Yeah a roller would be ideal but most of them have 100k+ miles and have lots of backyard work done to them.

Awesome to hear you're close by. I actually have a shop and an online store. I have been attending track events for a while, does the FD chassis flex at all or is it pretty stable? I remember watching the twins turbo rx7 blast through a record setting time at buttonwillow a while back. That thing was insanely quick.

 

There can be advantages to sitting on different sides of the car, here, lhd, was favoured in the past because of the direction most of the circuits went.

Doubt the power steering fluid on the turbos theory - if that's what is implied, reservoir's still on the same side, can't really see the possibility of spills that way. Will agree the FD in RHD gets uncomfortably hot when all the trim is stripped, even with under floor heat shields and the internal muck still stuck on inside. Ceramic spray-on shielding and the silver reflective tape is the next process here to try and make it liveable.

If you were to import, I'd go for the earliest and cheapest, most of the important things will be tossed anyway...and there's no difference in the bodyshells of any significance - and mileage out of Japan shouldn't be an issue. Believe one of the Japanese time attack cars out here recently was version 1 too, wasn't too shabby time wise.

Oh, most important, avoid sunroofs unless you're a midget!

 

The FD chassis is pretty solid out of the box. If your going to build a 600hp track car you may need further reinforcement but a car like that would already have a cage which will do the job

 

If the roller is a quality car, mileage should be of little significance when you’re building a race car. Wearable parts will be supplemented/upgraded anyway, as you stated. Furthermore, the jspec car could be a pos as well. Mileage alone cannot be a definitive factor in determining the quality of the vehicle, and you gain the opportunity to view the car in person with a domestic roller. How do you intend on verifying the quality of the jspec’s available to you?

Likewise, I too agree with the aforementioned issues regarding the exhaust on a rhd track car.

Also, since the intention is to purchase a jspec of comparable value to a domestic roller. He's likely looking at similar model years, with arguably negligible differences, especially when the end product will be a dedicated track car. One other quick thing, try searching in conjunction with posting, it will typically yield more results in less time when compared to waiting for member responses.