I have been trying to find this for awhile now, finally scored a pair. Not cheap at all! But they look amazing! I don't know anyone else that has these personally, but I do have to comment that the seating position blocks a the view of the gauges for me quite a bit. I have to sit at certain angles to see the gauges. Stock seats I can recline back in an angle to lower my viewing position, but because these are buckets it puts your vision up a lot higher IMO.

Also got a nice set of honey-comb pattern carbon fiber door sills from @garage alpha via @SakeBomb Garage . Those guys btw are awesome to work with. I also bought Bilstein FSpec from Heath, he's an expert at this stuff for FD3S. Oh and the Efini Carbon Fiber Steering Wheel from Garage Alpha looks amazing too, I do prefer it if the wheel was smaller in diameter and smaller wheel grips.

 

Gratz! I saw you purchased form racing.parts on Instagram? The checkered floor mats are a giveaway I also spy some tilt rails from Garage Alpha!
My rails are getting delivered today, cant wait.

 

Congrats! I'm hoping to get my set in pretty soon. Still need to order the Garage Alpha brackets. Have you tried using the tilt feature to help adjust your seating position? That steering wheel looks great! I would go for it if i haven't already purchased a spirit r wheel. Loving the look of your car with those door sills!

 

My car Is a 1994 Bathurst Type-R, so I want to keep that Efini look for now. lol. I will one day later buy an actual Spirit-R.

 

I would hope one day that i could get a Spirit R. Wonder what it would take to get CA compliant. Still thinking about getting a Eunos Cosmo in to CA and get it compliant.

I love the idea of keeping it efini. Im actually looking for either someone or company to custom make an airbag cover for my spirit r steering wheel. I want it to have the efini emblem on it.

 

Better pick one up now and store it somewhere in Japan. They're already stupid expensive, and I'm sure when they're legal to import, it'll get even dumber.

Easiest way to get it CA legal is just talk to Top rank, they import and bring up to CA compliance

 

Thanks for the info! I'll talk with them about getting these cars CA compliant. A 20b Cosmo would be a great car to drive around in somewhat luxury. haha

 

Or get it imported and stored in Canada, that way you can actually go and see your car from time to time while you wait. Or even sell it if you change your mind as Spirit R are already legal here.

I just parked my FD in a climate controlled storage facility with SEVEN 2002 R34 Skylines of varying spec owned by people in the USA awaiting 2027.

 

2027 will be a glorious year lol.

 

There is some prestige being able to legally drive your car in California. Lol, One of my buddies has one of the few MotoRex GTR R33's in CA and just being able to drive it around without worrying about any stupid thing can get your car impounded or even crushed is a good feeling.

 

They are a great looking seat. The edges of those Recaros wear very easily on the corners from getting in/out of the car, so take care of them. I remember seeing a special bolster being made available to protect that area.

I'm sorry to say that I'm not sure they'll be many Spirit Rs left in Japan by 2027 when you guys in the US can legally purchase them.

I have heard rumours of Japanese owners garaging them away in anticipation of the 25 year rule, but meanwhile hundreds of Spirit Rs have already gone to Australia and New Zealand and more recently, people in northern Europe have been buying up. Prices on all JDM auctions have gone up ridiculously this year, which has in turn pushed up domestic prices in Australia. Most FDs are being advertised at AUD60K plus while auctions for Spirit Rs in Japan are getting past 5 million yen. Some of this may have also been due to US buyers using the Canadian intermediary described earlier. But geez - it takes a patient and committed person to buy a car knowing they can't drive it where they live for 7 years and who knows what kinds of replacement parts will still be available then.

Don't let it get you down though. The funny this is, as cool and desirable as Spirit Rs are, they are not really "rare" when you consider they made many more Spirit Rs than other Version VI variants. 1,500 was quite a big run. I do recall that there are fewer Version VI Type RS than Spirit R. The Type RS (Ver 6 style) and Spirit R are identical except for the Recaros (but only on Type A), red stitching, silver cluster, BBS wheels and cross-drilled rotors. But Type RS are about 30% cheaper. There are also comparatively fewer 2002 Bathurst R models which had a superior power-weight than the Spirit R, only missing out on the bigger brakes, BBS wheels and 4.3 diff - all upgradable items. Sure, Spirit R got the nice Titanium Grey colour as an exclusive feature, but they are often referred to as "two-tones" because from the factory, the plastic parts were a completely different colour to the metal body - Mazda didn't finish them very nicely. For this reason, the Spirit R looks better in innocent blue mica in my opinion. And the pearl white for the much rarer Type RZ is better again. Just my opinion.

I am still thinking of dipping my toes into a Spirit R locally. There are plenty available for sale, but all asking a lot of money without actually moving for months. If the right Type B comes along I might jump, as I'd much prefer the comfort and viewing of the red leather seats than the carbon kevlar fixed buckets - plus it is a 2+2 rather than a 2 seater Type A.

 

Looks great, love those seats

 

They look amazing! looking forward to joining the club soon

 

Wow those are nice. Jealous for sure.