Road to Rotary: Japan to France in an RX7

image.png


Going to attempt to (not me, personally) bid on this one tonight. Ive had a few come up as options but this is a low mileage (65k km) no accident car with a poorly engine. Which is perfect. I've lined up a rebuild, so that's not an issue. Bidding starts tomorrow. Lets see what she goes for...

Then it's the Kei truck buying and all the other logistical pain I'm having at the moment :D but it's all figureoutable!
 
Prices are pretty high at the moment, but considering this is accident free and also is a 1993 which is important for registration in France as it has to be pre 1995 to qualify for the 30yr rule of being a "cherished / show car" which means it won't have to do any of the checks a normal car would and it gets a nice black number plate :D The main part is the fees and checks though.
There is a nice bit of hoops to jump through, as you can imagine with france, but I hopefully have my guy nextdoor who can help do all this for me.

I'm putting in max bid for them to go to of 25 inc fees and I'm hoping I can get it for a lot less considering the engine. Underside is really very good, bodywork is great, no rust, no damage, interior is fantastic and the fact is a 40k mile car is a great base. Hoping I can get it for 20k inc fees but hey... will see. Prices are rising at the moment, especially unmolested etc.

It's slightly more than I would have liked to (this whole thing is a budget creep nightmare) have spent, but I believe I can get the rebuild done between 3.5-5k. I would love to have the whole thing come in about 27k inc rebuild... but lets see how the auction goes. I've told them to go to 25k inc fees.

HKS still seem keen for the Hipermax coilovers, which will be a nice addition to the setup. I'm still going to push for the single turbo and intercooler setup... I think I can wangle it. It would just make sense really! Now THAT would be a setup for 28k!

I've got a biltong sponsor (who doesn't need meat for a road trip!) who are on board for all my adventures, which is super cool.

Yokohama are on board to supply me tyres and I am currently chatting to Recaro having been passed to the right people / team so will see where that goes! Somewhere nice for our asses would be mega appreciated.

I'd love a wheel sponsor and actually spoke to BBS who said they're in a bit of a **** position at the moment internally and having a huge reorg but contact them again in a few months. Which of course I can do :cry: In the meantime I am trying to chat to Ray and Work wheels. I do want to make sure the wheels are able to stand up to the potential pot holes and that's why tyres were also important in case of a blow out/ puncture etc. I'll contact them and see if they can ship me out some tyres to where I am lol but will take a couple of spares for each in the truck.

The truck though...since I keep spending more of the budget on the RX7 the Kei budget is smaller than it's engine. So I'm looking at something ratty like this:

image.png


It's up for 640USD lol and comes into the pre 95 year too. That's the sort of budget I have for this badboy now. See what happens with the RX and then can look at what cheap truck I can nab at the same time.

If I get this car tomorrow I'll be booking to go to Japan to see it in next month.
 
randomshenans said:
HKS still seem keen for the Hipermax coilovers, which will be a nice addition to the setup.
Click to expand...

Nice of HKS to want to get involved but Hipermax are very harsh. Had them on my Evo and it was awful. Also, I know their mushroom filters are "JDM as F Bro" but I've tended to avoid them.

Exhaust-wise though, I have both HKS Silent Hi Power on my Impreza and Ti system on my Evo. Both of which I'm very happy with.
 
EddScott said:
Nice of HKS to want to get involved but Hipermax are very harsh. Had them on my Evo and it was awful. Also, I know their mushroom filters are "JDM as F Bro" but I've tended to avoid them.

Exhaust-wise though, I have both HKS Silent Hi Power on my Impreza and Ti system on my Evo. Both of which I'm very happy with.
Click to expand...
Had them on my gfs crown. They’re not uk road friendly. Japan maybe. Not had issues with the mushroom filters tho, decent quality
 
EddScott said:
Nice of HKS to want to get involved but Hipermax are very harsh. Had them on my Evo and it was awful. Also, I know their mushroom filters are "JDM as F Bro" but I've tended to avoid them.

Exhaust-wise though, I have both HKS Silent Hi Power on my Impreza and Ti system on my Evo. Both of which I'm very happy with.
Click to expand...
I know they do the hipermax r and the s, I think it's the S that is supposed to be more road and comfort? I think it must be those!

Good insight, though! Thanks, it's appreciated as I have zero JDM experience :cry:

Let's see how it all goes and what I can persuade them to give me haha

Auction is tomorrow morning Japan time, so lets see what Friday brings me!
 
dave28 said:
I think it would be considerably more enjoyable to do a Western Europe tour, i cant see driving through Russia being a fun time in current world events.
Click to expand...

We did Kaliningrad before although that was prewar as it is quicker getting to western Lithuania from Northern Poland. No issues. It is more the EU countries letting you in rather than Russia letting you in. At least it was then.

It does help that my wife is Lithuanian and can speak fluent Russian though.
 
I was chatting with my mate's fiancé, who's Russian, last night. She's going to run through my route with me and give me tips on where best to stop, best places to avoid and where could be stints with limited fuel etc. which will be super helpful.

There's a lake along the route she was like you have to see that, it's beautiful. So I'll make a ton of notes and plan the trip out with stops etc. to make sure I avoid anywhere she says is a bit more sketchy and see the best parts I can.

image.png
 
I would advise a switchable map on the car so you can run safely on low Ron fuel (I'm not sure exactly what countries you are going through, but not every where has the 100ron fuel the Japanese do, in the various countries you may enter depending on the route and the geopolitical state the world is in at the time you might find yourself having to fill up with 87ron which would be absolutely terrible for your rx7 and other suitably JDM vehicles you may be purchasing.

I presume the rebuilt engine will have the upgraded rotor tips etc installed to improve longevity. I would also be requesting an extended Dyno session to ensure that the engine and car is fault free following the rebuild.

P.s I'm very jealous of the opportunity that you have found presented to you, what a dream it would be for me to be able to do something similar.
 
Last edited:
EddScott said:
Nice of HKS to want to get involved but Hipermax are very harsh. Had them on my Evo and it was awful. Also, I know their mushroom filters are "JDM as F Bro" but I've tended to avoid them.

Exhaust-wise though, I have both HKS Silent Hi Power on my Impreza and Ti system on my Evo. Both of which I'm very happy with.
Click to expand...

You can get different spring rates which will help with the ride, if hks is supplying him with coilovers I'd like to think he could negotiate with them to make them suitable for the trip he is planning.

I wouldn't go for the hks shroom filter for this journey either, it's a very good filter, but best for light use and track days, not dusty and dirty as f roads you may have the potential of passing. To keep it JDM an Apexi filter might be better or a SARD filter, they have less "holes" than the hks and greddy sponge filters.

Also the enkei rpf1 (sell 2nd for £1400) wheels the car already has are pretty strong already, these were designed to be a race wheel and suit the car pretty nicely. Obviously it's down to your preference. I also wouldn't go to large a wheel for the journey, putting 19s on will give you less tyre wall to flex with meaning more likely to suffer a damage tyre/wheel. Keeping the size sensible will help greatly with the ride and potential failures. The FD rx7 came with 16" wheels from factory (if memory serves me right), the enkeis on the car now look to possibly be 18s, as a rule of thumb you should go larger then 2" the stock car came with to keep ride and handling (as well as the Speedo accuracy)

"RPF1
The twin spokes on the Enkei RPF1 achieve better stress dispersion on curves, hard braking, and extreme race driving.

CENTER DESIGN: Enkei’s pocket design around the bolt circles increases rigidity and keeps the wheel cooler during aggressive race driving.

MAT PROCESS: Shaping by the MAT process reduces wheel weight by 10%-15%. Every pound of unsprung weight savings has the effect of reducing overall vehicle weight by 20lbs."
 
Last edited:
sx_turbo said:
P.s I'm very jealous of the opportunity that you have found presented to you, what a dream it would be for me to be able to do something similar.
Click to expand...
To be fair, it was less presented and more just windmilling into something.
I'm putting a huge chunk of savings into this, with no job, no new job lined up and just figuring it'll work itself out in the end really.
Not many people would, when faced with no job and no income, take such a step to spend their savings on buying a 30yr old JDM car to drive half way around the world.
I'd argue anyone is capable of doing such ridiculous things, and it certainly won't be my last, but you have to properly jump in both feet first.


sx_turbo said:
I presume the rebuilt engine will have the upgraded rotor tips etc installed to improve longevity. I would also be requesting an extended Dyno session to ensure that the engine and car is fault free following the rebuild.
Click to expand...
Yea, this is why it's also good to have time on my side to make sure it's all good. Having the chance to drive it round Japan will be nice too. I am planning on being there this July, then in Jan and then for a week next June before the trip. It would be great to be able to drive it around some iconic Japanese places.

sx_turbo said:
I would advise a switchable map on the car so you can run safely on low Ron fuel (I'm not sure exactly what countries you are going through, but not every where has the 100ron fuel the Japanese do, in the various countries you may enter depending on the route and the geopolitical state the world is in at the time you might find yourself having to fill up with 87ron which would be absolutely terrible for your rx7 and other suitably JDM vehicles you may be purchasing.
Click to expand...
It's not a bad shout. I read that fuel in Russia most commonly is 95 RON, where you can from time to time get 98. I'll use the Kei truck to get some of the best fuel possible but realistically it'll no doubt have to use 95 for the majority, so I'll try and factor that in.


sx_turbo said:
You can get different spring rates which will help with the ride, if hks is supplying him with coilovers I'd like to think he could negotiate with them to make them suitable for the trip he is planning.
Click to expand...
Yea, they want me to come to the factory and everything when I'm over so I'll discuss the best setup possible for the car and what they have in mind. They know the trip and want it to be a good advert for their suspension so of course will try and make it as good as it can be.

sx_turbo said:
To keep it JDM an Apexi filter might be better or a SARD filter, they have less "holes" than the hks and greddy sponge filters.
Click to expand...
This is good info. I will see what I can pick up over there.

sx_turbo said:
Also the enkei rpf1 (sell 2nd for £1400) wheels the car already has are pretty strong already, these were designed to be a race wheel and suit the car pretty nicely. Obviously it's down to your preference. I also wouldn't go to large a wheel for the journey, putting 19s on will give you less tyre wall to flex with meaning more likely to suffer a damage tyre/wheel. Keeping the size sensible will help greatly with the ride and potential failures. The FD rx7 came with 16" wheels from factory (if memory serves me right), the enkeis on the car now look to possibly be 18s, as a rule of thumb you should go larger then 2" the stock car came with to keep ride and handling (as well as the Speedo accuracy)
Click to expand...
Good info! Thanks. I didn't know what they were. They're 17s on there at the moment. So that's what I'd stick with in general, like you said, I don't want to reduce tyre wall at all.

I'd love to get over there when the rebuild is being done and get some of that documented, or get my hands dirty on helping in some way! I think that would be epic.

I've been talking to the guy who runs RWB Manila who has a place in Japan and we're going to meet up when I'm over there hopefully. Mmmm RWB 964 has to be a bucket list car... one day! One ******* day!!
 
Last edited:
Based on the amount of time my mates collection of RX7s spend on the road versus on a ramp over the years, you are completely mad....but I guess that's the point for the clicks :p
 
mid_gen said:
Based on the amount of time my mates collection of RX7s spend on the road versus on a ramp over the years, you are completely mad....but I guess that's the point for the clicks :p
Click to expand...
haha Yea, well, probably... I am hoping that a nice upgraded rebuild and setting it up nicely in Japan will give it the best chance it can, but hey! At least I'll have the Kei truck to support it and go off to get things if needed :D
 
mid_gen said:
Based on the amount of time my mates collection of RX7s spend on the road versus on a ramp over the years, you are completely mad....but I guess that's the point for the clicks :p
Click to expand...

Honestly though if I had to choose the best sounding engine of all time it would most likely be a 4 rotor though.

Bucket list car for me would be an RX7 with a 4 Rotor.

 
Last edited:
randomshenans said:
To be fair, it was less presented and more just windmilling into something.
I'm putting a huge chunk of savings into this, with no job, no new job lined up and just figuring it'll work itself out in the end really.
Not many people would, when faced with no job and no income, take such a step to spend their savings on buying a 30yr old JDM car to drive half way around the world.
I'd argue anyone is capable of doing such ridiculous things, and it certainly won't be my last, but you have to properly jump in both feet first.
Click to expand...

Normally I'd say anyone with no income putting serious money into something like this was perhaps a bit crazy, but given the response you've already had from pretty major brands and the fact you're already experienced with youtube etc I reckon you've got a good chance of making this work, and maybe even using it as a springboard for future trips / projects. I'll certainly be watching and I imagine a lot of other people will be too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom