GT4 opinions Options

[95WRC]

hey,
guys as some you may know i have a 95 GT4 WRC .. car is on the ground in north america but in Canada and i am in process of importing to US ..

anyway i asked the alltrac .net guys this a while back but what is the 6gc.net opinion of what i should do ..

1. Leave RHD
2. convert to LHD..

i would like to point out RHD really means nothing to me and only benefit would be saving a few bucks on parts .. i know a lot of you guys will say it wil be cool, get looks and be real jdm but i wilL listen to all sides.. BTW converting to LHD will be only 1000-1500 as i do most of my own work and have buddy with body shop who will do firewall .. wrecked celica's are a dime a dozen at non-public auctions.
i have been in import scene for 15 years and have done a lot of swaps of all types so this really is a peice of cake to convert ..

LHD would have benefits of being on the correct side to drive in US and car will look like any other celica (except for TRD wing , oem 16s 3 spokes, and front end ) on the road.. i am not sure which way i am going to title but i have everyway you can think of already work out and some in place now..

This car is not like a Skyline and made only in RHD .. LHD as made for european market so if i converted it would not be like the only one every made..

Importer of my car plans to convert his 97 GT4 to LHD as in Canada you can' t title a RHD unless it is 15 years old..

One thing for RHD is it would keep it unique as you will know it is a GT4 ..but even Toyota raced a LHD GT4 in the WRC so IMHO it will be unique no matter which side of car i sit on ..

i would love to hear opinions ..PLEASE DON'T ASK ME IMPORT/TITLE ?s I ONLY WANT RHD/LHD OPINIONS..

i will add a few pictures soon ..

derek
6GC OLD FART .

This post has been edited by 95WRC: Jan 1, 2004 - 3:00 PM

[97sccelica]

since you probably wont be registering and federalizing the car the 100% legal way,

i say do a lhd conversion, like you said it would make it look more normal.

[macavely]

i would say conver it ... but i'm the type that dosen't like to get notice to much while in my car... so its up to you if it that esay to covert for you it would also be esaeir to regester the car and insure it..

[poix]

how do u imprt urs?? is it gonna be street legal??

how are u gonna legalize it??

im thinking of importing one in the near future but i dunno if its worth it

im thinking if i do import one and somehow leghalize it then ill enter my car in the import scene and probably get some sponsors and hopefully get sum bucks from featuring in magazines, haha *dreaming*.

hmm but really how u gonna make it happen and what are ur future plans for the car??

[95WRC]

hey,
well i can't say how i will legalize for numerous reasons #1 being i don't have car yet .. i can say i will exhaust every avenue LEGALLY available before i decide what to do.. have friends/family working in the right places helps too.

i plan to make it go before show.. i am not impressed by what i see at the import shows and i have stopped going to them anyway since i can't stand paying 25 bucks to see a bunch if wack show cars and i feel like i am the oldest guy in the building .. i like clean looks and fuction over form so if does not affect car performance or aid driver it is not worth installing on car..

if you want to see a nice GT4 stop by Barnes and Noble and pick up newest issue of Japanese performance magazine.. it will be out in the next 2 weeks or so .. my be nice if it happened goal is to get featured in Banzai or Japanese Perf. as the UK magazines are just much better in car features and tech than all the US magazines. i think best thing about them is that honda's are 2nd level cars in UK so you don't see as many featured and since everyone is already on right hand side there is no huge JDM craze like there is here ..

my 04' plans for car are to first fix front end (minor fender bender in japan) , install TRD wing , 97 tails and projectors , 18 gold Lighweight wheels of some kind , and work on handling .. like to get some Type R red Recaros in future as well..

more than likely i will go to LHD as there is a wrecked 99 celica for parts near where my buddies body shop and i might see what kind of deal i can get on dash cut ..

d-

[Coomer]

I would stick with RHD, just because it'd be so unique and different. I'd absolutely love to have a right hand drive car.

[Uppitycracker]

I would say if you feel comfortable driving a right hand drive car, in traffic and as well a sshifting and all of that then stick with it, otherwise Id be doing the conversion. Having a lhd gt4 would be most unique thing you could do

[subsolo_21]

I dont really see a point in converting other than it may make it a little easier to drive here in the US, but if you can stick w/ rhd id say do that. It may not be a big deal in the uk, but here rhd is what everyone wants. Even if your not interested in getting looks i think it makes more sense to stay w/ rhd. Saves you $1k and youll have a truly unique car.

[Silver94CelicaOw...]

Whichever is easiest is what i think....if you go chopping up firewalls and having to move/extend wires it could end up being a pain. Not even that, but LHD is just what your used to....after a while im sure RHD will feel great and will feel normal to you, so whats it worth to spend another 1,000 or more to do something thats not critical to making it work better? Spend it on nice rims instead.

[macavely]

oh something i was just thinking about is safty when driving on roads and coming to intersections... sure everyone thinks that it's cool and unique, but your not to be able to see other cars just cause of your positions in the car.. for example if your on the highway and want to pass a truck or bus, you might not be able whats on the left side..

[kuya1284]

I think that converting to LHD would be a great idea, but would be rather costly like you've pointed out. In addition to the firewall, other things might need to be redone, such as wiring, cables, etc. I'm sure you're aware of these issues, but I know that relocating components can be a headache. If you're in no hurry and have plenty of time... go for the LHD conversion. It should make life easier in the long run. The only thing nice, IMHO, about keeping it RHD is the fact that you'll have a true JDM spec GT-FOUR.

[poix]

well when u find out how to legalize GT4 can u share it with me??


im considering doing that in the near future but not sure if its worth the risk.

can u share ur import experince with us so i can consider whether importing GT4 is a good idea or not??

[95WRC]

hey,
well i am almost 90% for sure going to convert to LHD ..
it will just be so much easier to deal with as i plan to have for a long time as Toyota has nothing coming out i would buy ...i might even toss a ST badge on trunk as a joke ..hehehe ...


if you want to see a real crappy picture of car see my profile .. car will have TRD wing like white car on 6GC H/P instead of WRC wing ...

i am sorry i can't really talk about importing .. i can say car was 100% legally obtained in Japan .. Only downside was car was shipped to Canada as my friend does not have a US Office yet..

i still have to cross border from Canada when i have car shipped but this is not a big deal .. US Customs was very helpful in North Dakota..should have no issues as long as paper work is all worked out w/ broker..

my supplier is going to be converting his 97 GT4 in the next few months and may be selling later this year .. if he does i will for sure let every one know..

i will say when car is converted and on the road i will have about $8,000 in it ..
this includes all shipping, parts, converting , and of course price of car ... if you bought one from a shop/ importer i would exspect to pay closer to $10,000+ when you finally have car in your driveway.. i got mine at cost and it was damaged so mine was dirt cheap .. you could have a shop buy a car and if they cut off roof in the right points and shipped off the car then you could import as parts and have roof put back on ..you could get a whole car for 3500-5000 ..of course the only way to title that car would be the slim shady way ..

to save huge $$$$$$ slightly damaged GT4'S like mine will go for 2000-5000 in japan at auctions .. you can also import one from Uk but with 1 pound= 1.75 USD
thats is not really a good idea right now .

i have contacts at Toyota and i may try to submit a letter to see if they will commit to give me the car is similar to US model letter but i highly doubt it will happen .. if it did i would by all means leave RHD .. i would like a explanation of why the 90-91 is on the list as i assure you not much is diff on any other years of mr2s..

i am sorry i can't give you a step by step on how to import or legalize i.. there is a lot of ways to go about it and of course with $$$$ anything can be done ..

[kuya1284]

I just saw your car in your profile and I must say that the damages aren't too bad at all. NICE. The costs for parts and labor to get her back into shape should be around $1800. Dude... I'm glad to know that I have another WRC buddy in the states.

[poix]

when u are successful at legalizing ur car please let me know the details??
im still debating wheter importing gt4 is a good idea or not

[Benevolence]

I say go with lhd, just because I wouldn't like driving a rhd vehicle and it looks more natural in the US.

[95WRC]

hey,
thanks for you opinion ..

not sure of all your ages but guys under 25 say keep RHD and most guys 25+ i know say go LHD .. i am not surprised .

i can say i really really don't want to waste money on converting but i just think if you look at the big picture it will be well worth it ..

i am looking into trying to source a LHD European dash that has no airbag hole as my car has no bags and i really don't want to waste money on bags and also have the hole on pass side ..