23Racer

I may be getting old, but can someone explain it to me why it is desirable to have a RHD version of a car that is already sold in NA in LHD? I can understand it if the car was never available here or if the motor or tranny is something really special, but if the car is the same or almost the same mechanically why get a RHD version? I don't add any credence to the technical detail differences or the 4 hp difference in the RHD version cause its tuned to run on 91 octane fuel. Most of these cars are older so that HP difference is negligable by now.

On top of that what I really really don't get are guys who convert their LHD NA cars to RHD. WTF!!!!!! There are a whole bunch of safety issues, parts issues, insurance issues and re-sale issues with RHD cars. To my mind, it smells a lot like poser racers whose cars look like race cars, but are stock underneath or guys with body kits and stock wheels and tires.

The reason I am asking is that today in Oakville, some nimrod in some kind of grey Nissan R33 or 32 or 34 or something, swung out of a line of traffic in the right hand lane right in front of me and I had to pound on the brakes to stop from clobbering him. Sure it was a driving error, but the guy was completely unsighted from his seating position. If I called him on it I can be sure that he would deny ever having done it or that the fact that he couldn't see the traffic in the left lane at all from the RHD seating position had a contribution. I will cut him some slack as the car is a really cool car and not sold over here, but I don't get RHD RX7's or Civics or other NA version cars.

Why RHD cars at all and especially why cars that are 98% the same as cars sold here.

Eric

Zhé

iTrader: (2)

2 reasons i can think of,
the RHDs are cheaper, and the whole JDM thing where the more JDM your car is, the better
and how can you get more JDM than the actual car coming from japan?

Mr.Cool

iTrader: (2)

i totaly agree with zhe, i personaly would love a rhd fc, i have a lhd gxl and turbo but i like all things japan and to have a car that is straght from there is awsome. then theres, because its different, its not somthing you see everyday. thats also a reason why i like the rx7 in general, rotary! its different, and cool.

Nick86

iTrader: (1)

Money. It's all money.

People see RHD cars as a way to get into their desired car (be it an FD, Supra etc) for much less money than buying it locally. I've also noticed that 80% of the JDM cars imported (that were also sold here) are in pretty rough shape, making them even cheaper. Seeing some of the RHD JDM buckets parading around BC really made me realize this.

If you idolize R200's, Delta Integrales, or even Skylines and want to import one then there is a good chance you'll take your time and spend an appropriate amount of money to get a good one. Otherwise people just seem to buy whatever is available at the time for the least amount of money.

23Racer

At least this makes sense. I have seen a number of JDM FC's and FD's and while they don't have the rust of their NA counterparts, they do have a feeling of being "ridden hard and put away wet" about them. Personally, I am not really into the whole JDM thing. I worked in the OEM auto industry for 10 years and worked directly with the Engineering Departments of Toyota, Mazda, Honda, Hyundai, Daewoo, KIA, Holden, all of the Big 3, Jaguar, Lotus, Porsche, Volkswagen, Opel, Audi, FIAT and a number of other smaller companies. All companies had their good and bad points, but on average the European guys got what enthusiasts wanted in a car and built for it. I loved working with Jaguar and Holden as their whole Engineering groups were massive car nuts and loved racing. The Japanese companies really were very reluctant to look at new ideas until they were proven on somebody else's cars and the Korean's looked at cars like computors or stereo equipment. Make it new, cheap and limited lifespan, LOL.

FC's and FD's are really great cars with a lot of features at a great price. Realistically there are many other makes just as good for almost the same price. I like cars and what they can do or look like. I am not into German cars or American cars or JDM cars. Cars are cars, I pick them for the features and value, not where they come from. That is a bit too simplistic for me.

I get price, I don't get JDM or converting an NA LHD to pseudo JDM RHD just for looks, it reeks of "Poser" or "Ricer" to me. That is just my opinion (flamesuit on).

Eric

2Fierce

iTrader: (7)

Driving a RHD isnt that bad. I have no problems in my skyline.

R.P.M.

iTrader: (3)

^What? when did that happen.....you ricer lol. j/k

Double_J

iTrader: (28)

I've owned two FD's. While the initial cost of the RHD was cheaper than what I paid for the lhd I actually spent MUCH more on the RHD. Not because it needed it but because I wanted certain mods done. I miss my RHD FD, and if I had a bigger garage I would have likely kept it along with Charn's car.

While the lower cost might attract some it clearly isn't the sole reason. For me I wanted something unique. A FD is unique, and RHD vehicles are less common compared to the other vehicles on the road.

Centzon

iTrader: (1)

I didn't care if my car was RHD or LHD. Doesn't make the blind bit of difference to me. This one was a reasonable price, no rust, and came e-tested & certified (THE BEST). If it was LHD I would have bought it. It just happened to be RHD.

Some idiot in a Skyline pulled up beside me one day when I was driving a city bus. He kept trying to get my attention, like he wanted me to be surprised that he was driving on the right side of the car. If that kind of attention-whoring is the type of attitude associated with all RHD owners, that's just sad. Seriously, we're not all like that.

I personally don't have any problems with left hand turns, which has been the main concern voiced to me about RHD cars. Honestly, sometimes you can see, other times you can't. If you're in a LHD car and there's a truck/large vehicle turning left (the other way), you still can't see if your turn is clear. It doesn't mean you're just going to go "LOL IDK IF ANYONE IS COMING WHEEE" and you dive into oncoming traffic anyway. It's the same with a RHD car. If you can't see, you wait until it's clear. Some people are just careless regardless of driving position. Sometimes I can see better from the right side, sometimes not. There are more than enough idiots in LHD cars crashing into things, I don't think RHD cars are that much of a concern. Idiocy is idiocy, right?

As for people converting a LHD to a RHD, I don't really understand that and have never heard of it, haha. I'm not going to look down on them for it though, it's their car. They could convert it to upside-down drive if they wanted, I suppose.

Edit: Actually there is one glaring problem with RHD vehicles in this country. Drive-thru windows become very awkward.

HiWire

I'd rather have an LHD car for the girlfriend/child factor - it's slightly safer to let them get out on the sidewalk rather than in traffic when you're parallel parked. Ticket collection/drive-through is a problem I forgot about as well.

KenSpeC

iTrader: (16)

As it several points have been said before, the main reason is price. With that said with rhd or lhd you get for what you paid for. I have seen LHD cars that are priced higher because they are lhd but are in worse shape than their rhd counter part.

like with any car enthusiasts, doesnt matter what make or model there are individuals who are into the hobby for the wrong reasons like thinking than owning a rhd car is super awesome jdm magic blah blah blah..Then there are people who own rhd cars that are into it esp. us rotary heads for the only reason that i think is important, because we love it.

Im sure that you have met, and there are alot of rhd owners here that are standup guys and gals that are respectful and courteous to the members of this "club"

I have seen and worked on a few RHD cars (my 2 included) whom their owners did their research and properly seeked out their FDs that are absolutely in mint shape. like its been said before, no rust like the NA versions.

Also I think its a crock when people say "oh its so hard to make L hand turns in rhd cars...blahblahblah.." Honestly this only comes into play when you are making a L hand turn at the lights and there is a car in the opposite lane doing the same thing...heres an idea...Wait! if you can't see or unsure if you can proceed safely than dont. It takes only a full day of driving to get used to rhd. Although I do agree with the difficulties that accompany drive thrus...lol.

The issues with registering RHD cars is due to the bogus claim that insurance underwriters that RHD cars cause more accidents that LHDs without any stats. And lets face it, how many rhd cars do you see in a day vs lhd cars? Im pretty sure that the stats of accidents are still extremely higher than RHDs.

Sorry went off on a tangent there...lol. I see no issues with rhd or lhd cars, I like em both.

but for someone to convert a LHD to a RHD is simply stupid to me. Unless they are making an excellent spirit R replica or something. But even then it just doesnt make sense to me lol. Its money better spent elsewhere.

Nick86

iTrader: (1)

I agree with you there. RHD cars in it themselves are not the problem. Many of the accidents I've seen with RHD cars seem to be as a result of inexperienced drivers - RHD or LHD. Let's face it, many of the people who drive RHD cars are young people who couldn't afford the LHD versions so turned to RHD. FD, Supra, 300ZXTT are powerful cars that take a level of skill to drive. If you took type of car and driving experience into account, then I'll bet the rates off accidents of LHD and RHD cars are damn near identical. 19 year old males in high powered cars are a high risk group, regardless of which side of the car they sit.

zeeshan

iTrader: (14)

rhd win!

FC3Sdrift

iTrader: (5)

I thought RHD would get me laid more than LHD

Cougar_boy

iTrader: (2)

ILoveJDM

iTrader: (7)

1 - price
2 - generally much lower km's compared to NA counterparts of the same year.

23Racer

WOW, if thats true I got to go get me one of them RHD cars. Oh wait, my wife may not like that very much..........Hrmmmmm.......... Best reason yet!

Eric

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

I have no idea why morons convert LHD cars to RHD. just to be different I guess.

Skylines only come in RHD so I'm kinda stuck there. I've seen ONE LHD one.

As far as FD's go, it's already been mentioned. I'd rather buy a super clean low milage $6000 Fd than a $16,000 FD.


The safety issues are generally non existent. It's easy to see if you aren't a moron. Yeah, sometimes it's hard to see turning left but the same is true in an LHD car. And it doesn't matter anyways. if I can't see, I don't go.

And as far as passing goes, it's MUCH safer to pass someone in a 400 horsepower RHD than in a 100 HP LHD cars. If they're so worried about safety they should make owning cars with less than 300 horsepower illegal! I've never had a close call passing except when I hop in someone's 100hp 4cyl piece of **** car and then forget that you need to be able to see over the horizon to safely pass.

$lacker

iTrader: (9)

If I could've found a mint FD with 23k (passed shaken in 2009) and one previous owner in LHD it would've cost me twice as much as what I paid for my RHD
I'd prefer to have a LHD just for resale value, honestly. Other than that, RHD is great... I much prefer shifting with my left and having my right hand constantly on the wheel/turn signal

djphonics

iTrader: (1)

some people like to be different, some people can't afford a lhd version. and of course, some cars just weren't made for our shores. There's companies that are trying to flood the market with jdm vehicles, and are generally bringing over crap so they can make some money. I saw a rhd toyota 4runner (whatever it's called in japan). But there are plenty of great examples, (RXeckless' car for one.

I would also like to mention that I've seen some people with rhd cars going to pass on one lane roads where they were so bloody close to the car in front that they needed to maneuver half the car into the oncoming traffic lane before they could see. That is extremely dangerous!

As long as rhd cars are used for hobby and sport, than I am in support of it, but I do not agree that they should be allowed to be daily driven. A guy drives a skyline to a shop daily near my house. (most likely the guy that cut 23racer off)

Poor stoplights are poor stoplights. But you can usually maneuver a bit to see around the vehicle opposite you in a lhd vehicle, whereas this isn't possible in a rhd vehicle, which just creates additional wait times in traffic. (of course this can be fixed with a wing mirror camera)

Additionally, people converting their cars from lhd to rhd gotta have some good dope. No one in their right mind would purchase the car as a whole, even if the work was done by a reputable shop.

As far as insurance statistics go, one has to realize that with less volume of cars, any accident is automatically more significant with rhd vehicles.

Habibi

my fd was 3 grand and i use if for drifting. personally It didnt make sence for me to buy a lhd, for the pure fact that it would be a track car, and i couldnt justify spending 10-15grand on a lhd compared to 3 for a rhd. cost is definitly the major factor for me. i also own a 92 mr2 turbo and a 92 celica gt4 again to buy these cars back when i did in lhd would have been easily twice what i paid.