Buying FRP Doors and Polycarbonate Windows from Japan (2026)

Yes, you can buy lightweight doors and windows from Japan: HPI lists FRP doors for the S15 Silvia at ¥107,800 per side (about $674), Parts Land sells a pair of 180SX/S13 FRP doors at ¥30,800, and VERTEX sells 4 mm polycarbonate 180SX door glass at ¥55,000 per side. None of these shops ships a door abroad as a normal parcel, so the box size and the freight route decide the real cost. Every price below was checked on the official pages on 23 October 2026.

Dropping a steel door for FRP, and glass for polycarbonate, is one of the biggest single weight cuts on a drift car. HPI says its doors weigh less than half of a stock door. It is also one of the hardest parts to get out of Japan, because a door is big, light and easy to crack, and a clear window scratches if it is packed badly. Prices are as listed, mostly including Japan’s 10% tax. Dollars use ¥160 to $1.

Who makes FRP doors and polycarbonate windows in Japan?

We found three Japanese makers that publish prices for these parts on their own shops. Here is what each one lists.

HPI’s doors keep the stock shape, take a power window and have a side impact bar in the inner panel. HPI also mentions its own acrylic windows to go with them, but no price for those is published, so we treat it as not officially stated. For the JZX100 and AE86 we found no listed FRP door or polycarbonate kit from these three makers. VERTEX says it can make windows for cars that are not on its list, on request.

What should you check before you order?

On materials: VERTEX writes that many race rules now refuse acrylic and ask for polycarbonate, which is why it uses 4 mm sheet. If you run in a series, read its current rulebook yourself and match the thickness it asks for.

On used parts: FRP doors and clear windows also turn up on Yahoo! Auctions and Mercari. A used door with a cracked hinge mount or a window with deep scratches is not a bargain. Our guide to used S13, S14 and S15 doors and body panels found that big panels are often pickup only or delivered to a depot, and pickup-only parts in Japan explains why.

How does a door or window ship from Japan?

Start inside Japan. Parts Land sends its FRP doors as an E-size oversized item by Seino Transportation to a business address or a Seino depot: ¥3,410 to Honshu, Shikoku or Kyushu, against ¥7,370 to a private home, which it marks as not recommended. HPI’s doors are bought through its own shop or its dealers. The VERTEX shop’s delivery list includes an “outside Japan” option, but no overseas rate is printed on the page.

Then the export leg. EMS stops at a longest side of 1.5 m to the US, UK and Canada, and 1.05 m to Australia and Germany. A door box is usually over 1.05 m, and it is mostly air, so courier volumetric weight bites hard. The maths is in shipping oversized JDM parts, and the route choice is in EMS vs courier vs sea.

Windows ship easier than doors, but they need flat, stiff packing with the protective film left on. A polycarbonate sheet that slides around in a box arrives scratched. If you buy doors and windows together, one crate for both is usually the cheaper and safer answer. A bonnet or wing from the same build can share it too: see FRP and carbon bonnets and GT wings from Japan.

What are the ways to buy, and what does each cost?

Where do overseas buyers get stuck?

At the order itself. HPI’s doors are made to order, and a VERTEX window for a car not on its list starts with an enquiry to the maker, in Japanese. You need to confirm fitment, the lead time and the final price with the maker before anything is paid, and then get a long, fragile box from a business-only freight drop to an export carrier.

If you are timing the build around a practice day, the Japan drift calendar lists upcoming events by date. For other big parts, the parts price index shows current used prices each month.