The “R34 Tax”… Are these JDM Legends worth the $$$?
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Nissan 300Z
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Nissan R34
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Nissan Gtr
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Toyota Supra
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Nissan 370Z
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Mazda Rx7
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Chevrolet Camaro
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You know, I'm looking to bring a trailer, and there was a really, really nice 96 at 300Z, I guess they're just sold recently, that the guys over at Specialty D worked on and kind of took care of it, but it got me thinking, because I just go on there and really look through, and I saw these R34 Sky Niles are now going for $150,000, $200,000, usually with GT-R, GT-R, GT-R, V-Specs, you know, they're great cars.
I just can't see the value in four to five times the price of a pristine low mileage, 300ZX, compared to a mild amount of mileage, probably being beat on pretty steadily GT-R for $150,000.
I don't know that the two are comparable in any shape or form, but what's the metrics we're using here?
Is it the driving? Is it the driving? Is it the power? Is it the legacy? Is it the collecting? There's just so many other factors here, you know?
Right, so for me, a big part of it is, yes, obviously, is the driver experience. Being that I have only driven the 2.5 of either R34s.
Right, so you're driven the regular, like, you know, like GCDs or so?
Yeah, it was like a little four to one, so I can't speak to that, but as far as the R33 and the R32, I've driven GT-R versions of both of those.
Pretty steady horsepower, about like 700 on the one. That was the R33. We did some work on it, had to drive around and do a lot of stuff.
Regardless of that, great parts. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing the car, it's very capable, but I just don't see the driving experience being that much better than three times better $1 for $1 than the 300ZX.
Especially when, if you spend time in a high power Z, they feel very comfortable at high power levels. I felt even the R32, especially, feels a little squirrely.
It's a small car, you start getting into power, it does kind of get that crab walk feeling going, and it's a lot of fun.
But I don't know if I would enjoy that all the time, every time I wanted to get into power.
I think the hard part is when you look at these cars, I think that there's going to be these different parameters of how you're judging the cars.
In R34, to me, if you're buying a $106,000 or $1,000 or R34, you're getting a GTR, you're getting a V-Spec, you're getting something that's not crazy high mileage.
I don't think there was one for $150,000, but I'm sure there will at one point.
But what you're getting there is, to me, I think it's not as much about the driving experiences as much about obtaining either the legacy of that car or the collector's idea of that car.
To me, it's no difference than like, I'm not a sneaker like head, right? Like, doubt is.
And I'm sure that he can make an incredible argument why, let's say, you know, some really decent looking Nike running shoes that he's going to have a really cool name for that I'm not cool enough to know.
Versus a really dope set of new balances.
I'm not sure what like if, you know, could we agree that this one's worth double in some instances than the nuts?
There is a little bit, I mean, look, I'm sure you can go say, oh, this shoe is really comfortable compared to that shoe or whatever it is.
Well, I've run a mile in these shoes. I mean, none of which I'm going to do.
But like, I guess I think that there's also there's a brand element. There's a legacy. There's an image.
There's there's a lot of reasons people want to own cars.
I just feel like it's and I'm not the irony of saying this on a podcast on YouTube.
But I feel like it could become very YouTube or become very much a loud chasing type of thing where it's just a sad symbol like any other super car.
And those cars to me weren't super cars. They were a tuner car.
They were a car that, you know, a warehouse, you know, a tuning shop was able to build into something.
Yeah, better.
Like I could see spending that kind of money on a HKS zero or or that kind of money on some of those cars are not that kind of money.
They're way more.
No, they are way more now.
And but I'm saying if they weren't known to the level that they're known because of social media, they would still probably be that price.
Well, they wouldn't be as astronomical as they are.
And that's where my mindset goes is that we're chasing cloud cloud and money that isn't realistic for what it is.
It's artificially inflated.
Well, all right.
So so here at logic is going to be used by anybody who isn't going after those cars, right?
For example, I think we could almost even bring this back to the argument that we did with the, you know, with the poor stuff.
And, you know, how they're modifying it.
I don't want to mention names.
I don't know where they're again.
And but, you know, why body stuff?
I don't want to.
So but I get the point.
I think that everybody got a reason that they want to have a car and some cars resonate with others and some are about nostalgia.
And I think for people of my generation and I'm going to say your generation.
I think I think to get the gap extends that these and I'm going to call them.
I don't want to call them supercars.
I don't think they I don't think by definition they're supercar.
But I also don't believe that they're just a regular tuner car.
I think that that's why I think you hear these cars referred to as JDM legends.
Yeah.
And that's why they, you know, and in that thing, I think you get the JDM legends, you know, chronically is referred to as obviously GTR's Supras.
I think RX seven FDR sevens end up in there.
I believe, you know, you could start to make your argument that there's some lost JDM legends that maybe don't get as much like 3,000.
Yeah, the three, like the 300 ZX or the 3,000 GT or 3,000 GT VR four.
I think you could make the case that there's a few other cars that maybe be able to squeak into that JDM legends type thing.
But when you go after those cars, I don't think it's only because of how great the driving experience was.
Or Google.
I mean, I guess you could also say that, you know, modern cars in a lot of respects would have a better driving experience and you could get more, you know, power for less money.
I guess you could say that.
Yeah.
I think there's a debatable realm there.
Right.
I mean, like, I will say one of the cool appearances of some of the JDM legends that are really held up on the pedestal is the fact that they had this history of being able to make a lot of power with a fairly stock one.
I think that one of the things that has transformed the cars that were transformed the cars that have really seated on that JDM legends type list from the ones that didn't was maybe how conceivably easy it was to make power.
There was other cars that were able to make more power, but maybe not as much as that, for example, DSM.
I think you could, you know, it was not uncommon to find a 450 all-wheel drive, you know, 450 horsepower to the wheels, all-wheel drive on a stock block.
Stock motor.
You know what I mean?
Bolt-ons, babies and cans, different things like that.
You know, you look at the 2J and the 2J does it much better, right?
Yeah.
Now you're talking about those things all day long, 600 horsepower.
Yeah.
You know, you're placing for displacing and argument can be made and then also you have a lot of the differences.
Maybe.
But like, all right, so let's go back.
Let's go to my VR4.
I think that the reason that car drastically didn't make it to that list.
I mean, if you look, if you put the, like if you put the Supra, an A80 Supra down on paper, stock trim, stock form with a 3000 GT VR4 stock form.
I think that you could even make the argument that the 3000 GT was a better car.
I mean, arguably the all-wheel drive system gives us the advantage.
Okay.
You've got the all-wheel drive system.
You have far better.
You've actually made more power and also the technology difference between the two.
I mean, not to knock, right?
Not to knock the Toyota guys in the house, but out of those cars, I mean, even if you add that 300 to the mix and you throw in the R34,
the technology differences between those cars with massive the Supra did not really have the technological advantage in that war.
It made tons of power.
Yeah.
I mean, when you built it with all that I'm saying in stock trim, the attesta system in the R34s obviously was a big technological lead.
Yep.
Then you had the, all the technology in your VR4.
I mean, the car is all a drive, all-wheel steering, had the active arrow, which obviously didn't do anything, but it was certainly fun.
You know, V6 twin turbo.
I mean, so there was, when you put the thing on paper and, you know, I think what I'm, but I guess what I'm saying is,
but the reason that I don't believe the VR4 was placed into that same category is because of the fact that inherently it developed some Danish for being really heavy
and not as nimble and not being a car that you could inherently work on easy.
Two days a little bit, whatever.
Also, I think it also had a reputation for maybe not being able to make as much power as easily, right?
As maybe an RB26 or, you know, as a 2J.
And so, you know, the 6G72, which is in, you know, the VR4, it does actually make quite a bit of power in stock trim without having to build them before you get to that point.
But I mean, you want to change the turbo to take the engine out.
Well, that's the same.
I mean, I don't know if you have a few, but it's two.
Like, I mean, you know.
Same thing with the 300ZIs.
You know, you want to start doing any major work you're talking to.
You love the 300ZIs.
I do.
I mean, I'll be honest.
I've pulled.
I've done twin turbo setups for a couple of buddies cars, built those with them.
I've done maintenance on all those.
But honestly, I don't mind swapping into that.
They have a huge engine, baby, because of that whole layout of the VG30 taking up so much space.
Yeah, but the VG30 does take up so much space.
Oh, yeah.
It's huge.
But the car still feels so good even when.
So, yeah, it takes a lot of space, but it's very short.
So you don't have a lot of weight.
So when I went, remember the conversation we were having about when I went to put the RB25
that month, adding that weight over the nose, I felt it like it was noticeable.
And going back and thinking like, man, I really should have stuck with it because I've driven
my buddies.
Because you're setting the gravity so far forward.
Exactly.
And I could feel that it felt more pivoted.
You know, it felt more front-heated.
Well, because the V, they're able to make shorter because now your cylinders are here.
They're not stacked like that.
Yeah, exactly.
So much the front cylinders are just past your strut points on the stock 300ZIs.
Now I got two cylinders floating way out on the front, almost at the radiator.
Right.
So now you had a little nose, heavy, the car wants to dive a little bit more.
It doesn't want to, it's not as nimble.
You got a little bit too much weight on top of a wheel.
All the things I thought weren't going to be a problem were a problem.
Like, I was like, oh, no, I'll be fine.
Like, it's not going to be that noticeable.
And it was noticeable.
It really did make a difference in the driving pattern.
And I still think that I feel that even driving a GT-R, I felt that.
And I might be also biased because I do enjoy the R35 platform.
And that has that very still B60 feel.
And I like that that's more about continuation of the Z to car comparatively.
But I just, I've always wanted to be the one that fell in love.
Like, I like, I love GT-R because I think they're great cars.
I like looking at them pretty, but I just can't, I can't see it.
Like, I can't see spending that kind of money.
And going back to the ending situation, the two J's, you can still get for a relatively
decent price to the cars we're made here.
What's decent?
I think what we found, I think I saw.
And we're talking about like non-terrabo.
We're talking just like, you can go get them.
They're still around in the market.
Okay.
And I just happened to look just because out of curiosity, looking at RB26,
they're going for $12,000 for the one from JD, from like a JDM.
And so here's, here's what I will say.
All right.
That's, that's fair.
Yeah.
I will say that I think, at least at the time we're recording this podcast,
that I think that the market definitely has solved because I saw for a while,
like I would, you would go online.
And if you wanted to buy, you know, a complete long RB26 long block,
I mean, yours definitely, you were definitely in the nine to $12,000 range.
And lately I've started to see sound go for sale for $7,500, $8,000.
I didn't.
But, but now,
$13,000.
Yeah.
And then it's going to be easy to find them because they're still fetching,
they're still, they'll put any prices.
I don't know if they're going to sell as much of that price.
But like as, as anything in life becomes more rare,
the cost goes up.
Sure.
And anything in life takes on more of a, oh my God, I can't get it.
The FOMO in the car community, like many other industries is real.
And when that's set in and people think that they're going to lose different
things or options to be able to own these cars,
the panic helps to escalate.
It's no different than that.
Right.
You're playing with a commodity.
When a commodity becomes more scarce,
the price of the commodity goes up.
I, I'm going through it.
I mean, like, you know, you, I mean,
I know that divulging too much right now,
but I've recently got into a little car purchasing binge thing.
And so, and obviously the VR floor is one of them,
but you know, look at the VR floor,
I feel like I got a good price for it.
Obviously, there's, there's some stuff done to the car,
but the car is really clean in its example,
which is very true to the way I would want to own a car.
I was a DSM person back in the day.
So while this isn't, you know,
exactly what people think of DSM,
it was one of the cars that has a similar feel,
that Mitsubishi feel, that early 90s Japanese feel,
it's still raw while it has a little bit of this tech in.
The tech is clunky.
But do you think a R34 is worth four times as much
as that 3000 GT?
I think the R34 is worth that much
in some of the examples that it has because of the fact
that it's going to come with a rarity
that's going to become hard to, to a painting, right?
Now, I also think that there's a lot of history
and legacy with those cars.
That is probably the most stereotypically used
tuner car of the JDM legends that exist, right?
Do I think that the car from a driving power,
you know, enjoyable standpoint
for all the platforms or JDM cars that are out there
that you can get your hands on
to have a really fun driving experience,
owning experience of it?
Do I think it's worth that much money?
No.
But if you asked me if I had the money
and I didn't have an obligate,
like if I, if I had money, like money where,
like, hey, like I can just, I could spend it,
it wouldn't change my life at all.
And it wouldn't, you know,
influence something else I had to put a priority on.
And one became available
and I could own it and safely house it
and it could be part of my quote, quote,
collection and the answer is yes.
And I want it probably for the same reason
that I'm getting some of these other, you know,
Japanese cars or early, you know,
early 90s Japanese cars
or even, I guess, 2000s, you know, early 2000s.
It's because I really love them
and the balance that they strike
between that era of being so analog
and just getting digital and still work on them.
You can still have a lot of fun with them.
You know, now you're getting to a point where,
you know, inspections aren't becoming
so difficult for them.
So, you know, you're able to, you know,
really enjoy the car as, you know,
we like to enjoy them.
And I also think there is a great part of me
that really feels that I'm somehow preserving history.
And I know that sounds weird.
It really, like, I get it when people say,
what are you talking about?
But like, the fact that I'm able to have,
you know, this 3000 GT-VR4
and it was a single owner car,
you know, and then my friend got it,
so technically on the third owner.
But my friend had it for a bunch of years.
And he took care of it
and the fact that I'm able to look for the parts
to still put back and get this thing.
I mean, you know, you see the car, it's clean.
It's clean and underneath is even cleaner
and, you know, any part that I could replace
to refresh or, you know, something,
I've started to do that.
And the idea that, you know,
do I know that the car is going to go up in value?
I have no idea.
Do I know that I will look back at this car
in 10 or 15 years and enjoy the fact that I own it,
that I know I kept it as clean as possible.
This is going to be a great example of that car
and that trim with what these cars mean to me going forward.
Yeah, I feel like it's like I'm the protector.
See, I would respect that more
if that was every...
So I guess maybe I'm a little jaded
because as I said, I do feel like
there's been an artificial inflation
due to the seneness of it, you know, it has been.
And I miss the aspect of maybe I feel like
not everyone has that same thought process
of preservation and love for the vehicle.
And I think that might be also where my disconnect happens.
It's like, I don't see the value
making sense in relation to that
because to me, the guys that are going to be preserving it
aren't going to necessarily be the same ones
that are throwing that type of money at the cars.
Unfortunately, right now you don't have a choice.
No, no, I get that. I do.
I'm just saying that that's maybe where
I started to have that issue with it.
So everyone knows you picked up an FTO, right?
You picked up one of those little...
No, no, you didn't pick up an FTO.
Come on, that would be the perfect look.
No.
I had to slip that in because I don't think Max
even knows that that car exists.
I'm not a huge fan of the FTO.
It looks a little weird to me.
Oh, it looks very weird to everybody.
But anyhow, but no, I don't have an FTO.
But I think, you know, look, I think that
if you're looking for a 90s era,
if you're looking for that, yeah, that's not an FTO.
That's the beer for it.
But, and that was before I even really started to get it.
I think it's cleaner today than it was then.
But yeah, that would have been better.
And that's how I store my cars.
That's all the room I have.
Which is disappointing when you start to think about
the fact that I have another car
and I don't know where to keep it yet.
I know where you keep the Z.
Well, that's that.
Can we circle back for a second?
Now that you've brought the Z.
What's interesting to me is...
You talked about your love for the 300 ZX.
What do you just think about the 350?
So I actually like the 350.
I'm more of an HR fan.
I'm going to start there.
But you got two years with the 350 having an HR.
So let's go right to that period
and say that's the 350 we're talking about.
When you compare that to the comfortable nature,
the driving experience or whatever,
what year is your 300?
No, no.
When you compare that to your 300,
which car do you like more and what are the reasons?
So the drivability of the 350Z,
the turning, the responsiveness,
things like that are better.
Obviously, a latrine throttle body,
variable cam timing, things like that.
I make the car a more enjoyable car.
Hence why I'm doing the VQ37.
I want the new technology.
That I like about it.
When you get into the Z,
you sit lower, you're wrapped into a cockpit.
You kind of get into that fighter.
You're talking about that 300.
When I get into the 300ZX,
it's just different.
When you get into a cockpit,
you drop out of the helmet,
you're ready for battle type mindset.
It's a different feeling.
Obviously, the 300 is a little bit more spunly,
a little less responsive.
This is talking with a VG30.
I'm not talking with a motor swath or anything like that,
but just a stock engine, stock everything.
It's not anywhere near that feeling.
It does feel like more of that classic 90s car
where it has that feel.
You're talking about 300 now.
Yeah, I'm still talking about the 300.
I like the snapiness and responsiveness
of the 350Z
in comparison
to the touring car feel of
the 300.
But I would rather drive the 300 more
because of that touring feel.
That ability to just sit back, cruise in the car,
you're up on the highway doing
80 miles per hour.
It doesn't feel like you're going crazy fast.
You're just there.
You can drop down into another gear
and throttle in and the car just feels
comfortable.
The back end is not kicking out.
It's not throwing you around.
You get a high horsepower of 350Z or 370.
They snap around.
They like to mess with you.
They're not forgiving.
A 370Z first and second gear
on a twin turbo set will throw you sideways.
The supercharged ones are also pretty nasty also.
And I don't necessarily not like that.
I just like the feeling of that
a nice linear power barrier.
So the hard part I have is that
I think this is where the aftermarket
really shines with those cars.
My 350Z is obviously
twin-tail road
and obviously it has
a tremendous suspension things
and different things like that.
The car is
my car is really direct.
I can go
full-on in first and second gear
and while I don't really find
that the first gear is all that useful
but my power band
is super linear
and the car
does
it's really really good
and even the traction control off
it's a little bit messy obviously
in first gear and second gear
they don't do a lot because
the car has enough torque down low
then until you start to get into some
upper speeds like you're going to have that thing
and that's why sticky tires make a difference
and stuff like that.
But I understand what you're saying
about the touring thing.
I think that's why I like the VR Force so much.
It's a touring car.
It's not a race car.
It's far from what I think some of the DSM's
were
and you're right.
I think that a lot of the 90's
Japanese cars
have
that were so good was
they all did have that cockpit
-esque type feel.
If you look at going back
to the 2G
even 1G
but if you go back to some of the
eclipses and the GSX's
and stuff like that
the dashboard was kind of
shaped around you
is that the 300 does that same thing.
And then the Supra really had that cockpit
that dry waterfall down all the way
around you.
And I would say the RX-7
did the same thing and I'll even go as far
to say that while it's a little bit flatter
like my GT-R did as well.
See but that's where I find the difference
because I find the R34 interior
more akin to my Affinity interior
where it has that center console
but the year matches up with that.
Well my Affinity is an O9.
When you start to get into
like an R34
you're already the
two-dialogues.
Language is starting to move forward
through the legacy.
Just like you forget Skyline obviously
and the continuation.
But that's also where I feel there is that
differently because that's to me
a strictly 2x2 par
and I like the fact that I'm the 2x0
I don't like having back seats.
I am not a 300ZX 2x2 fan.
My best friend has one that is a
quote-unquote fast limo
and it meets 500 plus horsepower
but it's a 4-seater
and I don't like how long it is.
Puzzle fuel tank all the way out back
instead of being directly behind the driver
with your 350Z.
Same thing, it's right behind you
but you're sitting on the fuel tank.
I mean in those seats weren't really worth much.
I mean in your 4S rear seats
I don't know what to do with them.
I can't put anybody back there.
It's insurance, I swear. That's all I know.
I'm going with that, it's insurance.
Yeah, but no, listen, I get it.
I think if you're trying to...
I think there's definitely a lot of these cars
that are unlogically becoming
price tag-wise
more money but I also think that
when you start talking about that price tag rising
you really are
considering the fact that you're now
playing with heritage
legacy
a more
a more elite club
not in the sense of
it just what I'm saying is it takes more
it takes more, you know,
to get yourself into that.
Right, so
when that happens
they do become cloud cars
inadvertently for the guys that want them
for the right reasons
that's not the right thing.
Guys that want them for cloud reasons
versus the guys that want them for
you know, savior complex reasons like I do
it's still the same thing, right?
You still have to have the dollars
to be part of that club.
And
you know, I mean, you have to make a
decision for yourself whether
that kind of money for those cars is going to give
you the type of enjoyment. I mean, I personally
like
to have cars that I can work on.
I like to have cars that I can
use
but I also like to have cars that I mean
I really do enjoy that savior complex
that I have, right?
And so that's why I think I made that declaration
a long time ago that when I get cars to build
if they're the cars that I want and I actively pursue
and they
that I want to own them forever, which is why
I can't get rid of cars now.
I'm with you 100%, once I own them I don't want to
get rid of them, I fully understand that.
So, you know, so I'm keeping the
350Z, right? Because I think I
went to that car, I think it's the best it can be.
I mean, at its level
if you try to
decide at all when to make it 800 horsepower
or 900 horsepower, I think that obviously
could be a lot better. Yeah, but for what it
is, for what it is, you know, that car to
what, and I think that the
VR4 is certainly coming along and I think
the person that owned it for me, which was a good friend of mine
I think he did a really good job
balancing that
make more power, keep it feeling
very OE plus type thing
and he was very into preserving
that kind of
the whole thing of the car and
he did a great job of it so I was really happy
to get it and kind of be able to
push that torch forward and continue
to make the car
better. When I say better, it's not always
in the sense of like taking parts out
to make more part, you know, put parts in
that are better or make more
power, but like a lot of the stuff is like, you know
there's just some things that have gotten
really expensive, switches that
maybe have scratches in them or different things like
that. I'm going after trying to find cleaner examples
and desks, little plastic things
that may have cracked a little bit
and you know he's taking care of them the best
he can, but like I'm finding new ones
that eventually I'll put in and
that's my own thing. That's not like
there's no wrong, like he didn't do wrong by
not doing it. Like it's just, you know
you got to decide. Do you want to spend
$400 on some plastic trim?
Like it's crazy.
You might feel ridiculous
doing it except for the fact
that I know
and I've watched this happen time and time again
with some of these projects. I know
that if they're available now
and they're hard to get, they will be impossible
to get in a few years.
Yeah, we started to see that in my community
as well. Right. And when we get to that point
you have to decide
it's a now or never thing
and I think that's the way people feel about a lot
of these cars. When they're getting
the only opportunity to get the car. That's right.
Now does that change? Could
you know why? Because what drives this
in my opinion is nostalgia.
We've talked about this before. Right. So
the reason that
you know, let's say
you know, Chevelle's
and Camaro SS's and
some of these older domestic cars
the reason they have that muscle
car crowd, the reason they have
that affinity and they would spend crazy
money on these cars is because
that was the cars they wanted to own as a kid
or when they were younger and they couldn't
afford them. And now they're coming back
to get them because of the nostalgia
factor. That's what's happening
to us with these cars. Now I will
tell you that I believe in the muscle and a lot
of the muscle car sense and I've seen it plenty
some of those cars are affectionate big
price tags aren't able to go for nearly
as much anymore and that's because
the people that own them
have begun to not
drive anymore or not drive them
anymore or
they get to a point where the
younger person isn't necessarily looking
for those cars. Now there are plenty
of people that like domestic cars. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying
like and because of that
the demand has fallen and when that happens
some of the prices will come down. Will we
ever see that in our lifetime on these
cars? I don't know.
Is it possible that my
son
and my daughter will see that in their
lifetime? Hopefully.
Hopefully. Maybe. I would like
that. Well I mean
if your kids like cars. Well both of mine are
very much into it. We've been
into the space shed. I don't know.
I don't know.
I mean I think it's going to be tough.
I think you know for some of the kids
if you're a speed-addicted type person
you may have a tough time
comparing
some of these things when you start talking
about electric cars. Well the good thing is
there's a soap act. Listen I had the kids
at the drive strip this weekend. I went to
the drift and drag out in Calvertine
and sure enough I had
my kids literally cheering on
the gas power 56 Chevy
Bel Air trying to beat the Tesla
and they were still cheering on the gas power
which I couldn't be proud of. I gotta tell you
even though that comes from you
yeah 100% what's going to happen
into the generation of car people that are
coming from people that aren't car people
because they exist and it's going to happen
where did they settle? I don't know
it's going to be really interesting to see.
So the question I leave for
those people out there is this
where do you
draw? Well let's ask a couple questions.
The first thing is
when you decide
you want one of these cars where is
your metrics? Where is the part where you
decide the qualities
that will make you spend a lot of money?
Let's not put a number on it. Let's say a lot of money.
Is it the driving experience?
Is it the owning experience? Is it the cloud?
And it's okay if you say that. That's fine. That's a normal
allowable thing.
Is it the fact that you just want to
own something that you thought you would never
be able to own? What is it that drives
you to want to spend the kind of money in the car?
And then the second part I want to know
is for those out there
is it one of those things that if you're
into the 90s Japanese cars are you satisfied
enough going to get something
that gives you that
driving experience? For example, my VR4
gives me a great driving experience
and I really really enjoy
the fact that it has all that
rawness, nostalgicness
and that Japanese
clunky
but I like
that it's there, right?
And
I can get into that car for a
fraction.
I can't get a... A super would be
double or triple.
Triple.
That's the same thing I was doing.
Are there cars like that for you?
How do you prioritize it? I'm curious to hear
what people think.
Alright, well that's it for this one. We will catch you
in the next one. Thank you guys. Peace out.
About this episode
A deep dive into the rising prices of JDM legends, particularly the R34 Skyline GT-R, and whether they hold their value compared to other iconic models like the 300ZX. The hosts debate the metrics of value, including driving experience, legacy, and collector appeal. They share personal anecdotes about their own cars and explore the nostalgia factor driving current market trends. The conversation touches on the differences in driving dynamics between various models and the impact of social media on car valuations.
Original notes
In this episode of KONIG’s “Behind the Wheel” Podcast, we get real about JDM legends and ask the question no one wants to answer out loud:
Are we paying for performance… or prestige?
We’re breaking down the hype vs reality of owning iconic cars like the Nissan R34 Skyline—the poster child of Gran Turismo dreams and Fast & Furious fame—versus the often-overlooked but crazy capable Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4, a twin-turbo, AWD beast that never quite got the love it deserved.
We talk:
- Build potential – Which platform gives you more bang for your buck?
- Driving experience – Is one really more fun, or just more famous?
- Value vs. hype – Are buyers chasing performance, or chasing clout?
- Maintenance, tuning, and real-world ownership – What’s it actually like to live with these cars today?
We’re not here to hate—just here to have the conversations every car guy (and girl) is already having in the garage, the group chat, and at 2AM on car forums. Whether you’re Team Skyline, Team Underrated Sleeper, or just love all things JDM—this one’s for you.
2025 Behind the Wheel Podcast | All Rights Reserved
Thank you for tuning in, and if you enjoy our podcast, please SUBSCRIBE! We’re on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and iHeartRadio, and we always upload our full video interviews on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/konigwheels (we’d love for you to subscribe there as well!) Thank you for listening!
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The post The “R34 Tax”… Are these JDM Legends worth the $$$? appeared first on Konig Wheels Behind The Wheel Podcast.
Konig - Behind The Wheel Podcast
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