Hi Guys, I'm just looking forward to see some serious opinions on which route I should take. I'm just going to lay down the main facts about my situation. Your help is appreciated. Honest opinions only please.

1) You live in the Dominican Republic
2) You currently own a 01 EM2 with a stock engine
3) You're very pleased with your car in terms of looks/exterior and availability of parts...
4) ...but at the same time, you're definetly looking for more power
5) In your country, importing Japanese cars is fairly easy/popular lately...
6) ...but if you do import a Japanese car, you have to convert it from RHD to LHD because the police will not let you drive it RHD and the car would be your daily driver.
7) You can get a 02 DC5-R for the same price or even a little less than a DC5-S, but the DC5-S could be of a more recent make year.
8) If you decide to stick with the EM2 and do a K-Swap, you could very well be the first one in the country with a K-Swapped 7th gen.

The way I see it, this is how it ends up:

Buying the DC5-R: Lots of Goodies straight from the factory. I would personally only want to start working on engine upgrades and would leave the exterior as is. Uniqueness. Need to deal with the RHD to LHD conversion.

Buying the DC5-S: No need to deal with the RHD to LHD conversion. Would be tempted to work on the exterior and not only on the engine. Could be of a more recent make year rather than 2002 being the only chance.

K-swapping the EM2: Uniqueness (more unique than having the DC5-R, because there's actually around 5 in the country already). It also saves you from the hassle of RHD to LHD conversion, but adds the hassle of an engine swap, which is even harder to do when you don't live in the US and you need to pretty much order everything (you would need to maybe order/wait till you find specific and less available parts than the RHD to LHD conversion).

What would you do? and another very important question: If your answer is "buy the DC5-R", what parts do you need for a full, clean RHD to LHD conversion (complete USDM dashboard is obvious, what else)?

 

If you want less hassle, on a budget and start modding the engine i'd go straight for the DC5-s. No engine swapping, no RHD to LHD nothing, just mod and go. That's my opinion. If you have the money i'd go em2 with k swap. If you can't have the RHD it's kinda pointless to even own the DC5-R.

Best price for the budget is go with the DC5-S.

 

I'd say go for the Type-S as well. You can always put the Type-R goodies on at a later point.

 

Your shoes are way to big for me to fit them.

Seriously though, the RSX Type-S is the best option out of everything.

 

I agree with all of you in terms of the Type S being the choice with less hassle. But it would imply spending more money in the end, since for Type R, I wouldn't touch the exterior, nor buy rims, I would only invest in maybe a small drop. For the Type S, I would need to buy rims, lip kit, the wing, etc.

It's also hard to know that for the same price you could get a real Type R.

K-Swapping the EM2 would be rewarding, but as you say, would also mean investing more money and a big hassle.