I was thinking that if I blow my motor running N20; I wanted to get a new motor instead of rebuilding my existing one. And I was thinking about getting a japanese VE. then again......there is no smog devices on VE motors from japan is there? Can someone re-shed some light on the subject?

 

JDM engines def have smog devices, although there are some differences with some of the components compared to Federal & California smog equipped max's. The one's I've seen here don't have an EGR pipe running from the manifold to the EGR valve, whereas NZDM max's do.
So, without some of the extra restrictions of the US smog devices, they could be marginally more powerful within a certain rev range - not that you'd notice it. The basic engine itself has the same power specs regardless of market it's sold in.
Besides, it's probably a moot point as you'd have to fit US smog gear to pass the inspection.

 

When I got mine, it has a 1-year, unlimited mile warranty. As part of that warranty you have to change over all of the smog components.

My engine does seem a lot stronger, but I think that is because 1) it has roughly 100k miles less than my old one and 2) I have a new Knock Sensor.

 

are there still plenty of used VE's left on the market to purchase or will I have trouble finding one when the time comes for me to purchase one.

 

What do you mean there are no smog devices?? Why wouldn't there be any smog devices. People in Japan have to breath too. JDM and USA engines are the same(except for some minor differences). But you read my thread about my jdm swap I performed for Chris right????

 

No one reads your threads, Jeff...

I think the warranty stuff is just for good measure. I have all of the JDM smog components and stuff (like the cam sensor) Jeff took off in a bunch of boxes in the garage.

 

That's the problem with this forum

 

Can someone clear me up on this....will the replacement of an old knock sensor improve performance? I have heard both answers, and I know this is offtopic, but I wanted to get it settled once and for all

 

It won't improve performance. Just get it back to where it once was. But if you ks is not bad to begin with, it's already there. Make sense?

 

well i just thought that since the Skyline is available in japan and not here in the US due to smog issues; I just figured japanese cars had very little, if no smog control devices at all on their cars.I figured the same goes on all motors built to run in japan.

 

i dont think smog issues has anything to do with why the skyline isnt avalible in the us

 

Actually it is; at least according to Motorex of america that imports and "legalises" Skyline's sold in the US. I spoke to them back in 99' because they had annouced that they were going to make a SC for the VE that eventually never went through.
Anyhow, one of the questions that i had asked them, was how come the Skyline isn't available for sale here in the US. The answer was smog; it didn't meet the requirements of our country when it came to the "sniffer" test.
However, Motorex of America will gladly import and "legalise" a japanese Skyline for you at the tune of $82,000. At that point, there are far too many cars available on the market that cost a lot less and perform a lot better than a "smog legal" Skyline.

Skyline

 

Uhhhh, I'm pretty sure there are alot of other items that don't meet D.O.T. standards and need to be modified / replaced by Motorex.

 

right........which is why it costs so much to legalise. I'm just saying that smog was the number one issue of legality according the Motorex. Of course i'm sure there are half a dozen other items that probably don't meet DOT standards, and that weren't mentioned at the time I spoke with the sales rep., but who cares?
$82,000 in my my book is waaaay too much for a low 13 sec car.

 

$82k isn't being spent on US smog gear - it's the cost of importing & converting the car from RHD to LHD, a market it was never designed for. And that looks like a 100% mark up as well! (a 2001 Skyline is around US$8000 wholesale ex Japan...)
Japanese smog gear is similar to US & the Japanese have been making cars for US consumption for years, so smog isn't the big issue - Nissan could have easily installed the gear for US laws using off the shelf components. Most of the components made by manufacturers are made to both DOT & Euro specs, which the rest of the world uses as a bench mark.
Nissan is likely to have thought the 300Z was the premium sports car for US with the 200/240SX & NX2000 part of a well defined family of "sports" cars. Adding the Skyline would have diltued the market for it's 300z / 240sx range & possibly confused average Americans as to where it sat within the family (esp with the name Skyline!). And it meant re-designing the layout of the engine bay to accommodate LHD, making headlights with LHD bias as well as a bunch of other changes.
I can't remember where the gas tank sits, but I'm sure on a few older models it's behind the rear wheels which is illegal in the US.
Anyways, it's all academic as I read the latest Skyline is being made for LHD markets as well (uses same chassis as the 350Z), so you may see them in '05 or '06.

 

They don't convert Skylines over to LHD. In fact, it's pretty easy to get RHD vehicles in the US, they just have to be crash tested by the NHTSA and have to be here with the right kind of glass and emissions stuff. There are lots of them, especially Subaru wagons used for mail delivery. There are a few Skylines here in the NW and they are all RHD. The problem is the importing of cars that haven't been tested here.

I think a big portion (around $15-20k) is for the conversion of the car to meet EPA (emissions), DOT and NHTSA (crash test) standards. The only RHD Nissan vehicle even accepted for conversion is the 1990-99 Skyline GTS or GTR.

 

go back and read post number #12 before correcting me. I already stated exactly what you just said above in the other 2 posts after that. You haven't stated anything that I haven't covered already except for the fact that you aren't reading my post's. But thanks for playing!!! (and losing!!!)

 

I heard it was going to be the G35. I had read it in a past issue of Road and Track. But they are pretty much the same car, (350Z, G35).


Skyline's

 

Go back & re-read you're own post:

"Originally Posted by subs1000w
i dont think smog issues has anything to do with why the skyline isnt avalible in the us"

"You posted
Actually it is; at least according to Motorex of america that imports and "legalises" Skyline's sold in the US."


The way your post was written, one is lead to believe that it's only smog gear on the Skyline that stops it being imported because of the excessive cost of meeting smog standards.

Red92MaxSE is more correct when he states the major cost is in meeting DOT and NHTSA (crash test) standards.

Interesting that RHD cars don't need to be converted to LHD in the US - as a rule, if you import a LHD car into NZ and it's less than 20 years old, it has to be converted to RHD (there are exceptions to the rule, but it involves prior ownership & not being allowed to sell the car for 2 years).

 

isnt this forum about jdm ve vs US ve? didn't know it was a skyline forum? anyone here got a skyline? hmm what I thought, take it elsewhere and stick to the topic

 

I think they have a 20 or 25 year rule here, but the cars that old aren't really worth bringing in, except maybe the Bluebird SSS and those are rare, even in Japan. There might be some other JDM cars, but I am not an expert on this stuff.

As for RHD, at work we have about 10 RHD Subaru Legacy wagons, along with a 2004 Jeep Wrangler RHD. Saturn and Jeep I think are the only current companies to have USDM RHD cars that I know of. Subaru stopped offering them around 2000. There is also a company that will convert some vehicles LHD to RHD for $1k. I think there are just a handful of vehicles they will convert, including some minivans, a Subaru Forrester, all Jeeps and the Kia Sportage.

 

Already dealt with it in post #2

No, JDM VE engines aren't more powerful than USDM VE engines. Skyline came about as a result of discussion on smog gear...

Bluebird SSS's aren't that rare - plenty driving around NZ!!!
Japan still make the Bluebird SSS for the domestic market, except they're no longer offered with the 4WD ATTESSA system...

 

I was talking about the old school Bluebird SSS (we know it in the US as a 68-73 Datsun 510) and not the Altima. I had a 72 510 as my first car and I really love them and wouldn't mind having another.

 

Whoa! That is super old school - and rare to find! I was meaning plenty of the U12 Bluebird SSS (Stanza).

 

That "one" person would be YOU!!!! You don't have to stand up for everyone else because they are perfectly capable of correcting me if I need to be.
On the other hand, you can be honest and just say you're a that needs to have everything SPELLED OUT, because you can't take a hint.
Of course the only reason to them not being here in the US wasn't just smog, but it was on the top list of reasons.
Again, in the future; if you need anything SPELLED OUT FOR YOU, you can tell me personally instead of trying to speak for everyone else. Clear?