- Joined
- 13 January 2005
- Messages
- 62
anyone there? anyone want anything? i think they have a superautobacs...and i was invited to visit HKS taipei.
ARKPerformance said:anyone there? anyone want anything? i think they have a superautobacs...and i was invited to visit HKS taipei.
Foward me your contact info. I arrange for you to meet up with my partner in Taipei. Maybe even watch some Initial D type drifting up in the mountains if the weather is nice. :biggrin:ARKPerformance said:oh that sucks. damn, it would be cool to meet up with some forum members
They do have Superautobacs, serveral of them.ARKPerformance said:anyone there? anyone want anything? i think they have a superautobacs...and i was invited to visit HKS taipei.
ARKPerformance said:really? i usually go back...i only see some elises or sometimes a ferrari...not many big exotics there...i'll be more on the lookout though
nsxsupra said:It will depend on the area, in the City you will not see much as driving exotic in that kind of traffic is asking for trouble, Go to the Foreigner distric near Takashimaya to see exotics. Each time you see them just imagine they cost near 2~3times as much as here.
May issue of Taiwan Motors has a big feature on NA2 type R NSX. Some of these magazines can be pick up in Taiwanese Bookstores in Irvine, San Gabriel, etc.
typerturbo said:I've travelled all throughout Asia, and Taiwan has to be one of the top places on my list for an annual visit.
Now back to the cars:
D1 Event
My visit in Taiwan
Pay particular attention to the pics of Watt Motorsports. You have to visit their facilities.
ARKPerformance said:I need help from you all. Please mail me a copy of the magazine with shops listed in there. WATT motorsports, give me the contact info! i would LOVE to find these shops. HKS is already set, so, i'll probbly make it my whole weekend. as for the person letting me go drift with his friend, i promise i'll find out my contact info. or give me his! PM me!
for the magazine, i'll pay for teh magazine and shipping obviously...please contact me via PM
ARKPerformance said:that would be great! wow, i'm gonna get so much footage there. i'll send you some contact info once i get them. so these magazine list different tuning shops? if so, awesome, i'll just pick one up there...in teh meantime, i'll just read sport compact car
These pictures were taken in December of 2003. Ben, you're right, the cars you saw in the pics are from a car dealer on Cheng Te Road on the outskirts of Taipei. I've seen that blue widebody M3 drifting on the mountain before. The cars are throughly abused at night before they're cleaned and prepped for their unaware new owners (so I've heard, don't quote me on it). The widebody GC was the first one I've ever seen in existence.Ben said:Yup, don't get me wrong. I loved living in Taiwan, and I'd move back tomorrow if I had the opportunity.
Funny, I've actually seen some of the cars in your album. I could be wrong, but a lot of them look like those at the "Car Horse Cannon" (a literal translation) used car dealership on ChengTe Road on the outskirts of Taipei. These guys are one of the few used car dealers that specialize in performance cars, and a friend of mine knows the manager there. The thing you left out is how much most of those cars cost, how hard they are to find if you are in a market for a certain make/model at any given time, and that many of them are actually automatic transmission. The only exception to that might be some of the previous generation Impreza's, because they were built in Taiwan. I'd love to check out Watt sometime though. Where are they?
Some comments on some of the specific pics:
Red NSX - try to find a clean one to buy (I tried for close to 2 years). I think I've seen the actual car in your picture. If you do come across an NSX for sale, they're around US$45,000 for a beat '91 that has accident history and needs some repairs. I once came across a black '96T for sale, but the asking price was over US$60,000, and if I remember correctly, it was an automatic transmission.
White Lexus - It's an IS200 automatic transmission. 2.0L 150hp engine, 0-60 in 11 seconds. It's a dog, I used to have one before I sold it and bought an IS300. The IS200 costs US$46,000. The IS300 costs US$56,000.
Various Silvia's - Never officially sold by Nissan in Taiwan. Imported by their individual owners at great expense. Some of them are also not street legal, or are using tags from another car altogether. Parts need to be shipped over from the home market the car was originally from.
Various BMW E36 M3s - Most are '95 models. Try to find one that hasn't been beat to heck, or doesn't have undesirable modifications. In 2 years, I've only seen one clean, stock E36 M3 on the road, and it wasn't for sale. I shopped around a bit for one of these too. These beat used '95 M3s are still selling for around US$30,000.
New generation WRX - Ever priced one out? When they first arrived, they cost close to US$50,000 for a WRX. I think they are slightly cheaper now. STI models cost even more. Used ones are hard, but not impossible to find, but often are beat to heck. I also shopped around for one of these for awhile.
Lancer EVOs - 99% of them are body kits only. Under the hood, most have the 1.6 or 1.8 non-turbo engine. The first batch of officially imported (by Mitsubishi) real EVOs arrived in Fall of 2004. 10 cars were originally brought in, and they were all spoken for at a cost of more than US$60,000 each before they even arrived. You can get one cheaper now, but I think it's still at least US$50,000.
RSX - expect to pay about US$40,000 for a used one, assuming you can find one (they do pop up for sale from time to time). They were never officially sold by Honda, and were brought over by individuals at great expense. Parts need to be shipped over from the US.
RX-8 - They cost about US$60,000, and are available with automatic transmission only.
Mazda 6 - Only the 2.2L and 2.3L 4 cylinder engine is available, and only automatic transmission is available. This model costs US$30,000, which in the US, buys you the V6 with sports package.
In looking at these prices, keep in mind also, that the average university educated working professional makes about 1/3 of what his counterpart in the US would make. Or, put another way, the average working professional probably can't afford most of these cars.
Oh, and did I mention the photo radar speed cameras and red light cameras all over the city and freeways? V1 is definitely your friend (but if I remember correctly, it costs US$600 over there). Ironically, the highway patrol drives BMW and Mercedes mostly.
typerturbo said:These pictures were taken in December of 2003. Ben, you're right, the cars you saw in the pics are from a car dealer on Cheng Te Road on the outskirts of Taipei. I've seen that blue widebody M3 drifting on the mountain before. The cars are throughly abused at night before they're cleaned and prepped for their unaware new owners (so I've heard, don't quote me on it). The widebody GC was the first one I've ever seen in existence.
I have Watt's business card somewhere at home. When I find it, I will forward you the information including the contact there. They were working on a cooling system for the 355 when I was there.
I took the pic of the red X while I was driving with my partner around town. The white Lexus was imported and it's a manual. The owner of a CF factory owns it and was supposed to turbo charge it.
We went to visit a friend (owns an FD) who works for Ford/Volvo/Mazda at the production plant. The plant was about 10 acres in size and is just plain ENORMOUS. We had to drive to get to the area where they were working on MazdaSpeed aftermarket products on the 6 and RX8.
My partner has GPS software on his PDA and it warns him to slow down and where the cameras are. It cost USD$600.00
I can't wait to go back this September! :biggrin:
ARKPerformance said:yeah definitely find out for me. not just hondas too...any car club would be cool to meet. do you guys have anything that has a list? cause that would be easiest for me to check off how to get to each one...i'll have to take teh MTR and walk
nsxsupra said:Don't forget Taichung is the Porsche capital in Taiwan.
Also those working in IT and hi tech, are making a killing with generous stock options.
as far as I know, even Zonda is imported. If someone is willing to pay, any car is possible.