since its Australian debut early this year. Much of it has been centered on its meaty price and its lack-luster bottom end performance, but it has also been praised for its chassis and overall design and packaging. When the turbocharged version of its fuel injected 13B rotary engine arrives some may be forced to retract some of their judgments, but for now it is sufficient to remember that it is a two plus two evolution of the original RX-7 and that our test Sport version came without the electric windows, sunroof and other luxury additions of the expensive Limited version. Not that they were missed at $31,900 the Sport looks a far better buy than the Limited at S37,900.

The Celica came close to taking Modern Motor's Car of the Year honors for 1985 and deservedly so. It is the car which introduced Australians magic of Toyota's new-generation cams, proved that Japanese drivers could handle, and manage to keep the same comfortable and able four seater image as
Celica's. At S22,250 it is not only the only sub $30,000 sporty cars but all but the best of the S30,000 to $40,000 sports coupes.

The Piazza, the most expensive of group at S34,500, probably needs a more explanation. it was basically developed from the old rear-wheel Isuzu Gemini, with the addition of Italian styling, a huge number of comfort and luxury features, revised rear suspension including a five-link variation of the live rear axle in place of the Gemini's torque tube, and Holden badges. The Piazza for Down Under is powered by a 2 litre four cylinder engine with the fiery breath of an IHI turbo charger feeding its Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection. Its gearbox is a five Speed manual.

On power things are pretty close between these three cars, with the and RX-7 both claiming 110 kW, the Celica not far behind with 104 kW. Toyota trails in braking specifications too, with rear drums to the four-discs of the other pair; and again drive system the Celica is the odd man out, putting its power and torque through the front rubber instead of the rear. For grip the Piazza has 195/60 Bridgestone Regnos, the RX-7 205/60 Bridgestone Potenzas and Celica has 195/60 Dunlop SP Sport. As soon as we rolled the wagons was obvious that the Piazza was the odd man out in the trio. And, basically, it was because it couldn't with the handling and braking a of the Celica and RX-7. It was most obvious at Oran where some straight line figures, laps and a slalom were used to s the three. First up were the Correvit-timed runs, and here things were as close expected. The Piazza, with its boost to help, was quickest from 0-100 km/h - taking 9.29 seconds - but the RX-7 and Celica weren't far behind. With 9.53 and 9.57 respectively. And it's worth remembering that the Piazza had far too much wheelspin for absolute optimum results, the RX-7 has always lacked the sort of bottom end grunt which translates into good times to 100 km/h, and that the Celica is fighting against its front-wheel drive shortcomings in this situation.

So perhaps the 400 metre runs are, better measure for all three, and here the Celica was a slightly unexpected winner with 16.37 seconds, to the 16.51 of the Piazza and 16.58 for the RX 7.
The Holden actually felt the quickest, as- you might expect with its turbomotor, and it was undoubtedly the
car to beat in stoplight style drags, but the sophistication of the Celica was just as impressive and it seems that we really will have to wait for the turbo to get the best from the RX-7.

Around the track the Mazda got its chance to excel, although it wasn't by much less than a second. The Celica was always snapping at its heels, but "either had much to worry about from the Piazza despite its turbo.

The RX-7 gets its advantage from its superb chassis, which provides controllable understeer in slow corners and neutral handling with final oversteer in the quicker stuff. It also has excellent brakes, although the lack of torque can still he a handicap in slower corners. The Celica was a big surprise for In spite of its front-wheel drive it was easy to balance in all but the slowest turns and had the revs from its twin cam engine to often bridge the gap to the RX-7. But it needed to be driven neatly to get the best, and too much wheel work over-stressed the front tyres and led to severe front end push.

In the case of the Piazza, nothing seemed to work. It ploughed wide in the slow stuff, lurched through the quick corners, and was generally a real handful to control. Its suspension rates were too soft for real grip and there seemed to be a real problem with rear end location, which meant it was nearly impossible to get the engine to work with the car instead of against it -- except on the straights, that is.

It was more of the same in the slalom, although again the precision of the Celica kept it closer than expected to the pace-setting RX-7. And the Piazza? The Holden's rear end problem was even worse, and made it extremely unstable in quick attitude changes, and also hard to stop in emergency braking. It could actually leap both wheels off the ground with a combination of massive weight transfer and rear axle tramp. Exciting stuff! Leaving the circuit tests behind, the RX-7 was just ahead of the Celica with the Piazza trailing badly. Away from the track, the Piazza manages to regain some ground on its rivals, but it is never going to be anywhere enough.

One of its advantages, and something which will help set it apart from its sports-GT rivals, is its action packed interior. Love it or hate it, there is never a dull moment behind the wheel of the Piazza. There's a digital dash, enough switches and controls to keep anyone amused for hours, a cruise control, high power sound system and comfortable seats and sculpted dash. Not quite the 80's refinement of the RX-7 and Celica, but something uniquely Piazza. In city traffic its turbocharged engine also gives it the edge in stoplight conditions, and it is docile and easy to handle with the boost below serious levels. It is also light to steer, has good visibility and practicality, but still the rear end makes braking a worry in difficult situations - it is far worse in the wet. The Celica is as easy to handle as always, with plenty of refinement; while the Sport RX-7 loses very little in spite of its wind-yourself windows and sealed top, although it has to rely on looks to intimidate the serious boulevard battlers.

Sporty cars are designed to really do their stuff on the open road and that is where we turned for the final answers, and the real judgment on the Piazza. it is here that the RX-7 shows its true class, and the quicker the driver is prepared to go the better it responds. Get the rotary engine singing, particularly on fast swoopy roads, and the Mazda is in its real element and almost impossible to match.

The Celica prefers things a tad slower, or straighter, but is never more than a whisker behind. Our test drivers would often find themselves waiting for the Piazza to make up lost ground. It has the engine to make time, but corners are the problem. It wants to under-steer in most situations, but the looseness at the rear means hop, skip and jump on anything but a perfect surface. So the driver has to work hard to maintain a brisk pace, and even then it would be nowhere near brisk enough to threaten a Celica or RX-7. The Holden doesn't have the suspension engineering at the present time. GM-H is now aware of the problems with the Piazza's suspension, although its engineers were involved in a special Australian set up requested from Isuzu ,for the car, and there may be improvements. But, for now, it would be better to sit back and enjoy the stereo and cockpit comforts and entertainment.

In absolute terms, a good driver in the RX-7 would be quickest of the three point-to-point, but the Celica is easier to handle when traveling briskly and a good pilot in the Toyota would probably have a slight edge over an ordinary driver in the Mazda. So the Piazza's pizzazz might be good enough to carve it a place in the Australian sport-GT market, but dynamically its day is past; or perhaps, with some help from Australian engineering, still to arrive.

Which leave us, again, with the RX-7 and Celica to separate for top spot. The Sport version, and its $3000 price cut to bring it $7000 below this latest RX-7's original release price, has definitely helped the competitiveness of the Mazda, but still it doesn't gain enough in the areas where it is ahead to offset the price advantage of the Toyota Celica. So, once again, it is a victory far sophisticated twin cam power which carries the day, with rotary revolutions next and turbo boost failing to lift the Holden Piazza beyond a disappointing third place.