Readers' Questions

Who's your daddy? Not us, that's for sure-we'll even hire lawyers to prove it! But Eric Hsu, on the other hand, just might be. And like any good father figure, he'll teach you the ways of the world through tough love. Tell Eric where it hurts, little guy...he'll make it all better.

For questions, or problems of your own, email them to questionit@importtuner.com.

Importing Tuners
I'm interested in buying a JDM Honda Integra (DC5), but I'm having a tough time finding resources on how to go about buying and importing one. I'd appreciate any info and advice you could give me. Thanks for the help.
--Don, from Boston

Importing a car from Japan is tricky business. There are correct ways to bring a car in from another country, methods that are in the grey, and just flat-out incorrect ways. The correct ways can be confusing and difficult for the average Joe to accomplish, and are definitely NOT cheap.

Your case might be a bit easier, since the DC5 chassis already exists here in the states. If you are planning to bring the car in as a race car, then it should be much easier because you can do it under the guise of a spare parts car-one that can never be used on the highway. At any rate, it is always better to purchase the car from a reputable U.S. importer who has gone through the process before, because they will have contacts who can locate and purchase a car in Japan, and can package, ship, and clear the car through U.S. Customs. The red tape of getting the car through Customs and being certified for road use is best cut by a certified importer-trust me. The last thing you would want is for U.S. Customs to confiscate your car and crush or auction it off, leaving you with absolutely ZERO to show for all your time and money-happens all the time.Try contacting Daryl Allison at Kaizo Industries, who brings in a fair amount of Skyline GT-Rs and R35 GT-Rs, or Sean Morris at RB Motoring who is very knowledgeable on the subject. And most importantly, beware of the shady "businesses" all over the forums that make false promises. If the price is too good to be true-it is!

Sticking With The Autostick
I just recently purchased an '03 G35, complete with headers, a full exhaust, and an intake. It's an automatic, but has the Autostick option as opposed to an old-fashioned slush-box. Do you think that it would hold up under the abuse of turbocharging? I read your response to a question a few months back where you said that adding a turbo or supercharger could cause problems to an automatic. Any advice that you could give would be greatly appreciated.
--Francisco Mari, Baltimore, Md.

Some auto transmissions respond better than others, depending on factors such as durability and strength, OEM transmission programming, and valvebody and torque converter configuration. In most applications, the addition of a turbo will completely change the torque delivery characteristics of your engine, meaning the transmission's management system would need to be modified to compensate; to get shift points and valvebody-line pressures to work well with the engine's new torque delivery characteristics. Since this is fairly expensive to do, I usually advise people to not turbocharge their automatic cars for big power, unless you're prepared to part with big money. The 350Z/G35 Autostick transmissions are a bit stronger than your average import transmission, and their programming works relatively well with the addition of a mild turbo, producing up to 400 whp. Just make sure you add an oil cooler for increased reliability. If you want to turn up the power to 500+ whp, I'd recommend having the transmission built with higher friction clutch packs, a custom valvebody, and a smaller and stronger torque converter. Talk to the people at IPT or Level 10. It's big money, but after all the work, automatic turbo cars can be fast and pretty damn consistent.