Gamera

Best Motoring 06.2003 - RX-8 Type S Tsukuba Attack:
Motoharu Kurosawa takes an RX-8 Type S (250ps/6spd) through the Tsukuba Circuit.

Technical:
running time: 04:03
source: NTSC VHS
capture: DV500+ 720x480

DivX (26.5 MB)
process: deinterlace, resize (bicubic)
video: 640x480 DivX 5.05 780 kBit/s
audio: 48KHz stereo, MP3 128 kBit/s

MPEG-1 (21.6 MB)
video: 320X240 MPEG-1 600/800 VBR kBit/s
audio: 44KHz stereo, MPEG-1 layer 2 128 kBit/s

Translations of the commentary are welcome, thanks in advance. Enjoy!

update: re-encoded with DivX 5.05 (05.28.03)

Haris

They should race CL-s, RX8, and G35c on track so we can all see who's gonna win!

tribal azn2

can someone translate that ****?!?

towards the end of the video they have this little chart with like 5 cars one of em was the s2000, and they highlight the rx8 as being the best? what did that chart mean?

dying_here

its just the price of the cars

brothervoodoo

finally managed to d/l it after a few retries. Thanks

Hercules

I don't see why... lap times are so varying sometimes, it can be close between all of them, which means it's dependant more on the driver, or it could be a huge gap which means that some of the cars suck.... or some of the drivers do.

Either way... lap times are such a bad way to judge how 'good' a car is. The best way to know is to get a good review of how the car 'feels.' You can make a lot of cars perform well around a track but out of the box, just don't feel fun to drive. And conversely, they can be terrible on a track (as per times), yet still be a blast to drive.

Lap times aren't a measurement of performance really... they are an indicator at best. If you go by that logic, the 350Z is a more fun car than the Porsche 911... and sadly... I don't think so. Specially since I drove a 180 or so horsepower Z4, and it was a LOT more fun to drive than the 350Z I took out for a bit that seemed bulky and heavy throwing it around a curve.

Numbers are numbers.... you gotta get in the car and find out for yourself.

hikoboy

hey, i'm kinda busy so i'm just going to translate important parts of what gan-san is saying. maybe others can translate the rest. and i'll try to complete the carview one....
so from where he starts talking...:

"the way it performed today...from laguna seca, i guess it's been about 3 months...the car has gotten much much better. the tires are much more consistent now, at laguna seca it seemed that the tires were pretty unstable in feel. that fudged with the balance a little bit too. but today in tsukuba, it is getting to its full potential. it can turn corners pretty fast too. it can't compare to 280hp in straight-line, but it's still got pace like it. it is as much fun. as for the time, maybe it could post in the early 10's when the temperature is a little lower and the air is drier.
looking from the best motoring point of view, there aren't many cars that you can enjoy on this circuit anymore. sure there are many expensive cars...but an FR less than 30k, it's pretty rare.
today we just ran it once on this track, but next time, we want to play around more with its capabilities."

anyone think i made a mistake, please correct.
as for the time issue, in comparison, gt-r, evo, nsx, rx7, they post around 1'05-07". i'm sure you all probably knew that already. of course they're all 280hp, so it's unfair. i dunno what s2000 and the similar hp cars post...the movie i have for that, the end is cut off. but instead of time, i think the best thing to do is just drive it yourself and see how you like it. just my opinion. (sure i'd like it to go that fast, but not really necessary for me. unless i ride it and don't like it :P)

h

vipeRX7

hmmmmmmmmm the link seems to be down. Could someone fix the link/post the video at a different location? Thanks!

Gamera

Thanks for the translation hikoboy, I figured you'd help out. The performance stats are always interesting to note, but overall impressions are what matters more to me, since it's obvious I could never personally duplicate those track times nor even the launch times quoted from US magazines (not that I'd ever want to with my daily driver). As you and herc point out, the fun to drive factor is something that can't be measured empirically. It is a collection of intangibles that can't be known until one gets behind the wheel. It is interesting to note that the BMW 3 series (excluding the M) has year after year been voted best driver's coupe for under $50K by numerous publications, and yet it really doesn't stand out in any performance category on paper.

That said, it's good to hear Gan-san mention that the handling's been improved even further. Would you happen to know what the US equivalents of the 5 cars listed in the price comparison chart are?

I just checked the server, and the links are still working on my end. If many people are simultaneously trying to download at the same time, the server will not respond and will probably timeout (the number of concurrent accesses are capped, but that means the transfer rates should be always good), i.e., try again later. Mirrors are welcome.

M-ster

From the video the act of gear shifting seems pretty hard and notchy! Which is what all along i hope for in the 8:D casuse it's no fun shifting a numb stick.

Did anyone notice, the gear shifter got trash around quite a bit especially when the car got thrown into corners. Is that a good sign or bad...

hikoboy

the price comparison shows, in that order,
s2000 - 3,430,000 yen
fairlady z ver. s - 3,300,000
rx8 type s - 2,750,000
roadster 1800rs - 2,330,000
altezza rs200 - 2,230,000

i assume everyone knows the name differences.
man, my video card is so messed up...the video skips around everywhere. anyone know how to fix this? the icons and everything is messed up too, it's as if you put the setting at 256 colors instead of 16 or 32bit.

khoney

It's weird, but in watching this video, the RX-8 seemed very tall (almost boxy) when viewed from the front. I have never noticed this in any other photo/movie. Could this be an artifact of the conversion? Am I imagining things, or is it really like this?

khoney

It's weird, but in watching this video (the MPG version), the RX-8 seemed very tall (almost boxy) when viewed from the front. I have never noticed this in any other photo/movie. Could this be an artifact of the conversion? Am I imagining things, or is it really like this?

Renesis08

What kind of video card do you have? Try reinstalling the drivers.

zoom44

i have watched and listened to this a few times now and i can't hear the shift bell/buzzer. anyone hearing it?

hikoboy

i've reinstalled drivers, and no luck...i think my computer is just doomed. it's laptop so i can't exchange it out or anything.

as for the buzzer i don't hear it either, they probably fudged with the ecu and such (i guess? the computer stuff). the japanese version of just about all cars has a speed limiter at like 160km/h (at least that's the max for speedometer) too so they probably took that out and messed with the buzzer too..?? i'm not too smart about these things.

Vancouver

Not bad a video. It is nice to see the car thrown about a wee bit with little impact. But, does the narrator ever smile? He looks as friendly as a tax collector. You'd think with a nice fast run around an empty track in a new hot car, he'd be a little happy.

zenkifc

it sounds soooo good! somebody front me 30k!

crouzer

I love that...

"Attack Tsukuba Kashi!"...

Vrrroooooooooommmmmm...

at 1:02

:D

takahashi

It is good to hear the noise of the engine.

Rev it up to 9000 rpm!!!

My Integra DC2 only go up to 8500... it is a grunty and nearly a engine breaking noise - a very loud engine. The 8 on the other hand has a nice smooth tune to it.

I am in Melbourne and perheps I use the Shell Optimax (RON only 98) and if I use the BP Ultimate (also RON 98) I should get a smooth engine. But I like the angry engine noise - what do you think?

The DC2 is very RON sensitive. Chuck any fuel additive will make it go quicker. What do you think it will happen in the 8?

Blue87Sport

Did anyone notice the speedo and tach in the interior shots. 108 km/hr (about 67 mi/hr) at 9500 rpm in second gear.:D :D :D

Skyline Maniac

Best Motoring July edition has what you are asking for.

RX-8 versus: Integra (RSX), Miata, S2000, RX7, Skyline Coupe (G35C), BMW 330, Fairlady Z (350Z), Subaru WRX.....

hehe, somebody get a copy and post the videos. It's going to be interesting.

btw: RX-8 posted a time of 1'11 at Tsukuba in the last month issue, which is very respectable. The 350Z Track and G35C posted around 1'09, which is not that much faster.

takahashi

Did Gan San said he is not fully pushing the RX8. Can the RX8 go quicker in Tsukuba?

Skyline Maniac

Just for reference:
Here are the new coupes with common options... (xenon, leather, moonroof....)

Skyline Coupe (G35C) 6MT Premium
Japan: 3,560,000 yen [~$30.170]
USA: $34500

Fairlady Z Version ST (Track 250Z) base
Japan: 3,600,000 yen [~$30.500]
USA: $34720

Mazd RX-8 6MT base (leather, CD, spare)
Japan: 2,980,000 ~[$25,230]
USA: $32000


Why is the RX8 so much more expansive here?

tribal azn2

import taxes