S15 for an fr-s?
 

Would you trade in your fr-s for a pearl white s15?
How would you even make one street legal?

No, especially if it doesn't already come with a street legal title.

IMO s15 is not worth as much as your frs.

I had a R33 skyline for 6 years and I can honestly tell you as legal as I had it, it was still illegal. and every time a cop pulled me over (which happened a lot because the wanted to check it out) its a long story that you have to have some backup in writing and even then you ALWAYS have the chance of them taking your car. You drive around a little scared pretty much all the time always wondering if your investment is going to be around next week. My insurance guy was cool so when I got hit and had 5k in damage, I got it taken care of. you might not be as lucky.

You can go buy a s15 for less than 15k anyway so its not worth a trade for a frs either way.

Most people selling JDM cars they want a lot.. but you can usually take it off their hands with cash for cheap because they know its almost impossible for you to get a loan for one and they want to just get rid of it.


Love the cars, a buddy of mine had a pearl white s15 for a while, I wonder if its the same one ;)

I think the only "legally" imported 240 is an '88MY per the NHTSA. If I could get a VIN, Title, legal, etc S15 in the states, I'd be all over it.

I picked up an S14 for $2,500 last wednesday. I could easily do an S15 conversion for half the price of a BRZ/FRS

I wouldn't trade a twin for an S15

Nick C.

S15s are rad and IMO way better than the FRS/BRZ. You'll have to jump through a lot of hoops to make it legal ENOUGH to even drive it and like said above, it still isn't entirely legal. Once the car is 25 years old, that's a different story.

If you're hell bent on getting one though(or any other car from Japan), let me know and I can point you in the right direction. Just remember $$ talks... and since these are grey market imported vehicles, everything is done with cash. No financing, loans, payments etc etc. S15 Spec R with 250hp SR20 and 6spd gearbox will probably run around $20,000 depending on the car.

My connection just had two of these bad boys shipped out to the states this past week for some buyers:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YAacXrznw8...ne%2Bfront.jpg

I bought my 240 from my connection on Craigslist

Nick C.

I can't wait till R34's are legal in the states

Just buy a late model 240sx and do a S15 front end and SR20DET swap

The body is still different....

I can get a nice R33 or R34 skyline GTR from a right hand drive specialist shop really close to where I live. They both have some nice JDM mods, exhaust systems etc.

Apparently, they were purchased cheap in Japan but the dealer charges $5500.00 for importation and compliance. Mileage seems very low (under 50K miles, but I am sure it is really easy to have tampered with odometers. Their website states it is common for Japanese owned cars to have low mileage since there is a heavy tax imposed for higher mileage in Japan. They are virtually rust free underneath thanks to stringent Japanese inspection requirements.

For $18K 9asking price) or so they are great toys. Coulda had 2 of them for the price of my FR-S.

On the other hand, I am not sure who would want to buy their RHD Jeep Cherokees! They also sell older RHD Honda CRV's for rural mail delivery people. Got a whole line of them on the lot. And, they have a Japanese tech trained in Japan working there too!

Rare in North America! We were in Mustangs, Firebirds and Camaros while they were driving THESE muscle cars. They look badass IMHO. Thanks to this forum I even know what a Watanabe wheel is!

These. SO MUCH.

BTW, sorry I have to be "that guy" but I think this belongs in another section.

This shop can also arrange for US importation.


http://www.rightdrive.ca/

You could always get a junk yard 240 and do a vin swap. I was seriously considering it to get a 96+ Celica gt4 here but i just picked up a twin instead.

That is absolutely true! At 40,000 miles, the Japanese government places stringent taxes on the vehicle. So ridiculous that it is more economically feasible to just buy a new car.

It's all done on purpose: to perpetually advance the Japanese car industry.

And look how far they've come!

Runs and kisses FR-S

No, I wouldn't. In fact I went the other way and traded the S15 I had from brand new (Feb 2000) for my 86.

I do miss it but LOVE my 86 as it is 12 years newer technology although I had looked after my S15 so well (completely stock) that it still had plenty of years left.

Very hard to find an S15 that hasn't been modified in a way you wouldn't do it. The rear wheel drive, with turbo, and no traction control has made them fairly scarce as a lot have been written off. That and the fact that they are still one of the most stolen cars here.

Here's what I traded in a photo just before I sold.
http://iforce.co.nz/i/y1rbgmvw.4k2.jpg

We got some R34 roaming our streets already. No GTR yet as build date for those are Jan/Feb next year if I remember right so not legal just yet


No GTR for the R34 yet close very very close

Really? So the R34 I stood next to was imagination?

Take a look at the link I posted above to see their inventory. They also bad a 4 dr GT-T or Type M

Nissan did so good with those cars. That is a pretty car. Makes me miss my S13 a little.

No, because there is no way to federalize an S15 in the US. You'd be running the risk of the Dept. of Homeland Security seizing your car and losing whatever you paid for it. Don't believe the guys that say "you could title it in florida or montana", because it would still be illegal.

I didn't say that did I? I'm just saying that according to the law it has to be 15 years or older and the first GTR R34s won't be available thru the 15 year law until Jan as that was their production date.

the one you stood next to could of been taken apart and put back together and thus titled as a "kit car" or could of been a conversion? Who knows I'm not doubting you stood by one. Hell there are 2 real R34 GTR here but both were import as kits cars and there are 2 conversion as well

I also checked their inventory and guess what no GTR also their front page shows a R34 with the words LEGAL all over it but guess what its not a GTR. http://www.rightdrive.ca/inventory_c.../sports/page:1

also here are multiple sources from places that would know

http://forums.gtrcanada.com/general-...th-2014-a.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_...2.80.931998.29

http://www.gtrusablog.com/2010/02/ni...roduction.html

so next time you want to post with a little bit of a **** tone you should prob check your own facts 1st

Ding.

Truly, you could import any car here if you really wanted to, but that doesn't mean you'll be able to get it registered, insured and inspected to be driven on public roads.

There was some talk a while ago about two Zonda's running around in NY. Have yet to hear anything, most likely white lies...


There is some dude on the internet who did sell his S15 for a Subaru Forester. :lol:

Zonda's could theoretically be brought under the Show and Display Exemption(aka, the Bill Gates law) as its rarity would likely meet the threshold to allow it stateside.

[QUOTE=Mr.Jay;1225241]I didn't say that did I? I'm just saying that according to the law it has to be 15 years or older and the first GTR R34s won't be available thru the 15 year law until Jan as that was their production date.

the one you stood next to could of been taken apart and put back together and thus titled as a "kit car" or could of been a conversion? Who knows I'm not doubting you stood by one. Hell there are 2 real R34 GTR here but both were import as kits cars and there are 2 conversion as well

I also checked their inventory and guess what no GTR also their front page shows a R34 with the words LEGAL all over it but guess what its not a GTR. http://www.rightdrive.ca/inventory_c.../sports/page:1
I believe you are correct. The silver R34 looks to e a GT-T. I presume that was the model under the R. There was a grey R33 next to a silver R34. From the back I could havd sworn they both said GT-R. I am no expert. Just happened to drive past and decided to look around. I am a noob here, but again I saw what I thought I saw. Sorry if I sounded like a douche.

also

Impossible to make one street legal in the US, but my BRZ is pretty much bought when I resigned to the fact that I can never legally own a "new" S15, and this car was the closest thing to a S15 in my life.

If I could trade for a legal S15 in the US, I would. But I can't.

-alex

S14 FOR 2.5K IN ST LOUIS?!

geez

zondas arent legal in america? just a couple days ago i saw the new hayuara or whatever. looks pretty good in person. not so much like a whaleshark

The Pagani Zonda is not US street legal. The Huayra has been made legal for the US market.

Living in Aus it's easy to buy an S15. They're about 10-20k for a used example.

The problem is that it's incredibly hard to find a nice car that hasn't been modified or had crap like rice taillights and bodykits installed. Most of them are 100,000 km's+ these days.

Add to that even though the S15 came out in 1999 it was basically the same technology as the SR20DET S13 which is a 20 year old car.

I looked around for an S15 before deciding to buy an 86. After looking hard at car classifieds online I could never find a decent manual unmodified example that was sub 100,000 km's. If Nissan still sold them new it would be another story though.

Agreed @Wise

Same here in NZ. Mine had over 200,000km on it when I sold it. They either seem to be unmodified and high kms like mine was or low kms but badly modified.

Used NA AT S15 (<$5,000) + LS3/T56 ($5,000?) + LS swap kit ($5,000) + your own sweat and other labor ($5,000) = 400+hp Japanese-styled coupe, roughly same weight as an 86, for less cost

IMHO the SR20DET the best 4 cylinder Japan ever made, and imho the ZN6 is the best chassis japan ever made.

since I don't need a 12 second car I'm satisfied with the FRS over the unobtainable S15, just hope to get rid of the torque dip.

That is basically how I feel... if I can find a pristine S15 that I can import and legalize, I'd get rid of my BRZ in a heartbeat.

But Nissan dropped the ball on this because they read the US market wrong, and never thought about importing and developing an entry level sports car with the right engine. A S14 with a 155HP KA24DE in 1998 was sold for around $25k, and for the same dollar amount today you can get a FRS or BRZ that has way better performance and platform design.

If, however, the S-chassis was continually developed, I think the subcompact tuner market today would've been vastly different.

The SR engine is a proven design from the 1990s with a lot of aftermarket support, even long after the cars were discontinued. One advantage the engine had was that it was both popular in NA form (SE-R guys), as well as turbo (Pulsar GTi-R/Bluebird/Silvia/180SX). I hope the FA20 sees the same development over its lifespan.

-alex

I looked for an unmolested rust-free S14 for nearly a decade before buying the frs. The last one I looked at really pissed me off, a pristine '96 240sx that had a SR20DET swap but no OBDII port, no way to get an emissions sticker and legally drive where I live (if only it had been a '95). As far as the fa20 it really can't be compared to a forged engine like the SR20DET. A 350 hp daily driver SR20det can be easy and trouble-free.

I found mine in KC after two months of searching on CL everyday for STL and KC.

I'm from KC, so when I found this one I had my brother pick it up for me. You guys would be shocked at how clean and straight this car is. I had it on the rack when I finished the 5-lug conversion and it didn't even have surface rust on the frame. I'm still amazed

Nick C.

SR20 is an amazing motor. I love them and am a bit biased. The fact that you can make near 400whp on a stock block with some bolt ons and good tuning is impressive. Idk about the ABSOLUTE best EVER though.. but it's gotta be up there high on the list. There are some crazy 4 cylinder motors that have come out of Japan.

As far as chassis' go, I think the FD RX7 and AP1 S2000 are both far better than our cars.

Thats what I'd do. Plus then it'd be left hand drive too.

S14.5 can be done right but people screw them up so much. S14.5s NEED widebody to look right. Otherwise, it looks weird.

S15's are still better than 14s. The 15 chassis is a big improvement over the 14 as a whole.

If you're going to leave it stock then sure. But as a platform it really doesn't matter as you can make it what you want. Plus the cost of modding a 240 into an S14.5 is much cheaper then trying to get a real S15 and getting it legalized.

S15 cannot be made street legal in the US period. If you can afford an off road use only vehicle or wish to break the law by registering it as an s14, by all means.

An s13.5 or s14.5 will never look as sexy as a real s15.