Phil

I'm in the middle of the import process through vspecv (Dean, www.upimports.com.au). My car arrived a couple of days ago in Melbourne. As someone else mentioned, unless you're VERY patient, don't bother importing. If you want something very specific and are after an immaculate car, you can find it, but it could take a month or 3. Then you have to wait for shipping and compliance, which is another 1-2 months. I hope it all works out OK though! So far it's been great, apart from the waiting

I was under the impression that this was only in terms of things like engine updates etc, not major aesthetic changes such as front bar/headlights. I'd say that the car in question has had it's front end changed to that of a series II (common modification in Japan it seems now, probably hand-in-hand with front-end damage)

That is at the end of the policy document and they are simply definitions of conditions that COULD be placed on your policy, but aren't necessarily. So it's only if your policy has that restriction placed on it. You'll notice that in the same section they define the 'limited use' thing where you nominate to only drive it 3 days a week.. obviously that doesn't apply to every policy either.

"Your policy will be underwritten by Heritage Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited." From: http://www.famousinsurance.com.au/policies.html

That would be Cam, because you are in WA and are with RAC

I rang these guys the other day for a quote (without knowing about any discount offer or anything). The guy was fairly helpful (strong scottish/irish accent can't remember =)), and when I told him I didn't have the car yet (it's on the ship) he only gave me an estimate.. which was around the same as Just Car. However, he said I'd need to get a Brant alarm, and get locknuts for my wheels for them to insure me he thought. I'll try them again when the car arrives though!

I don't think this is correct.. most of them are NOT A-LSD.. that is still very rare on series 2s .. Also.. all m-spec's are turbo and vice versa so only non-turbos will miss out on the rear strut brace ..

Heheh I really don't like that piss yellow wrx colour

Mine's on the boat too! =)

What is Famous Classic Car Insurance like for mods? I might give them a call.. my quote from Just Car is over $3k and I'm the same as you except I'm 23.

No, you need to change the bonnet too. I think one person mentioned that the interior is supposedly more expensive.. I don't think this is a particularly huge issue personally. Considering the series 2 has standard dual airbags, a rear strut brace, they're hardly just cutting costs!

The s2 turbo has plastic bits in it yeah, but because of that it spools a bit quicker supposedly.. so in stock trim it's better.

I rang Just Car and they said they allow any modification as long as it is roadworthy. There are definately laws about wheel width in VIC, NSW and QLD but they are different.

Thanks for the info Lou. You say the original Jap placard listed a 7.5" wheel. Does the placard list all the stock wheels available? So if the placard has a 7.5" wheel, I assume that would mean I can fit 8.5" according to VicRoads. I will have to find out what the japanese tyre placard states when it gets here.

Well the 225 etc would refer to the rubber, and the 7.5" etc refers to the rim width.

Yeah I reckon maybe you could claim the GTR width being the stock width maybe.. I'm under the impression that the tyre placard is no official source of info though as it's up to the CPA what goes on there.

Just because you're 'insured' doesn't mean they know about your rims being unroadworthy. That's the problem - insurance companies don't care until you have to claim.. then they REALLY care. Ignorance is bliss I suppose. I wish I didn't know about this problem, but now that I do I can't bring myself to ignore it!

Interesting. Does anyone know if wider wheels are an option on the gts-t?

My problem is not compliance, it's roadworthy and insurance. If your car isn't roadworthy, it's not under insurance either. Plus I could be defected I suppose.

Thanks for the info. However, I have to get it engineered straight away as it will be unroadworthy otherwise, and not insured. From what I've found so far, it will only cost me a couple of hundred anyway (I hope!).

My R33 GTS25t is on the ship from Japan at the moment, and it has some aftermarket rims that I believe are 8.5" wide on the rear. I understand that the widest available rim on a GTS25t was 6.5" at the rear. According to VicRoads I'm only allowed to have 7.5" wide rims (as it's 1" wider than stock), so I need to get an engineer to certify that they're OK. Has anyone done this before? Is there any chance of the tyres rubbing (255 on rear) or anything like that, which might mean the engineer won't give me a certificate? Thanks!

Silver But I'm biased ..

Yeah the guys who do Brant in Victoria aren't that good (Traynors?). My friend found the service severely lacking. Brant really need to get another place to service Melbourne.

I guess we'll never know. It's always hard when the official line seems to differ from what people are seeing! Perhaps someone with a s2 without ABS could take MR GTR up on his offer and maybe that would explain it ..

Hehe.. all that crap and you still managed to avoid all the questions and valid arguments we have put forward.