Tokyo: gossip
Posted by Pat Devereux at 11:26AM on Monday 29 October, 2007 0 Comments
When you wander around a motor show talking to loads of different people - hacks, pr people, designers - you inevitably pick up all sorts of rumours, facts and nuggets of disinformation. Here, for your perusal, are a few of the best from Tokyo.
First up is that the Japanese-market Nissan GT-R has a navigation-enabled speed limiter. With a national speed limit of 62mph, and an unwritten law among Japanese carmakers to limit cars to 112mph, Nissan had to find a clever way of restricting the GT-R's poke without suffocating it permanently - or they just wouldn't have been allowed to sell it in its home market.
The answer lay in the car's navigation unit. When driving on roads recognized by the satellites as public, the GT-R will slam into a speed limiter at 112mph. But when the GT-R gets to any place designated as a track or private road, the system recognizes automatically, removing the limiter and allowing the car to run on to its 190mph+ maximum.
The other story I heard a couple of times about the GT-R is that Nissan has made it impossible to fit aftermarket tuning bits to it. With 480bhp as standard that might not sound like much of a problem, but as most previous generation GT-Rs I've seen have had between 500 and 1,000bhp on offer, it's sure to upset more than a few of the marque's fans.
I also find it hard to believe that no one will be able to crack it. When it was launched, they said the iPhone was useable on one US network only. But five minutes after it was launched some 14 year old kid got it working anywhere, and London is now full of people happily using Apple's latest miracle product on their UK networks.
Elsewhere, talking to some of the Japanese car hacks who have already driven both the Evo X and WRX STI, they all agreed that, while the Evo is the prettier car, the Sub is faster and much easier to drive. They say the Mitsu feels more complicated and fiddly next to the WRX.
While I'm looking forward to finding out about all the above facts and fictions myself, there was one gem from the show that is pure manure. Try this one for size. Toyota, notable for its very rubbish showing in Formula One every year since it started, is now claiming that it likes losing because it makes the brand seem human.
Eh? Toyota, the most competitive car company in the world, coming almost last in the most high profile race series in the world, makes us like it more? What utter pr rubbish. If that were the case we'd all be deeply in love with a Spyker. Which I'm not. Are you?
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