Best Motoring

[bboxer]

If you get a chance, rent or buy the February 02 release of BM. It's all about NSX's.
Starts with the Kenwood racer and goes thru 02 NSX type S, Type Szero, old type R and stock. It ends with a 5-lap race of these cars with an RX7 type R and an Evo.
THIS one definitely needs translation)
Tino S.

 

[ilya]

Thanks for the info!
Time to head down to our favorite bookstore in Little Tokyo and pick up a copy.
For those of you who want one too, you're going to have to beat me to it!

 

[Edo]

I *still* can't find it available in any stores...
I think they released it Jan 20th..so only a few days ago...DAMMIT I want that video!!!
*hands shaking*

 

[Nimbus]

The Feb '02 edition with the new NSX was out 12/25.

 

[s2ktaxi]

OK, who is going to translate? Tino, how's your Japanese coming along?

 

[cojones]

I'm interested in getting one -- can someone who's located a source look into getting copies ??

Thanks

 

[kenjiMR]

I speak Japanese and have watched the tape.

I can give you run-down on Tsuchiya's opinion.

He really likes the new NSX Type-Ss suspension and tire changes... He complained a lot about the old type-S (Silver). Then he was very happy with the Type-S Zero (Blue) but said that a normal driver would have a difficult time going fast in it. Then he drives the old 3.0L Type-R, he says this is still the ultimate one and enjoys it the most. It is worthy of the Type-R emblem. Toward the end of the video you see Tsuchiya discussing the differences between the two Type-Ss (Orange and Silver) They comment how loose and how bad the old silver one is in comparison... they are quite shocked and upset that the old one is so bad even though they are virtually the same car.

I'm guessing the big difference is mainly alignment and tire size/type that makes the huge difference.

 

[Z18]

Oh, no, no! Surely it can't have ANYTHING to do with wider tires!

-Z18

 

[nsxtasy]

I'm guessing the big difference is mainly alignment and tire size/type that makes the huge difference.

I would guess it has nothing to do with either of those items, but that the difference they felt was in the suspension, the extra 20 hp, and the six-speed.

[This message has been edited by nsxtasy (edited 27 January 2002).]

 

[Z18]

Except that the old type S and new type S have the same HP and the same transmission, and I'm pretty sure the same suspension. Read it again: he's saying the Best Motoring driver liked the new Type S better than the old Type S, and just about the only non-cosmetic changes ARE the wider tires.

But hey, that's just me and the obviously several dillusional NSX drivers who were at Buttonwillow this weekend pulling Gs (yeah, they all had wider tires on too).

-Z18 (who is grateful Honda put wider tires on the new NSX, and is hoping they'll add some HP next)

 

[nsxtasy]

Originally posted by Z18:
Except that the old type S and new type S have the same HP and the same transmission, and I'm pretty sure the same suspension.

Oh, good point.

Then my guess is that the struts (shocks) on the older one are worn, and that's what he's feeling.

But hey, that's just me and the obviously several dillusional NSX drivers who were at Buttonwillow this weekend pulling Gs (yeah, they all had wider tires on too).

All relative novices, I bet. They sound like the kind of guys who think they can buy faster lap times.

Just like all the guys with the wider tires who I was passing at the last two NSXPO's with my skinny '91-stock-size tires.

[This message has been edited by nsxtasy (edited 28 January 2002).]

 

[cojones]

Originally posted by kenjiMR:
He really likes the new NSX Type-Ss suspension and tire changes... He complained a lot about the old type-S (Silver).

< snip >

Toward the end of the video you see Tsuchiya discussing the differences between the two Type-Ss (Orange and Silver) They comment how loose and how bad the old silver one is in comparison... they are quite shocked and upset that the old one is so bad even though they are virtually the same car.

I'm guessing the big difference is mainly alignment and tire size/type that makes the huge difference.

Thats plausible, also that (as mentioned earlier) the old one may be more "worn". Unlikely, as they usually provide good condition vehicles -- unless they intentionally wanted to accentuate the new car (aka sandbagging

).

Just a WAG, but would the improved aero (decreased drag coefficient) also help ?

Then he drives the old 3.0L Type-R, he says this is still the ultimate one and enjoys it the most. It is worthy of the Type-R emblem.
IIRC, there was a recent video of a NEW Type-R lapping a Japanese roadcourse. I wonder why they didn't they test this one.

[This message has been edited by cojones (edited 28 January 2002).]

 

[kenjiMR]

Z18, you were at Buttonwillow? I wanted to go so bad... I was going to go, but I lost my lug nut key, so I didn't want to risk going. Did you meet up with Dough, Chris Wilson, Nitzan and Andrie?

Anyways, regarding the video. I'm sure you guys all know who Tsuchiya is... but he was driving the silver type-s around trying to chase the other pro driver in the orange on Tsukuba, but the car was obviously a LOT more sloppy. I'm also pretty sure the silver type-s is fairly new and would not have any serious difficiencies due to its age. In any case, the old type-s and the new type-s are the heaviest of the bunch and Tsuchiya complained a lot about the weight and power-steering. Even though Best Motoring is biased toward Honda, it didn't seem like Tsuchiya liked the 'look' of the new NSX much. I can answer any other questions you guys may have.

 

[Nimbus]

Why is the Type R so slow in the 400m test? Slower than a Type S? I understand the Type R is a 3.0 liter with 5sp, but weight wise it should make up for those differences.

 

[nsxtasy]

Why is the Type R so slow in the 400m test?

It's probably due to gearing differences. Let's say that the Type S can do the 400m (or 1/4 mile) in third gear, while the shorter gearing of the Type R requires an upshift to fourth. The Type R will be at a disadvantage, not only due to the additional time needed for the extra upshift, but also due to the taller gearing in fourth, compared with the Type S in third.

 

[MAJOR STONER]

http://www.bestmotoringvideo.com/

 

[Nimbus]

Originally posted by MAJOR STONER:
http://www.bestmotoringvideo.com/

Not to confuse anyone or lead anyone to buy the wrong videos regarding our original topic, the above link is to BM International edition in English. The true monthly Best Motoring publication is in Japanese only and feature the latest tests and reviews of various sports worthy cars.

BM International edition is merely an extract of several months of Japanese BM edition translated to English. So far it does not have the reviews to the new NSX.

 

[millionshopper]

Originally posted by Nimbus:
Why is the Type R so slow in the 400m test? Slower than a Type S? I understand the Type R is a 3.0 liter with 5sp, but weight wise it should make up for those differences.

Its probably due to the driver. Seems like the younger japanese driver in the video had better times than the older one of the same car.

For example the older driver drove 02 NSX with 13.249 and the younger driver did it with 12.764. Its amazing how the Blue Type S-Zero did 1/4 mile in 12.478, thats 02 Z06 and Viper league.

 

[Edo]

The older driver is Kurosawa Motoharu.
He has posted 12.7 second 1/4mi times in the S-Zero, and is very skilled at drag racing, as are all the drivers. The 12.48 I saw in this video was the fastest time ever posted by ANY stock S-zero in the last 3 years of Best Motoring.
The younger guy was Kurosawa Takuya (The son of the older guy). He tends to post very fast 1/4mi times, but is not by any means significantly faster or slower than any of the other drivers.

 

[kenjiMR]

Edo, isn't it 0-400M dash?
whats the 0-400M compare to 1/4 mile?
They are probably slightly different.
-Kenji

 

[kenjiMR]

Did some math...
437.44 yards = 400 Meters.

1/4 mile = 440 yards
so I guess they are different by 2.56 yards.

 

[Edo]

I don't think that final 6 feet makes that big of a difference, especially considering the fact that cars are traveling at over 100mph at that point.

100mph=8800feet/minute
8800feet/minute=146.67 feet per second.
That last 2.5 meters or so (roughly 7 feet)
makes a difference of 0.05 seconds or so.
Not enough to make an appreciable difference especially when considering driver error.

 

[Barn Man]

I ran out of toes to count on. What can I use now?

 

[ak]

I finally got the video($30

) and wanted to chip in here.

First of all, those guys driving the cars are by no means amatuers. If you see the clip of Tsuchiya san ripping around the hilly course, you'd be amazed how much he's pushing the car. But anyway, it's interesting that the Japanese drivers(testers) in geneneral talks about NSX's tendency to under then over, a challenge. They consider it more of an art form to master driving NSX where the American testers(R&T and such) considers it bothersome at best.

The 0-400m test is not really subjective. They didn't have good launch on some of their runs but kept the time, but they did prove that S-zero is faster than typeS.

But anyway, I thought the new NSX in action actually looked very good...much much better than just sitting down. Now I can't wait to drive my NSX again! damn cold weather!

[This message has been edited by ak (edited 18 February 2002).]

[This message has been edited by ak (edited 18 February 2002).]

 

[ChopsJazz]

"NSX's tendency to under then over, a challenge."

I don't understand what that means.