Life is unfair/More hondas in the US

[racingbreed20]

Riddle me this, Ever since I've been in Japan I've noticed nobody seems to dig hondas. I've seen one tricked out Type R Integra. I've seen maybe 2 Eclipses. The 4cyls seem to be out in the east. I've asked around and the answer I keep getting is They just cant cut it here. Over here the majority of the racers and drifters avoid Honda and economy like cars such as the Eclipse and Celica. What there is a lot of is Sylvias, AE 86, Skylines(my favorite), MARK IIs, Tricked out Ceferos, MR2, Supras, Evos. And Cedrics. I'll hand it to these people they'll put a fat muffler on anything(riding lawnower) Anything but a honda(unless its a NSX) Is Japan screwing us out of the good stuff?? Cant even seem to get a 240sx over here with a SR20DET in it. WTF!? One more reason why I'm not leaving anytime soon. I've seen the New Z in the states. SUX!! They dont have the turbo charged version there yet. Can someone tell me why is life so unfair.

[Cyprus106]

Poverty factor. Well, the ratio of people who care about racing to the ratio of people with money. Age plays in there too. I wonder why they've got such nice cars over there (in abundance, if I interpreted your statement correctly) and we... well... don't. Maybe I should move to Japan until I get me my Skyline.

[Layla's Keeper]

Well, Hondas are more plentiful here. Bone up on your hot rodding history. In the States, the first universal hot rod was the Ford Model T. It was possibly the least stylish and most sluggish performing car of its time. And yet, you could buy a Frontenac head, a pair of Stromberg twin choke carbs, a megaphone header, strip off the fenders, windshield, and bumpers, and haul ass. Take a look at the numbers, Honda sells more cars overseas than at home. Nissan, Mazda, and Toyota (to a lesser degree) are more 50/50 split. Plus, last I checked, Nissan and Toyota had huge line-ups, meaning it's easier to have a car that is entirely your own as opposed to there being one exactly like it just down the street. Individuality is a big part of hot rodding.

As for why the US hasn't been receiving the good stuff, it isn't in demand. Example: the Q45. Originally, it was a fairly hardcore sports sedan. The American market didn't want a hardcore sports sedan. Net result; Lexus LS400 sells more cars, and the Q45 becomes more like the Lexus.

Americans, for the longest time, wanted plush, cushy, appliances for cars. Now that every car is more or less an appliance, and a new generation of drivers is buying new cars, fun is a priority. We'd probably have gotten the GT-R Skyline in the states if this generation of car buyers, who are more likely to buy according to the car they like most as opposed to brand loyalty and who value driving dynamics, were born 10 years earlier.

[Indecisive]

you said drifters.....you can't drift with a FF. I don't care what yous ay you can't drift with a FF, you can ass drag but not drift. those cars that you mentioned that they do have are all Rear Wheel Drive or All WHeel Drive(for grip style driving).

[Cbass]

I disagree with your statement Octagon. I can't produce any figures, but I'd be willing to bet people feel exactly the same way about cars as they did 30 years ago. It's not that they didn't want fun cars, it's just they were limited to what the Big 3 offered.

Of course, it the 60s you had muscle cars, and pony cars. There was a lot of fun and excitement to be had there. I think the big crunch came with the insurance/oil crisis, and the sudden appearance of cheap Japanese imports. These cars weren't very fast, but they handled pretty well, compared to the larger American sedans. Since they couldn't have speed for fun any more, many Americans turned to what had been there all along, sports cars! Cheap on gas, cheap to insure, and buckets of fun!

The Japanese realized this, and moved on it early, with a slew of cheap, fun sports cars. The Big 3 largely missed this opportunity, producing the same large sedans with poor build quality, only now they didn't even have powerful engines, thanks to emissions, fuel economy and insurance reasons.

Back on topic. I don't want to offend anyone, but Civics have become a fad, they're THE car to have for trendy types. This is largely an American fad, as you won't see many riced out Civics in Europe, in fact, you'll see far more French cars with the same treatment. I think the reason they don't do Hondas in Japan is they're considered commuter cars, not performance cars. When it comes to performance cars, they've got more choices than they know what to do with, so why turn to a mundane commuter car? That would seem silly now wouldn't it? For the same money as a Civic, you can pick up a slightly older Silvia, with a factory turbocharged engine, and as much potential as you want.

[racingbreed20]

I guess it just seemed odd that nobody over here likes to play with hondas. Then again nobody over here can really afford a car that isnt at least 5 years old. Ha! the money thing is a big part of it. But I still think motorex sux balls for selling a car(hint) for 18k that I got for under 4k and it only had 38,000kilometers on it. Kilos not miles! All in all I think people in the US get screwed over in the Whole JDM thing. We think we're getting good deals. Life is so unfair...SOB*

[BlOOe46]

ya now add the costs of switching the car to us legal specs

not to mention the cost of shipping

[racingbreed20]

Thats why I'm never going to leave.

I hate Motorex!!

[DemonZX]

*crying* Damn! Oh, by the way does your car have the RB25DET?

[TatII]

since his name is racebreed20. i would assume he has a 2.0 liter. since i've never heard of a R32 GTS-T with a 2.5 liter before. i think they started putting the 2.5's in the R34 GTS-T.

[DemonZX]

oh yeah the 2.5's went into the R33's I believe. Durr Hee!

[-The Stig-]

Originally posted by Cbass


The Japanese realized this, and moved on it early, with a slew of cheap, fun sports cars. The Big 3 largely missed this opportunity, producing the same large sedans with poor build quality, only now they didn't even have powerful engines, thanks to emissions, fuel economy and insurance reasons.

Poor build quality?... Interesting.... I still see more mid to late 70's American built cars on the road... than I do Japanese cars from the same era.

True more American cars were built... but if they're such poor quality you'd think they'd all died off by now... wouldnt you?

[Cbass]

I said poor build quality, not unreliable

I'm talking about the little things, like stuff falling off from the interior, the stuff you notice after 10 years of driving it.

[DeViL]

That never happened with an import car?

[Fliquer]

Shite, $4k? How much would a used R32 cost? Im months away from spending $4k on a sr20 install for my car and now I find out I could get the whole freaking silvia for the same $?

BTW: I thought eclipses were only sold in North America, how could you see them over in japan?