JDM forbidden fruit you forgot you could import (provided you can find one)

"PanchoVilleneuve ST" (PanchoVilleneuve)
05/23/2020 at 04:31 • Filed to: None

Everyone has been so obsessed with Skylines that everybody has seemed to have forgotten that one of the coolest cars in all of Gran Turismo 2 has been available to import for the past 5 years: the Tommy Kaira ZZ, with the updated ZZ-S being available starting, well, now. For the average going price of a R32/33 GT-R (when they show up at all) , you can have a mid-engined, SR20 powered roadster (putting out 190 horsepower in the ZZ and 197 in the ZZ-S) that weighs a hair over 1400 pounds. That’s triple the power of the Kei sports trio, in a car that’s lighter than all of them. Yeah, they’re incredibly rare and cost quite a bit more, but owning one will make you a god at Radwood and every Cars and Coffee you go to for the rest of your life .

DISCUSSION (9)

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > PanchoVilleneuve ST
05/23/2020 at 04:57

These would own at Autocross.

PanchoVilleneuve ST > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever
05/23/2020 at 05:02

It’s like having an Elise that weighs more than 25% less.

Tareim - V8 powered > PanchoVilleneuve ST
05/23/2020 at 05:07

it seems someone imported one to the UK, little pricey for me though

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1136873

Nauraushaun > PanchoVilleneuve ST
05/23/2020 at 05:29

Fuck Skylines and fuck being a god at Radwood and C&C. Owning a car isn’t about any of that stuff. Buy a ZZ because it’s going to drive and handle like nothing else, and you want to enjoy it.

I’ve driven an R34 GT-R , didn’t like it. I know that Americans froth over them, but it’s for all the wrong reasons. And importing one of these not-quite kit-cars as anything other than a driver’s car is silly.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > PanchoVilleneuve ST
05/23/2020 at 05:42

The phrasing of this comment hurt my brain :P

It makes sense, it just sounds really weird to my literall y-just-go t-out-of-bed-this-morning ears :P

SiennaMan > Nauraushaun
05/23/2020 at 07:43

I gotta admit, if I ever imported something like this, or even the kei sports car I’ve thought about for a few years, I’d likely use it almost exclusively for a) soothing drives on county roads and b) to make mundane drives an event... that said, I probably would try to write about it here, so maybe that’s not so different from bragging at c&c or radwood.

UserNotFound > Nauraushaun
05/23/2020 at 07:49

I’ ve driven a number of R34s with various levels of mods and loved every one of them and totally saw why they’re so desirable. To each his own, I suppose. Still would prefer the 22B.

Nauraushaun > SiennaMan
05/23/2020 at 21:15

Oh, you’ve gotta post and brag about it. But that’s no reason to buy the car. You’d be taking a lot of compromise just to have bragging rights! Something like the ZZ is heaps more expensive and less practical than an MX-5, so you’ve really got to be willing to trade that off for the gains in handling.

Nauraushaun > UserNotFound
05/23/2020 at 21:17

To each his own. When I drove it I’d just gotten out of an NSX (what a day right?) , so the R34 felt fat, heavy, high-riding and cu mbersome. Sure it’s got boost, but so does an Evo of the same period and those feel like go karts.