DaiOni

"my wifes salary helps aswell!!" ditto!! I've bought three cars so far - r33 skyline, mx5 (miata), FD rx7 and tonight I'm going to a dealership to discuss #4 - a 98 forester s/tb (as the r33 is out of shakken in august). It's a dangerous country for those with a car addiction - it always keeps me poor!

civil servant (ie: high school teacher)

You must be looking in the wrong places - hondas are big in japan, there's no doubt about it. I agree with the sentiment about 'fruit' - you're right, in principle, but the reality is different. The price of hondas on the 2nd hand market underlines the demand.

well, there you go! surprise surprise. Actually, I do recall there being some very nice old school cars here and there (though I don't recall the dr30 at all)

"Were there any DR30's on show?" AFAIK, no. I bet there haven't been any for 15 years (probably more).

there are 126 (?) million japanese people, I'm guessing around half of those are women - don't get too excited throwing around stereotypes - some of you are sure to be disappointed by the reality.

sorry, I wouldn't hold your breath on this one - it's an extremely difficult task you've set.

...ahem I'd just like to address the 'economy' issue with a few notes from Driver magazine (japan) - I assuming we are talking about fuel economy (I can't be bothered clicking yet another crap ebay link with some idiot selling an FD) Car - km/l city cycle - km/l highway cycle 92 FD Type-R - 5.6 - 9.9 90 GTR - 4.7 - 9.9 95 GTR v-spec - 5.7 - 9.1 99 GTR v-spec - 5.4 - 10.1 :talk2hand anyway, my opinions are pretty obvious and have all been said before cue: more stereotypes

I've seen a few conversions like this - and it's not just r33s...

This is the pricing direct from ganador (however, I think I've seen them cheaper from some of the bulk retailers - see option magazine) SM-06PCL サフェーサー　CL 32,000 SM-06PBL サフェーサー　BL 36,000 SM-06CBL カーボンスタイル　BL 45,000 that's: carbon style blue SM-06GCL ｶﾞﾝｸﾞﾚｰﾒﾀﾘｯｸ(#KH2)　CL 38,000 SM-06GBL ｶﾞﾝｸﾞﾚｰﾒﾀﾘｯｸ(#KH2)　BL 42,000 SM-06GCL ホワイト（#326）　CL 38,000 SM-06GBL ホワイト（#326）　BL 42,000 SM-06MBL クロームメッキ　BL 43,000

they're about 30,000 yen in japan (if you shop around) - sometimes a little more/less - also depends on whether you want the standard mirror, or blue

"The 240sx is the same as the 180sx" 200sx AND 180sx

"The 240sx is the same as the 180sx" 200sx

Great post - nice insights "Basically where-ever there are Honda's, there will be Rice. It's just a given, a law of Nature if you will. " This is SO true. I'd like to point out, however, that 'rice' is almost certainly an american concept (albeit dealing with japanese cars) - anyone who doesn't know this, please be informed (no inference on original poster). Some of the older rice fads are only just beginning to hit japan! "Altho i'm guessing 91 Nth American isn't 91 Oz." Correct. Different rating. "Mustang are REALLY popular and not sure why Ford OZ sell them here more widely" Because the australian market is relatively small, and already 'flooded' with v8 choices (or more to the point - the same bogans have been buying the same type of car for generations). They've never had much luck trying to bring new products to this particular sector of the market

It depends on launch - if the wrx owner is willing to bet his gearbox on the result, the r33 is gone. By 200m it may be a different story. If you're interested in traffic light racing, I'd suggest a wrx (or anything 4wd) may be the better weapon.

"seems to me that you've got a 50% chance" I'd say you have about 10% chance - it's unfortunate, but you have no way of proving your side of the story. Your chances can be improved by two things: 1. Luck - some magistrates may be swayed. Many have heard it all before - and will simply take a logical course - defendant cannot prove case, law broken, prosecute accordingly. 2. Character references - get as many as you can - and good ones. Look good on the day - wear a suit. Be honest - speak clearly - maintain eye contact. Sorry the odds are so crap - but that's life. Good luck and let us know how you go.

No - the best I've seen is a car that is (was?) for sale somewhere on parramatta road. We were car hunting and the badge caught my eye - as we got closer it was obvious the car wasn't a GTR. As we got even closer it was obvious that the GTR badge was about 15-20 degrees off vertical. Idiot.

IIRC (and I may be wrong), you'd need permanent residency status in oz - if you have that, then follow the personal import guidelines. They are available on the dotars website - http://www.dotars.gov.au their email addy is [email protected]

If you're really that concerned - go out there and physically make some sort of effort for change. Don't just pay a meaningless fee (and I agree with meshmesh) for a false sense of guilt-reduction.

I should point out that I live in a rural area (on an island) - and as you can see, life is quite different in the city. Here's a few recent stories from friends who live on my island (there are 10 gaijin who do the same job as me here): * A friend (who always drives too fast in his civic) was driving along one night when he became stuck behind a line of traffic. Impatient, he floored it and passed 5-6 cars - then discovered what was causing the slow traffic - a police car. The police flicked on the sirens and proceeded to chase... at the speed limit. Needless to say, he kept the foot down and kept driving. Luckily, he was going to quick for them to get the plates and he never had any further trouble. * Another friend got caught running late through a red light (VERY common thing to do here) - she didn't realise the police were behind her. They chased her (loudspeakers screaming at her in japanese) and she finally got the message. The fine was only about 7000yen (which surprised me) - but they also rang up her work and she had to go through the embaressment of that. What's worse - the police waited for her the next day and followed her home. They caught her rolling through a stop sign (it was marked on the road but not with a sign - she treated it as a give way) - back to the police station and much more hell. Only the intervention of another gaijin with a japanese boyfriend sorted the issue out. The moral to the last story: the japanese police can seem lenient - but when you do get caught, things can go very badly.

"Interesting fact. Japans speed lienency is 20km over the speed limit" I don't believe this to be true (and have seen the fines to prove it) - but, where I live, it does feel easy to get away with more - possible because (a) there aren't that many police, (B) the average cop car is a nissan march, © they chase you at the speed limit, (d) I've only ever seen one speed trap in my area, (e) It's a 'known fact' that the police "go to sleep" around 1am, (f) there are no fixed cameras. On the other hand, where I live, the highest speed limit is 50km/h - and in many places it's 40. Also - overtaking areas (broken lines) are few and far between - and almost non-existant on arterial roads.

1JZ in a chaser is a serious combination of luxo looks and awesome power (many over 500ps). If flicking through the pages of japanese magazines such as option, every month, is any indication - there are a lot more serious 1JZs than there are RB25s (these days). That's probably got a lot to do with the fact that a chaser is a class above a non-gtr skyline (whether you like to admit it or not). A 1JZ in a soarer is another matter altogether - but the quality of the engine remains the same.

Given your wording, it could be suggested that the lower-spec has been modded in every way - so every department is up to GTR quality (and god knows how much money that would take?! - a HELL of a lot more than $10k even in canadian $$). Then you essentially have a GTST and GTR with the same performance and luxuries. If both were essentially equal, why would you take the GTST?? (less prestige, less resale value, and so on) Would I take a GTR over a GTST with $10k thrown at it? Of course.

yes big wool ratio - but you should also note that australia has more sheep than new zealand - so there is plenty to go around

noticed this now on the front page - you might want to spell it correctly!! oh, the irony! apologies if this has already been brought to your attention