Sorry, I don't have a link to the video to post. Someone downloaded the entire episode and gave me a copy. Its on my hard drive but its several hundred MB so too big to upload.

Just thought i'd share results. I'm sure the clip will show up on youtube in the next week or so...

the race included:

997TT
'07 Gallardo (520HP)
M6
NSX-R

there was also a track test in the same volume featuring the new RS4 vs the outgoing M3 SMG.

it was in japanese, so i couldn't understand what they were saying, so am basing my observations on the lap times/sector times/speeds flashed on the screen, and what i noticed from the in-car cameras.

1) G-car still fastest around Tsukuba circuit. posted time was still in the high 1:04's. so, still pretty much the record holder around that track for a production car. for perspective, the extremely limited edition (20 pcs) Skyline R-34 Z-Tune did it in 1:01. but as we know, that is basically an all-out factory hotrod special, and should be judged against highly tuned vehicles. the 997 GT3 cup car did it in 59 seconds

2) Turbo was disappointing. ok, so the lap time was in the mid 1:05's, which is still very very fast. but it was all over the place in the corners. the driver was having to make so many corrections at the wheel, and generally looked like he was working much harder than the G-car driver. i can't remember who was driving what. I think Naoki Hattori was in the Turbo. Never mind if you're not familiar with him, but suffice to say that the guy has the skills to wring out cars much faster than a stock 997 Turbo. So i'd venture to say that driver skill was not much of a limiting factor here.

the Turbo had BY FAR the fastest terminal speed on-track. something like 191 or 194 kmh, vs the G-car that was in the mid-high 180's. but the G-car was all over the turbo in the corners. it would have easily passed the Porsche, but the turbo's obviously massive torque just rocketed the car away from the Lambo at corner exit.

oh, i forgot-- BIG DISCLAIMER: the turbo they tested was a tiptronic. i'm guessing that the turbo would have been faster if it was a stick. i don't know if this is still true for the 997, but one of the Porsche senior engineers once told me that the only way you would be faster around a track in a 996 Turbo tip vs a stick, would be "if you had an additional 100HP". maybe he was exagerrating a bit, but he was making a point.

3) NSX-R once again proves it is a formidable track weapon. severely out gunned with only 300HP, it had much better speeds thru corners than the turbo. its so nimble and light. terminal speed was a lot slower than both the G-car and the turbo, and yet it was only a few 10ths of a second off the turbo's time: high 1:05's for the Honda whose platform first debuted in 1991. respect!

4) M6 was a disaster around Tsukuba. I don't recall the lap time, but suffice to say it was way way behind the other 3 cars.

Finally, the RS4 was almost a second quicker than the M3 around Tsukuba. it did the lap in something like 1:08 (very poor conditions-- damp and extremely foggy).

now i can't wait for the GT3 to be tested!

 

Interesting, thanks for the review, i would love to see this video

 

I can host it, I'll PM you the details.

 

Can't wait to see the vid...is this from the latest Best Motoring DVD?

 

great write up! Cant wait for the video..

 

im so over best motoring....some of their stuff is rigged

 

uh oh.... where's allanlambo???

 

Well the G did win . But the TT was a tip....

 

i'm no tsuchiya nut hugger, but i don't understand how people can continue to believe that the show is INTENTIONALLY rigged.

virtually every recent test i've seen at BMI, has most euro supercars convincingly faster than the JDM's, when it comes to their "time attack" lap times.

Gallardo, Murcielago, GT3, 997 Turbo, etc-- every single one faster than any Evo, STi, Skyline or NSX.

ok, so the NSX-R continues to punch above its weight, so to speak, but why can't people give props to what is a properly developed car (suspension originally tuned by the great Ayrton Senna, a lot of Honda Formula 1 racing experience poured into the car, and in "R" trim, its a bare bones stripped out racer that is philsophically the same as any Porsche RS or Ferrari Challenge Stradale). the NSX-R is a monster on the types of tracks in Japan. put it on the 'Ring, or in a straight line duel with any of the heavy hitter supercars, and it shows itself to be a bit of a one-trick pony. but Tsukuba circuit is its backyard, so of course it will do well there. That doesn't mean the show is rigged.

A lot has been said about variance in driver skill. That's a fair comment, and i've noticed that as well, to a certain degree. Guys like Kurosawa and Tsuchiya are not only good, they are very aggressive, whereas someone like Hattori is a bit more careful. So its not perfectly scientific. But again, this to me doesn't indicate that the results are rigged. I don't believe there's some Japanese Da Vinci Code conspiracy going on here.

Finally, a lot of people were up in arms over the recent race between the STI 204, Murcie and Z06. Yes, it was surprising that the Z06 and Murcie couldn't pass the STi. But as we've seen time and again, its one thing to keep up with someone on track, even if you're faster, its another to make a pass on them. if i recall that video, the Murcie and Z06 kinda got caught up in their own private duel, which helped the STI to stay ahead relatively unmolested.

And after all is said and done, have a look at the time attack lap times for the three cars. Both the Z06 and the Murcie abso-f*cking-lutely DESTROYED the STI on laptimes.

I don't regard Best Motoring as bible truth... like many on here, for me its the AMS 'Ring and Hockenheim tests. But BMI is another interesting-- and entertaining-- data point. And if their "races" must be taken with a grain of salt, their lap attack times seem pretty honest to me.

(end of rant)

PEACE!

 

I for one enjoy BMI for many reasons one of them being that they do run the cars flat out on tracks. Most of the videos we see here are highway/stop light runs with drivers who are not "profesionals" (don't flame me) While I'm sure most amateur videos are pretty acurate. There's nothing like seeing these cars pushed to the limits and seeing how reliable they are under extreme testing...

 

well I don't necessarily think it IS rigged, I just don't think the cars are pushed to their limits at all times. i don't even have a problem with the NSX-R, never even mentioned one, i have major respect for that car especially since i have driven one in japan before...

you have a lot of reasons to support your idea and ill give you props for that one

 

haha fair enough!

cheers!!!

 

http://www.dpccars.com/car-movies/11...ura-Type-R.htm

Here is the link to the video

 

I notice that the ZO6 wasn't included...I believe that the 'vettes cheeseball reputation extends far beyond our borders.

The Japanese stand for quality and style...the ZO6 has neither.

I am glad to see that it takes more than being fast to be included in the test.

Props to the Japanese.

(Now if only the rest of America could wake up!)