i was wondering if anyone knows how many or where i can find how many fd3s have been imported from japan. I've recently acquired 1 and am wondering how many people i share this privilege with. I'm not concerned specifically with illinois but the country as a whole, however illinois numbers would be cool to.

 

Get your flame suit ready. There is no privilege to owning a "JDM" RX-7, its the same car with the steering wheel on the wrong side and you cant legally drive it in the states. Wheres the benefit in that?

 

que the rx7club.com judge and jury.

just ignore the negative comments.

cool car, enjoy it.

kind of funny how in Canada it's rare to have a LHD, but in the states it's the other way around.

 

In Canada you guys can import the early year FDs so yeah its cool and fun, but here in the States that car is a paperweight. Its literally only good to be driven on a track and nowhere else, it cant be registered to drive on the streets. Thats why US members hate on them and thats why its rare to see here.

 

RHD FDs also have a disadvantage of the steering column passing very close to the hot side of the motor, cramping things up a bit around the DP. Obviously this hasn't caused too many problems in the tuning world, but it is more inconvenient than the LHD versions.

 

Yup, it means changing the DP is an absolute ballache
On the plus side, if we rip out ABS out, we've got loooads of room on the other side of the bay for stuff, and don't get all of the emissions crap that you guys do - one less thing to remove

 

Street legal?
I know you can get them for the track but Streets. . .

Are you sure its not a RHD conversion?
Lets see the firewall.
Post pics.
I don't mean to come out as rude. I just find it hard to believe

 

There are a few JDM FDs that were imported to the states. It is not legal, although it's possible to navigate things and get paperwork for them. It depends on the state you're registered in as to how much they will try to chase you down.

I guess the good news is that if you bought it from someone else, you didn't commit the fraud that brought it in. The bad news is that if you're in the wrong place in front of the wrong law enforcement or federal entity you might lose your car.

The one thing that concerns me most, personally, is liability. You can get it insured, but will the insurance company ultimately pay out for an accident when they figure out the car never passed Federal MV safety testing? (It's not really a question of if it could pass, more the issue that it was never tested in JDM configuration. Any smart insurance company will hang on a technicality to avoid paying out 5 and 6 figure settlements.) The fact that "fault" in an motor vehicle accident is so shaky, means that at any time an idiot could pull a stunt in front of you, get hit, and sue your socks off with no protection.

Dave

 

cliff notes
rhd fd in the states=no good

 

s