The First post...

afterburner · Post by **afterburner** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:48 pm

Yeah there are a number of people who do copies - in fact my panelbeater has found one already. I really want an original though, because settling for a copy means that my bodykit has suddenly lost $700 of value through no fault of my own. But for an original the cost would be in the region of $1700, and would take 2 months to arrive

Maybe I should settle for a stock facelift bumper...

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Thu Feb 10, 2005 11:16 pm

Ho guys - My first FTO arrives from Japan next week. Pretty much standard '95 Black Manual (except some jokers put an exhaust on her you could fit your head into). Hoping to get rid of the 3-spokes too...

I'm near Welly. Kapiti Coast.

afterburner · Post by **afterburner** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 8:17 pm

Well I finally got my car back - I can't believe how nice it is to drive compared to the crappy 323 I had as a loaner.

And I finally got to put my gauges in:

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 10:10 pm

How's the outside look Afterburner? Manage to find bumper you wanted? How bout wing and bonnet?

afterburner · Post by **afterburner** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 6:47 am

Outside is all good - its got a replacement bumper, bonnet, passenger's side guard, and headlight. It's also been repainted over the roof and rear wing where the paint was chipped, so it looks good now. I'm just so happy to have it back

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 10:04 am

Great. Any probs with the guy paying up? Think i'd have lost it and turned to bloodshed when i saw that...

afterburner · Post by **afterburner** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 1:31 pm

Nah I never heard from him again after the accident - my insurance company got onto him and it was actually all settled in my favour in the first week of January. Helps that I had a letter from the cops saying they had found the accident to be his fault. So it didn't cost me anything ... other than the frustration of not being able to drive my car for nearly 2 months

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 2:34 pm

Sue for 2 months of fun....

Glad to hear you're back up and running again!

Boris · Post by **Boris** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 3:27 pm

Man, I was in NZ. recently, came back today.
I have to say, I have never seen so many FTO's in one town... (Christchurch)
Donno about any other towns, but saw even and FTO in Milford Sound! and a number of them in Queenstown.....

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 12:41 am

Are a few around! Mine will be the 5th in my small town. Just me or don't the Kiwi's appriciate them as much because of it?

afterburner · Post by **afterburner** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 1:13 pm

Grue wrote:Are a few around! Mine will be the 5th in my small town. Just me or don't the Kiwi's appriciate them as much because of it?

Thats what I think too - here they're just another car. I think I wrote a post about it in another thread, but I'm kind of jealous of the attention they get, and the enthusiasts who buy them, in Australia. But then again they are way cheaper here.

Boris, you should try Auckland

. If I posted in the 'Spotted' section for every FTO I saw, I'd have 95% of the posts in there

Where abouts are you Grue?

By the way, I went to Meremere on the weekend and raced at the Import Battle Day. I had a best time of 15.3, which was a little disappointing as I had hoped to be in the high 14s. I guess forgetting and accidentally filling it up with fuel didn't help!

But on the bright side, I managed to win the C6 class!!

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:14 pm

down near Welly, on Kapiti Coast.

Though at this rate it won't be long before we're a select few with the amount of nearly new imports coming over!

Look after her properly, and she'll be a rare-classic car in a few years! Then the poeple who look down their noses at us will regret it. mu ha ha ha...

Heard a lot of kiwi's say "Oh, the FTO is sluggish". Only thing i can come up with is they're not used to such a high reving engine??? When i was looking to buy, another guy looking asked the seller why it was so much faster when the owner drove it compared to when he had a go. The reply was "Learn to drive properly." Don't think he was too impressed by his sales technique....

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:30 pm

.... and at least in NZ you can go into a car shop/garage, and when u tell them what car the part is for, they don't say "What the hell is that?"

afterburner · Post by **afterburner** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:20 am

I think the other thing is that there is the whole 'FTOs are slow and ricey because for the same or similar money I could get a phat Evo/WRX/Skyline/VR-4/GSR/RX-7/Silvia/GT-Four/Supra etc' attitude. And there's also the attitude that if you want a fast N/A car, you buy a Honda. I still find myself explaining to people that no, my car is not a 1800cc automatic, it's actually roughly equivalent to the DC2 Type R Integra. It seems not many people know much about the FTO because I don't think they're really considered a performance car, at least not compared to the list above. And of course, FWD is still a stigma in many people's minds, especially with the popularity of drifting these days.

When I sold my old car (a 93 twin turbo E84A VR-4 which ran low 13sec 1/4 miles) and got the FTO, almost everyone I know made comments like 'what the hell did you do that for' and 'why did you buy a hairdresser's car'? I just laugh at them, but at the same time I am kind of like

And NOBODY knows what a Version R FTO is - they think I've just added the stickers onto the wing for rice value...

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 4:04 pm

There must be a mini-meet going on in Paraparaumu today. Why wasn't I invited?

Drove into town passing 2 FTO's on the 2 min drive.
Went into post office, come out and there's one parked right outside.
Went into supermarket, come out and there's one parked right next to me.
Drove home, passing another one on my street.

And there was me in a Rav4. Not fair... she's in for a service at the mo.

brianbrian · Post by **brianbrian** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:32 am

Hi, everyone! I am new here!

brianbrian · Post by **brianbrian** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:34 am

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brianbrian · Post by **brianbrian** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:37 am

[IMG]http://img701.photo.wangyou.com/2005/5/ ... 244720.jpg?[/IMG]

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:00 pm

Ho Brian. She yours?

afterburner · Post by **afterburner** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 11:23 am

And now my car is for sale