Automotive Forums

In an unusual move for a Japanese automaker, U.S. consumers will be the first to get behind the wheel of the all-new Mitsubishi Lancer, reports the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The sedan, which will be equipped with a four-cylinder engine, will be introduced in Japan in fall 2007, about six months after its U.S. debut.

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=116435  

and the japanese lancer will still be bettter...=(  

h3nry:
and the japanese lancer will still be bettter...=(

just like every other jdm car..  sure we finally have the evo and sti, but they always keep a little something better for themselves - evo gsr, sti spec C, etc

and they kept making the rx7 and mr2 in japan years after they were killed off here in the US

i guess i should just be thankful we finally have the evo and wrx / sti at all..

*(even though the article was about the base lancer, not the evolution)*  

h3nry:
and the japanese lancer will still be bettter...=(

automotivedp:
just like every other jdm car..  sure we finally have the evo and sti, but they always keep a little something better for themselves - evo gsr, sti spec C, etc

and they kept making the rx7 and mr2 in japan years after they were killed off here in the US

i guess i should just be thankful we finally have the evo and wrx / sti at all..

Unfortunately it isn't just JDM it is European cars too.

Did anyone see the Fifth gear were they had the English DJ who had the Tahoe, and the some other Brittish guy who had imported a full size Dodge Ram and put all kinds of cheezy graphics and stripes all over it. They were complaining becuase they were hard to come by in Europe. We complain because we don't get the cool Euro or JDM versions of performance cars, and they compalin because they dont get our soccer mom and contractor vehicles.

You always want what you can't have I guess.  

haha i didnt even realize that they were just talkin about the lancer not the evo.  i don't feel quite so sad anymore.  

i still do

i would kill for an S204 impreza, or even an S203  

are alot of the euro and japanese cars not brought over because of the Americas safety and emissions standards? thats what i've always been told about the skylines and other cars we don't get  

those come into play.  another reason the skyline wasnt brought to the US was its location of the Turbos.  in order to make the car left hand drive, you would have to run the steering shaft right through the turbos  

i know the skyline cant be brought over here due to Emissions and smog and blah blah blah...but i dont know about the other euopean cars....  

A lot of the european and JDM cars don't don't get imported here just because they are very limited production and it isn't worth the expense for the car companies. In Europe and Japan, a lot of cars are produced just for racing homologation. Meaning they have to build and sell a certain amount if they want to race the car in certain race series. Most racing organizations require 500 cars, and most companies can sell 500 copies of a special edition in Europe. It doesn't make sense for them to have to build 5 or ten extra cars to submit to DOT and EPA for crash and emissions testing. Europe actually has tougher, but different crash test standards than the US. European countries put more value in pedestrian safety than our rediculous 5mph bumpers, so consequently most Euro models of cars won't pass that crash test in the US. The US also has a little different emissions laws. If I remeber correctly the one most cars can't paa is the 100 second test. Emissions tested after 100 seconds of running after starting from cold. This is why the US e46 M3 sounds like crap, they had to move the cats right up to the headers so it has too long of mid-pipe.  

Japanese always have better cars but they will not pass emissions over here. Thats why it is so much money to bring them over here.