Importing from Japan - What is the secret to becoming a squid man?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Importing from Japan - What is the secret to becoming a squid man?

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Loanarn posted:

I had never heard of this thing before so I had to look it up. Apparently its Supercharged and Turbocharged and gets a whopping 108 horsepower and was rallied. That must mean its AWD right? I can't find any info on if it was FWD, RWD or AWD.

I want one now. Goodbye Cappo. Hello March.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Micra#Super_Turbo

FWD with a limited slip. Looks like it was designed for a spec series.

https://jalopnik.com/is-this-twincharged-nissan-the-most-forgotten-homologat-1653317711
https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/HERITAGE/march_super_turbo.html

# ¿ Sep 6, 2018 16:25

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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 23:50

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

I was listening to this in the car today and figured it'd probably be interesting to some of you here:

Matt Farah (The Smoking Tire) interviews a guy who runs a family business importing cars and at one time worked with Motorex. The discussion is about 50% Skyline focused but goes off on to a lot of other Japanese imports as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo4XwhGMts8

Audio-only podcast version: http://shoutengine.com/TheSmokingTire/sean-morris-of-toprank-int-veh-importers-65892

# ¿ Sep 21, 2018 05:38

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Riller posted:

Tell your buddy he needs a kei deck van if he wants to use it as a golf cart:

I've been looking at '90s compact trucks for a while to handle runs to the dump and other things I'd rather not be throwing in the back of my Fiesta, but now that I know sliding doors and a pickup bed can be had on the same vehicle I'm very interested.

Do any other manufacturers offer this body style or is it just the HiJet/Atrai? Seems there aren't very many of these out there compared to the full van and flatbed variants, I've only found a few looking at the auction sites and most are new enough that they're not going to be US legal for a while, at least not for full road use.

# ¿ Oct 3, 2018 17:15

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:

Hmm...maybe a transmission swap makes more sense lol, though I don�t see that anyone�s attempted it.

Your best bet here would probably be to talk to one of the higher end Audi tuners to see what's possible in a custom flash. If the Euro-market model uses the same ECU as the US model (likely but not guaranteed) it's very possible that there are a few flags they could flip to tell a US car that it doesn't need to worry about shifting gears anymore. In that case you'd just need to get the transmission and related parts and it'll probably be largely bolt-in.

My own personal experience with German cars suggests that they're pretty lego-like in terms of being able to mix and match parts, but with something like this you obviously want to be sure before you commit to it.

Another possible strategy is to just rig the shifter connections so the computer sees it as being in "neutral" at all times and just ignoring the CEL, which you may also be familiar with as a German car owner. That's how most of the manual swapped Crown Vics are done, the ECU has a reduced rev limiter in park but as long as it thinks the nonexistent automatic transmission is in neutral it'll just let things be.

# ¿ Jan 17, 2019 17:42

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

French Canadian posted:

From my perspective it appears to be super small and narrow, while still having a lot of standing height and volume for all the amenities. This isn't really a thing in the US from what I've seen. I really don't want a pop-top vanagon or anything like that either. But I still realize you have a valid point....

Have you looked at the "Class B" RVs based on Transit/Sprinter/ProMaster platforms? They start with the standard high-roof extended cargo van models and build a RV inside that. If older and cheaper is important the same companies did (and in a few cases still do) make models based on the Econoline/Express/Savana/RamVan with a high-top roof installed.

It looks like that's basically what you'd be getting with this one, only without the hassles of having an unusual vehicle with the steering wheel on the wrong side.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2019 03:00

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Midjack posted:

Karaoke in kars with komedians except for a horrid acronym.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KNtWrC7vfI

# ¿ Oct 16, 2019 20:40

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Dagen H posted:

I wasn't expecting to see a RHD Acty in traffic in the wilds of rural Ohio, but I did.

(Silverado for scale)

When'd Silverados grow blue ovals? :P

# ¿ Dec 6, 2019 23:42

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

sea of losers posted:

god i wish we had more 4w/awd in USA. hell even more fwd.

What? RWD pretty much only exists in the classes it's needed in anymore. Low-end pickup trucks and sports cars concerned with weight. Lower-end luxury sedans are pretty much the only category that has RWD without really needing it. FWD dominates the lower end market and then pretty much everyone who lives where it snows is convinced that a higher end vehicle is worthless without 4/AWD.

quote:

rwd makes it too easy to spin out

FWD makes it too hard to take a corner sideways :colbert:

Seriously though, I have driven mostly RWD in snowy Northern Ohio my entire life and the only times I've ever spun out have been when I've been doing something dumb (usually the above). Especially in the context of a modern car with traction control, if you're finding RWD prone to spinning you either need new tires or need to learn that the gas pedal is an analog control.

# ¿ Dec 12, 2019 23:26

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Darchangel posted:

Speaking as a P71 owner, I can confirm that you can bring that big bitch's rear end around surprisingly easily, especially if you turn the traction control off.

Mine was one of the early Aeros with the "low speed traction control" that doesn't have a defeat switch. I got really good at finding the ABS fuse under the dash by feel.

And yes, they have some real momentum when that rear end starts swinging, I'd imagine especially in cop trim with a full trunk of gear.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2019 04:52

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Ethics_Gradient posted:

Coulda sworn that particular conflict was resolved at one point, seemed like it was pretty decisive, can't quite put my finger on it...

As has already been discussed, states are free to have more restrictive requirements than the feds do for vehicle registration, see California emissions for the most obvious example, they just can't have less (though the number of R34s with Florida titles shows how little this is actually enforced).

# ¿ Mar 27, 2020 17:50

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Terrible Robot posted:

IIIRC the Previa/Estima was never offered with a supercharger and AWD combination for the simple fact that the blower (or the drive for the blower) takes up valuable space that would otherwise be used by the forward driveshaft.

Wasn't the supercharger on those mounted up front, connected to the engine with a driveshaft sort of like an old school Bentley?

Time to go full nuts and somehow bolt up a Ferrari FF front drive unit to one.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2020 17:09

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

Relevant Jalopnik article: https://jalopnik.com/here-are-the-four-legal-ways-to-import-a-car-to-the-uni-1682067632

The tl;dr version is that if it's under 25 years old and you don't want to go through the full process, you must convince NHTSA that the foreign market vehicle is "substantially similar" to a model that has been federalized. That seems to basically mean "are the differences between this and federalized versions limited to software and/or parts that could be changed out by a garage mechanic".

This can be very easy, for something like a Canadian-market vehicle where there was an effectively identical model sold here where the manufacturer will generally happily make a statement to that effect. If you don't have that manufacturer cooperation however, it becomes significantly more complicated. Not impossible as shown by the example linked from the article, but you will in all likelihood have to counter the OEM arguing against you.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2020 05:49

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

I'm pretty much 100% sure that's not true, there aren't any special exemptions for Canadian imports. The same rules apply, it's just significantly more likely that a Canadian market vehicle is either already compliant or close enough that the OEM will agree to give you the paperwork to confirm it is "substantially similar" to a US market version.

If you want something that wasn't sold here it's going to be the same options no matter where it came from.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2020 18:24

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

BuckyDoneGun posted:

You can’t rely on the beds being consistent, some may be factory but others may be aftermarket. I suspect these Dynas may be slightly too small, you want the next size up.

AFAIK the majority of US market chassis-cab trucks use a standardized frame rail spacing set by the NTEA that's around 34" to allow more or less universal compatibility with aftermarket bodies. Assuming Japan has something similar there's probably nothing you can say applies to all bodies other than a maximum width.

I'm having trouble finding any published information about what said standard might be though.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2021 22:09

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

KakerMix posted:

This one probably won't tolerate just any old key, but I've had a few imports that don't even grab the key anymore, just pop it out whenever you want even while running!

My old ex-cop Crown Vic did this and it was quite convenient when I wanted to leave the car running while running in somewhere quickly (which became mandatory for a while thanks to starter issues).

# ¿ Dec 10, 2021 20:16

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

KakerMix posted:

Even Mercedes themselves seemingly gave up the idea since there are vans rolling around with the merc badge right on them, delivering Amazon packages. High class indeed.

While at the same time the USPS spends money to rebadge all of their Mercedes Metris vans because they feel like the Mercedes brand would make people think their mail carriers were driving around in luxury vehicles.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2022 15:27

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# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 23:50

wolrah: May 8, 2006; what?

KakerMix posted:

The car itself is a vibe, it's still a FWD 163~ hp 4cyl, but all I deal in is vibes so this fits.

No, this is a Vibe.

_{_{_{(sorry, couldn't resist)}}}
:downsrim:

# ¿ Oct 6, 2023 14:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Importing from Japan - What is the secret to becoming a squid man?