One question.

[nitrous36]

Now Ive heard before that Nissan had no intentions on selling the Skyline in the U.S. But is it true that they literally did not want the car to be sold in the U.S?

[VQuick]

Originally Posted by nitrous36

Now Ive heard before that Nissan had no intentions on selling the Skyline in the U.S. But is it true that they literally did not want the car to be sold in the U.S?

Using the chassis and engine layout of previous Skylines, it wouldn't have been practical for Nissan to sell the car in the US. It would have required quite a few changes as far as safety, engine layout, and engine specs.

The changes probably would have required Nissan to spend quite a lot of money. For example, the positioning of the turbos on the GT-Rs would have been in the way if a lhd version were built. That means designing and using a different turbo manifold design just for lhd cars.

None of the RB-series engines used in the past were US emissions legal. It would have taken some changes to make them pass. More money spent. On a side note, Nissan didn't even want spend the money to clean up the RBs to meet Japan's tightening emissions regs, so you can imagine how they would feel about doing it for the US.

Even more money would have to go toward safety items like crash structures, reinforcing the chassis where needed, and even something as simple as making some gauges in English and in mph rather than kph.

The new Skyline is based on a chassis that is meant to be used on a global basis. The FM platform was engineered to meet just about everyone's standards. Now that the Skyline is based on this chassis, they don't have a problem selling the Skyline everywhere. It's much easier to do so. That's why we have the Infiniti G35s now.

[nitrous36]

What U.S. cars are available in Japan? Do they go cray over the Viper and Corvette the same way we go haywire over the Skyline?

[VQuick]

Originally Posted by nitrous36

What U.S. cars are available in Japan? Do they go cray over the Viper and Corvette the same way we go haywire over the Skyline?

I don't know what is sold in dealerships, but I think they can import just about anything, as long as it has a parking brake...and you can pay the taxes(based on car size and engine size, I think) A recent issue of evo had one of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR developers talking about folks from Japan ordering handbrakes on their cars, possibly for road use.

I've heard of a few American cars there, like Corvettes. I even remember seeing a meeting for Wangan drivers, and one of them had a retired C5R.

[jmrev]

as long as it has a handbrake ...wish it was that easy here.

[thegladhatter]

You CAN get a Viper AND a Corvette here.

[jmrev]

in the US of course, since they are american cars.

[nitrous36]

jmrev. How many times are you going to change your avatar man?

[thegladhatter]

Originally Posted by thegladhatter

You CAN get a Viper AND a Corvette here.

I am in Japan. Many US cars are avialable in Japan. Many ALSO are RHD here. Blazers and Jeep Cherokees are pretty common in RHD. There is a Chrysler dealership fairly nearby that has a Viper in the showroom. I have seen several Corvettes as well.

[GTES-t]

There are several US vehicles available in Japan, UK, Europe etc. right from a showroom:

http://www.chrysler-japan.com/
http://www.jeep-japan.com/
http://www.ford.co.jp/
http://www.chevrolet.co.jp/

Plus there are certain models companies will swap/rebadge in certain deals:
http://www.japan-partner.com/Auto/80...-for-sale.html

This is something GM did when it sold the GEO Storm in the US which was a rebadged Isuzu Gemini.

Also, like Japan does with it's Infiniti/Nissan badge changes for overseas markets. This can occur with US vehicles when they go overseas. For example, in England/Europe, they have Chrysler, but no Dodge name (it's name is only sold from a showroom in North and South America), so the Neon is sold as a Chrysler:
http://www.compucars.co.uk/vehicle-d...age=1&ID=28133

[jmrev]

Originally Posted by nitrous36

jmrev. How many times are you going to change your avatar man?

As many times that i want, or when i get bored...well there must be american cars in Japan right...wait how about some one that lives in japan tells us. Im pretty sure that there is a couple of guys living over there right now.

[nitrous36]

Do they have mustangs and camaros?

[jmrev]

i heard Hondas are a joke in Japan.

[nismo_power]

Originally Posted by jmrev

i heard Hondas are a joke in Japan.

honda has a big name for themself in japan. they are the reason japan now has the One Make series. and also with big named companies backing almost the entire honda line-up, i dont think they are a joke.

[GTES-t]

Originally Posted by nitrous36

Do they have mustangs and camaros?

If you check the links I posted, Mustang - yes (http://www.ford.co.jp/mustang/index.htm), Camaro no. That is from showroom sales. That doesn't mean the Camaro can't be imported. But they have difficult and very expensive import procedures.

Originally Posted by nismo_power

honda has a big name for themself in japan. they are the reason japan now has the One Make series. and also with big named companies backing almost the entire honda line-up, i dont think they are a joke.

As far as Hondas, there is absolutely nothing special about them in Japan. You'll run into some that are tuned up, but for the most part that's rare. Toyota, Mazda and Nissan are the street tuner's choices.

As far as big named companies backing them, they back EVERYTHING in Japan. You go to Autobacs or some other vehicle parts/tuner store, and you can get cat-back exhausts, suspension, etc. etc. for almost every car made in Japan. It's nothing like the US where only specific models or certain years are backed.

You'll find in most of the tuner's stores, that you can get a lot of Toyota and Nissan upgrade parts right off the shelf. Many of them I went into didn't even have Honda parts out and if they did, it was a small area with tail light assemblies, VTEC controllers and on the rare occasion a header.