Carless in Japan, Looking for Something I'll Regret

John Welsh said:

Does the fact that the car can be imported to the US make the car more valuable?

It does - for example, Skylines have gone up considerably in price for those that are either eligible for importation or close to the date. I guess the demand went up considerably, as tmport eligibility into Canada or the UK didn't have the same effect for enthusiast cars as eligible for US import.

Probably something to do with the US buyers being used to (much) higher used car prices than the UK, for example.

I visited Japan for business back in 1991. I was there for a week and left thinking "why would I ever own a car here?" Their public transportation is, well, phenomenal.

I tend to agree with kb58 on the "why?" question, but if I were looking to buy a car in Japan I'd look for the cleanest JDM Mini I could find in a good color.  Then sell it to someone in the US.  You'll have folks lined up to buy it from someone they feel comfortable with (like me). 

Woody (Forum Supportum) said:

In reply to DaewooOfDeath :

Is rust common in Japan?

This is the speed limit sign for the parking lot where I work. 

Appleseed said:

In reply to DaewooOfDeath :

Dang, dood, it's been a while since I've seen you post. Good to here from you.

Thanks dude. Good to be back. I wasn't doing much car related stuff the last couple years. I'm actually in Japan because my PhD defense is pretty much done and a university here offered me tenure track. 

So yeah, back to having a little bit of time!

BoxheadTim said:

If you're considering an RX8, what are prices like on FC/FD RX7s? I know the latter have been going up now that they're eligible for import into the US, but they're still cheaper in Japan than they are over here.

Anything sporty that isn't elibigle for export to the US might be cheaper than vehicles that are.

A decent FD is like 40k dollars. FCs are about half that. For comparison, I've seen decent NC Miatas for 4-6k.

In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :

I would be very open to a Holden or Ford Falcon. Haven't seen any though. :(

GameboyRMH said:

DaewooOfDeath said:

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Do you have any experience with the Altezza/IS Lexus cars? The relatively light weight, 6 speed, revy engine, and styling are all appealing, but I've never driven one.  

Not really, I have a Toyobaru which shares a lot of drivetrain parts but that's it. People who've driven both say the Altezza just feels like a bigger and heavier Toyobaru. I've also heard that the newer 3SGE BEAMS doesn't have as much headroom as the older models but that might not be an issue for the level of power increase you're looking for. You could try swapping in an older 3SGE and hope it isn't noticeable on inspection (do they check serial numbers?) or you could get an aftermarket rotating assembly with lower-compression pistons and use a thicker/doubled head gasket to lower it further if necessary.

Interesting. I have driven Toybarus and I really liked them. The RS200 is supposedly only about 200lbs heavier than a Toybaru, as well. I thought the IS/Altezza was more based on the MK3/4 Supra chassis and running gear? 

From my research, it seems like the factory cars have pretty soft suspension, and very tall gears. Over 100 mph in third. I've found supercharger kits for RS200s that are supposed to give 250 whp, which seems pretty nice. The engine bay is also really big, and the engine is mounted really far back with the 4 cylinder. That stuff all appeals to me.  

As for serial number checks, not usually, but they technically can. 

kb58 said:

I visited Japan for business back in 1991. I was there for a week and left thinking "why would I ever own a car here?" Their public transportation is, well, phenomenal.

As a toy. I'm done commuting. Commuting sucks. 

DaewooOfDeath said:

BoxheadTim said:

If you're considering an RX8, what are prices like on FC/FD RX7s? I know the latter have been going up now that they're eligible for import into the US, but they're still cheaper in Japan than they are over here.

Anything sporty that isn't elibigle for export to the US might be cheaper than vehicles that are.

A decent FD is like 40k dollars. FCs are about half that. For comparison, I've seen decent NC Miatas for 4-6k.

Wow, I expected FDs to be cheaper than that, simply based on the fact that you see imported ones over here in the low 40s fairly regularly.

Autozam AZ-1?

My brain is screaming "NC Miata" but my heart always goes rotary.

From an RX-8 owner, and compared to my 22RE 4-Runner, my RX-8 is easily my "reliable" vehicle.  It also has creature comforts, so that's nice.  I've owned it for 3 or 4 years now and it's never had an issue.  The basics are already covered extensively online (ignition health, weak starters, good battery, and you'll need $500 worth of aftermarket gauges) so there isn't any real need to go into any discussion there, and as any RX-8 owner is bound to point out eventually:  The chassis is berking AMAZING!!!!

That being said, mods are expensive and unless you plan on working the suspension then they're nearly always a complete waste of time.  You'll struggle to get any more hp out of the engine, and you'll go broke and alienate your wife and children in the process.  Mazda's engineers, when they made this beast, used every trick in the book to get "ultra pro-tuner" levels of NA horspower out of that Renesis while somehow managing to also get very VERY well behaved street manners.  Most of the things I change on the car (cat-back, etc) I consider "personality mods" because no way am I going to beat the factory

I love my RX-8.  It's an absolute dream on the street and the track.  It's philosophy towards traction control should be the basis for every other car out there.  It's also damn functional as an every-day driver.  But if you're wanting to mod your next car to increase HP, or to reach a target power to weight ratio, then I might suggest the NC (as the RX-8 is really just a 4-door Miata).

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

Definitely can't fault an RX8 on the handling. I loved mine, well, until the mice ate the wiring loom. But it was still on the first engine at 110k miles with decent compression.