SilverCL225hp

Do you think there is a big gap between the horsepower outputs of japanese cars and european cars now. This is just my opinion. Okay the maximum output a stock Japanese car has produced are only slightly higher than 300hp such as Supra Turbo has 315hp or 3000GT VR4 has 315hp also. However, BMW M5 has 400hp, Porsche 911 Turbo has 415hp, Ferrari 360 Modena has 400hp, and all of its cars' horsepower output are going up. Of course, horsepower doesn't mean everything, but people(customers) will definitely take this number in consideration before they buy their very expensive sport cars right? Therefore, I think its essential for japanese cars to squeeze out as much as possible from now on. Acura should definitely put a V8 into its upcoming RL, or probably its new NSX too(although I have heard the newest news that it will still carry a V6 in the next generation NSX). Once you go up to Autobann in Germany, horsepower will determine which car is the king of the road. I think Japanese cars should aim 380hp or higher for their next generation of "super cars of the companies". My list of these super cars include Nissan Skyline GTR R35, Honda(Acura) NSX, and Toyota 4000GT(or Supra?). These are just my ideas.

KavexTrax

Silver! This should be in Car Talk bro




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- Kvit -
2001 CL=P Monterey Blue, Parchment interior
Polarg BlHybrid M-6 Road lamps
Polarg/PIAA super white interior lights *bling bling*
HP Quantum 28 -- 31% metallic tint all around
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=706725&f=0

CLpower

you also have to look at the price of the car, the supra and 3000GT were about half the price of those others w/ 400+. And also you have to remember japan has a HP limit they technically are supposed to limit there cars to

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"the needle got buried at 140.....1,500 RPM later...the tach got buried"

avengerjr

ok ... moving to Car Talk

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avengerjr
2001 CL-S Satin Silver / Ebony Interior / Non-Navi[*] spoiler , wheel locks , 20% tint , fenderwell trim[*] mud guards , winter floor mats , full nose mask[*] Xephyr CAI

Silver_Lana

I had no idea about that... anyone care to tell why?

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***New Car***
2001 Acura CL Type S
Black on Ebony
Navigation, Spoiler, Wheel locks and tint.
***Former Car***
2001 Acura CL Premium
Navigation, Spoiler
No Mods yet

Acura - We are Artists of the Streets.

EricL

I think the limit for domestic car consumption is in regard to safety. However, it was my understanding that the "limit(s)" did not constrain cars built for foreign markets.

BTW -- I think everybody is starting to realize that there is a new "retro" market for powerful (high HP cars) sedans, sports cars, and coupes. Witness the Nissans, Acura, and others. They do have to balance the amount of power in the car with the target audience and money that owners (young and old) will have to pay for higher power-to-weight cars. I love power, but at a certain power-to-weight (as is the case with the Ferraris, etc) the insurance can be sky-high.

an $0.02 production




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2001 Satin Silver Cl-S w/ NAVI

• Mud Guards
• Wheel locks
• Toyo 235/45ZR17-97W* T1S Proxies on Stock 17" CLS wheels
• Gtech 1/8th tank 40F ~=6.1
• Zaino magic
• 14.8lb 17x8" SSR Competition rims on the way
• Sways, headers, CAI comming soon

[This message has been edited by EricL (edited 03-18-2001).]

e1828

Actually I think the higest HP output of any stock Japanese car is currently is the new Infiniti Q45 with a whopping 340 hp and 333 ft-lbs of torque.. but I do agree that it seems like there is a bevy of European cars with a 'ton' of horsepower. If Toyota would ever make that Supra replacement (it won't be called a Supra) that car should have 400 hp in it.

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2001 Satin silver CL-S
* no navi, spoiler, mudguards
* wheel locks, full front mask
* fenderwell and door trim
* soon Comptech springs and sways
* 5% tint rear side, back

filly

I think because Japanese companies prefer efficiency, reliablity, and handling over power. Like the S2000 only has 240 hp, but it's such a tiny 2L engine - pretty efficient if you ask me.

But I think it's all starting to change...
the new Q45s (as stated above) have 340 HP, the new Supras and NSXs are supposed to have around 400 HP, 2001 Lexus 430s have around 300 HP...

WRXs and Evolutions don't have that much power, but it is quite remarkable how they outhandle and outrun cars costing 3 times as much. And I don't even wanna talk about SS's or Cobras (though I love muscle cars).

I remembers someone on Supercars.net someone said something like "what do you people find so great about WRXs and Evos? Just because they are cheap, fast, and handle well, doesn't make them great cars" and I was thinking, did you read over what you wrote??!?!?

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damn! this sportshift has a delay...

CLpower

filly, i think german cars hit that market too w/ great reliability, craftsmanship, etc

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"the needle got buried at 140.....1,500 RPM later...the tach got buried"

tel1sps

I think that the car manufactures from Japan have filled a gap with quality cars that attract many people. When I was looking to buy a new car and compared the 330 BMW to the Acura CL-S, it was tuff to justify the 10k difference and a fraction of a sec performance. The availablitiy of aftermarket parts also appealed to me since I like to mod cars. Someday I'll like to get an M-series or 911 turbo, but that's a different bracket all together.

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2001 Silver 3.2CLS
-Muds, Spoiler, Hardwire 8500, Prolarg M-6 lamps
Planning: Comptech Headers, Sways, CAI

F=ma_RENAMED

The Gentlemen's Agreement of 280 ps, or 276 hp, if I'm not mistaken on those figures.

Go back about 4-5 years back, all the big names has 276 hp. Lancer Evo, Subaru Impreza, Supra, GTO, Skyline, NSX.

Its not a coincidence that they all had identical power output.

(in reality the highest end sports cars were severly underrated, much like the American E36 M3's 240hp and the LS1's 320hp. In fact a test was done on a Skyline engine, it was taken out of the car, a chip added, and they measured crank hp, it came to 490 hp, up from the stock 276 claimed. My ass that car makes 276 hp stock. The Lancer Evolution is the same way.)

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Kenny
Slow TL

F=ma_RENAMED

Oh yeah, as far as the markets go, the Japanese are vastly different than us here in the States. I think they're more cause-effect, result motivated people. I think the US general public is a little too dense and shallow.

There is no denying that a turbo is one of the best ways to increase power, if not IMO THE best. (You're using waste to provide power, it doesn't get any more efficient than that) The Japanese see this and they freakin stick a turbo on anything with wheels. Check out their market, they have Twin turbo intercooled station wagons, while there is only 1 in the states I can think of and its not even Japanese (Audi Avant series). Also all their little econo hatchback's Starlets and whatnot, they remind me of Ford Fiesta's and Geo Metro's and here they are coming straight off the dealer lot with a turbo on em.

America's market focus' on displacement. <sigh> and that in itself is a large problem. What the public does not see is that forced induction effectively increases the displacement of the engine. A Supra Turbo running 28 psi boost (which is very possible) theoretically has more displacement than a Viper GTS. Now which engine do you think costs more to manufacture?

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Kenny
Slow TL