JIS Seatbelts, provably better than DOT
Actually, Australia (an importer of JDM cars for obvious reasons) will happily accept JIS marked seatbelts... but not DOT. Check it out. This is the import form filled out by the mechanics doing a 'rego' (registration, OOP, safety... whatever you want to call it), and Australia is very strict about their compliance.
Here's a fun image from the sheet they fill out.
DOT need not apply.
Check that out... DOT is, quote, "Generally not accepted". That's awesome. Clearly someone in Australia did the work to prove that DOT seatbelts are not as good as JIS seatbelts.
The reason this came up, is Rob Reimer (hereby known as 'Mr. Awesome') was clever enough to look at Australia's import standards... they have comparable standards to Canada in many respects, so what about this one. Brilliant.
Mr. Awesome posted as a comment on 'Meeting with MPI - the details':
According to FMVSS 209, a seat belt must withstand no less than 22689 N of force on the overall assembly, where the JIS standard insists on no less than 22700 N. A somewhat minor difference, I concede, but the fact remains that the standard is at the very least comparable.
And, the translated JIS document: is here. (Though, I could use a better copy). And here's the Japanese original.
So, now I have more ammunition to use against MPI. Amazing. I'm still deciding how to use this new knowledge. If I should bring it up with MPI, or take it to the MLAs. I think MPI is where I'll start, as I have a contact there. Any suggestions?
My Japanese-speaking turbo timer
When importing a car from a different continent, you might get some unusual goodies along with it. My friends have found Japanese Yen, subway tickets, cigarette packs, and random notes. You also might get goodies like turbo timers, blow-off valves and other engine tweaks.
My favourite goodie is my turbo timer. It speaks Japanese when I turn the car on or off (if the timer is on). For a long time I didn't know what it was saying. I took a Japanese course at university (I needed some arts credits, and, why not?) and all I knew was that she was saying 'something something is ok'.
It got funnier as time went on, as I knew the rhythm and tune she said her sentences, but not what she was saying.
And here it is!
My friend was kind enough to translate for me, you can see it in the youtube comments.
Standby: OK Desu (Standby is ok)
Countdown: Starto shimasu. (Starting countdown)
Pretty fun to have these quirky things with your pretty unique import.
Thanks "foomeister2347"!