DaiOni

why has no one mentioned the FD rx7? GTR is, overall, a far better car than the supra for _practical_ uses. Using Japan as a guideline - Supras are not successful at circuit racing (nowhere near the front runners at tsukuba), are not as commomly drag raced, and if drift is seen as worthwhile - forget it. So what are they good for?? Well they look awesome and are the weapon of choice for high speed runs - the JUN beast being a top example. [i'd like to (have to?) mention that the FD is pretty much the only top shelf car that is a true all-rounder - and successful at it - cheaper to get into the 10s on the drag strip, top rwd car at tsukuba, winning this years D1... And still a common car on the japanese pro-circuit] In case someone is thinking about mentioning the JGTC - well let's not forget that a JGTC supra has about as much in common with the street version as a v8 tourer has with a commodore or falcon. Don't get me wrong - the supra is a beautiful car, would make a fine street car - but shows its limitations if you feel the need to compare.

People usually refer to a $10k fine, never heard of it being issued though - so could be an urban myth. In any case, not worth tempting anyway. On many (modern) cars, removing or gutting the cat will only provide a very minimal increase. My car (the one I modify anyway) is not one of those, but it is also not a skyline. And as noted, don't bother unless you can put up with the stench of fuel inside your car (not pleasant).

BD4s is the australian distributer for HKS - they sell em

I still call them r35s!! So few coupes on the road - I'm quite surprised (well, not really..). They look better than the sedan, which is hideous. If I was offered a choice between a v35 coupe and a 350z - it would be the skyline in an instant.

"3" turbo back Jasman/Jasmine exhaust" JASMA, is an association (and regulatory body? not sure), not a brand. It could be anything, Trust, Apexi, etc - someone here probably has one the same and will be able to tell you. "High Flowed" Is often an abused term - sometimes it means "the turbo(s) busted and we got them rebuilt". If the car really is significantly faster than manual r33s, yet relatively unmodded - then I'd suggest the first thing to look at is the ecu. enjoy!

I have mazda service logs for my rx7 that show in it's first 4-5 years of ownership it did something like 5-6,000km. Plenty of japanese people buy nice cars purely to drive on sundays. Here's a real-world example (and I live in the sticks, so the cities would be even worse): * I see several awesome vehicles every week (r33/34 GTRS, rx7s, Ferrari, etc). But I only usually see these particular cars on sundays. * The traffic sucks, a lot of the time, especially weekdays. I pretty much use my rx7 as a daily driver - and it's not fun to drive in traffic (a caged animal). Most people have kei cars or something boring (I, for instance, use my r33 sedan (auto) when I know traffic will be really bad). With a few exceptions, the only 'performance' cars I see regularly on the road (ie: commuting every day) are mx5s, hi-po keis, and VIP cars (which are almost all auto anyway). * In the winter - (4 months of the year) you see very, very little in the way of performance cars - 3 main reasons: (1) high snow and low cars don't mix, (2) a lot of hp and a lot of snow = unintentional 'drifting', (3) snow tires are frickin' expensive when you have 9" wide rears (believe me, I've priced them). About the only nice cars you see everyday are evos and wrxs (and still fewer than usual). * Most people don't commute very far to work. Those who do, use the trains - which, unlike australian train networks, are on time 99% of the time. In a public service job (like mine), you are nearly always placed as close as possible to your workplace - so even if you commute, it generally isn't very far. in short: many people only drive their nice cars on sundays. Most people don't drive their nice cars at all in the winter. I think these enviromental/social circumstances are quite different to australians and their way of thinking - which is why we can't really comprehend the low kms we see on so many import cars. Not to say that odometer winding does not happen - it definitely does.

dunno, my s. wheel and g. knob were both fairly worn and my car only had approx. 43k km on the clock (logs to back it up). I simply replaced them with momo and feed items anyway sweaty hands maybe? though they often claim that they don't sweat as much as gaijin...

Japan has one of the highest % of smoking population in the world. "I've heard that it's because a lot of Japanese are fond of the bling bling and wear lots of gold rings which may cause excessive wear on the wheel. " False. Many men don't even wear wedding rings. I've walked through many, many japanese car yards and have consistantly seen cars with low kms. Wound-back odos are definitely a fact of life, but I have a feeling that happens far less than people think - particularly with high-end performance cars (though I wouldn't say a GTST fits under that category).

belts spring instantly to my mind, but it could be a multitude of things.

The Tokyo Auto Salon is in January, so unless your 'next week' means something different to mine, I think you are going to be disappointed. Given the strength of your info, I'd check the D1 dates too. Everything you're after can be purchased via autobacs. The trouble being, most of it will probably have to be ordered, which may take a week - possibly a problem for you. Some will say that autobacs is expensive, but I'd disagree, I've shopped around and their prices are the same as the companies whos parts they distribute. Do a search in this forum for autobacs, I've posted a store map link before. Your other option is to go direct to the maufacturer. I can tell you where all the good rx7 workshops are, but I'm afraid I don't know as much about skyline workshops. I'm sure there are peope here that can fill you in. For 2nd hand parts - http://www.upgarage.com/index.html plenty of stores all around japan (and there are plenty of smaller operations that do the same thing).

oh, now that I think about it, I think it was v-spec vs v-spec II...

it was literally a side by side comparison - 400m, circuit atack, they even had a race in snow! I'd have to dig it put again, but the 33 was pretty convincing - particularly over 400m, where I'd been led to believe the 32 was faster.

Rezz: one thing you might want to note for people, is in the dvd/vid section - there are a few issues such as regional encoding, pal/ntsc compatability, etc - if they have the right hardware, then it isn't an issue, but...

I used to think the r32 was the better performer too, until I saw the 33vs32 GTR special by best motoring. That made my mind up to go for an r33 GTR Then somehow I went and bought a FD3S rx7 instead (no complaints though)

Difference being the HSV is brand new, with 0 kms, not pre-thrashed, has a long factory warranty (which it probably needs), etc etc etc It's a pretty silly comparison, isn't it?

In japan it's not hard to find a r33 GTR for $25k - and that's from a dealership. r32 GTR can be had for under $10k - but that sort of car is not one I would want r34 GTR are still a little pricey - but the high australian $ makes them look pretty cheap these days. The higher spec models remain high, to import, as they tend to get slapped with luxury tax on top of the usual extras - due to their price bracket. This is why I would never buy a GT-T r34 - if resale price was something I cared about. But I guess recent 33 pricing, gives an indication of how quick things change.

The only advice I can think of, is considering the fact that you are not importing a performance vehicle - I'd have a serious look at the domestic market. In the long-run, it is likely to make a lot more $$$ and sense. What exactly is your motivation for getting a skyline? For the record, I own an NA skyline, but it's something I would never bother doing in australia.

As Rezz said, various evos comes in various configurations (RS (?), GSR, tommi makinen, GTA, etc) - If you find one, it'll probably be the 'base' model which has all the normal goodies. The interior is a bit bland - but then again, the 33 interior isn't exactly inspiring either. There is an evo vi for sale on performance forums right now (check it out when the site is back up)

well, I was making a distinction between the stagea and the autech 260. I've never seen an auto 260 for sale either (unsurprisingly)

There are plenty of stagea's around. I wouldn't say the autech 260 was extremely rare - but it does qualify as very hard to find interestingly, while I have seen 100's of classified ads, I have never seen a manual stagea for sale. I actually assumed they didn't exist (which is the case for many wagon variants)

I saw a talon on the road the other day - that was a bit of a neck snapper (though ugly). Gotta wonder why though.

"The producers didn't have them "rice up" the cars for the movie... actually - yes they did - that's where the themed graphcs come from

bah, I've been contemplating this one for some time post up a couple of piccies from the jap lowrider mags - that'll really give the kids something to laugh about

datchikan datta damn straight

MITSUOKA!!! damn, was going to post pics of these last night but couldn't remember the name of the bloody company...