This Horizon Festival Japanese taxi gets a Singaporean makeover!
The Horizon Festival is now live in Japan! Its the sixth installment of the global event since hosting in US, Italy, Australia, United Kingdom and Mexico.
The vehicle roster eligible for use in the festival for participants have updated once again. While (disappointingly) the organizing regulations still limit almost all customization within the cabin (regulated body kits are very few too…), a few new vehicles are now available for drivers for purchase from the festival’s Autoshow.
That includes (surprisingly) a Nissan Skyline Autech saloon, but fitting for the heart of Asian motoring is the Toyota Crown Comfort Super Deluxe! The Super Deluxe is the same trim as the local taxis though they may differ from the white-over-red Hong Kong taxis and obsolete blue Singaporean taxis.
Although cosmetic modifications are still heavily enforced in the Horizon Festival, this didn’t stop a few participants from replicating iconic taxis from other countries, such as this one!
Skippy is the custodian of this Crown Comfort, donned in the shade of the “yellow-top” taxis that once roamed Singapore. They have long retired from Singaporean use and the yellow-top private hires are fast facing extinction, with only five enduring operators left in the city state at time of writing.
The Singapore units are a lower trim than the common Japanese-spec taxis, without trunk lights and using a five-speed manual transmission over the four-speed automatics in its domestic specification.
This Super Deluxe retains the original engine but with an added Horizon-approved positive-displacement supercharger creating a peak output of 129 horsepower and 261 Nm. Aside from Rota Track R wheels and the paintwork, nothing additional has been done to it.
Skippy describes the handling as “curious”, with comedic levels of bodyroll and ponderous handling. The four-speed transmission can keep up with the increased output courtesy of the supercharger, but is still slow for Horizon Festival standards at a 0-100km/h time of 9.6 seconds.
In the D-class segment of vehicles, the Crown Comfort isn’t going to win races in high-level wristband events, but it definitely can win the hearts of Horizon Festival goers!
~Emiri
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