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Translation, May 2003 Best Motoring: Skyline vs Fairlady vs M3
Source: Freshalloy G35 Forum
Video Source: GTR_Boy
Translation: Sukairain
Subtitled: BOB Production

[GT Coupe, Decoration of Men]
[Test drive the Premium Coupes in the world]

The current best domestic (JDM) GT Coupe, the Nissan Skyline Coupe.

The winding test of the Skyline Coupe in the April issue of Best Motoring did not explore the true potential of the car.

How does it compare to the FR benchmark, the BMW M3?

What are the differences between the chasis-sharing siblings, the Skyline Coupe and 350Z?


Skyline Coupe
Tsukunba BATTLE
3 LAPS

Testing the true potential of the Skyline Coupe on Tsukuba Circuit.

Grid is set up based on Power-Weight ratio.
The vehicle with the most power is placed last on the grid.

[Skyline Coupe: Takuya Kurosawa] - son
[M3: Skihiko Nakaya]
[Fairlady Z:Motoharu Kurosawa] - father

Compare the Skyline Coupe to Fairlady Z,
it has a 20cm longer wheelbase, and weights 80kg more
Power-Weight ratio is 5.46

Recently introduced to the sport car-lacking JDM market
The 5th generation Fairlady Z

Ultra-low emmission is one of its selling point.
Power-Weight ratio is 5.18

Costing well over twice as much as Skyline Coupe
The supreme benchmark of FR Coupes, M3
Today, we drive a semi-automatic SMG2 version
Power-Weight ratio is 4.55

3 Lap Battle Start!

Acceleration from a standing still,
Would 80kg advantage make a significant difference?

No! Z tails closely behind the Skyline Coupe

Gan-san is not speaking, he is driving very seriously

We added a low angle CCD camera
on the front lower bumper of the M3
So we can observe the difference between the Skyline and Z?

How are those two cars in the front?
[Nakaya] From the race lines the cars are taking,
It would appear the Z has a lower center of gravity

Can the Z shorten the gap and close in on the Skyline?

How is acceleration exiting the corner?
[Kurosawa] I can't pull on the Skyline at all!

[Nakaya] The M3 is faster on the straight line,
Let's see what happens here

[Takuya] This car 80kg heavier
How will the longer wheelbase and weight affect the performance?

Takuya is not feeling the extra weight yet in this first lap

Skyline takes the pole on the opening lap

The M3 still owns the straight line
but it hasn't been able to pass the other two cars.

[Nakaya] The performance of these cars are very similar
It will be difficult to determine a victor today.

[Takuya] Feels like the Z can enter corner better.

The gap between the Skyline and Z is not very wide.

[Takuya] I can feel the weight of the vehicle here.

Weight, size and roll impacts the performance negatively
but the Skyline corner entrance speed is on par with the Z.
Can he pull away from the competitions this way?

[Nakaya] The BMW acceleration
can overtake the other two cars here on the straight

[Kurosawa] Don't wedge in from there~

It's time to demonstrate the full potential of the M3
Which car will come out ahead
after threshold braking into the 1st turn?

Two cars are side by side,
which one will come out ahead?

[Kurosawa] Nakaya, if you are going to pass, then hurry up and do it.

[Nakaya] The Skyline is very fast around turns

The Skyline does not lose when it comes to braking and cornering stability.
and it stopped the M3 advance.

[kurosawa] Oh they are dead even here.

The Skyline and M3 are really battling it out on the infield.

Cornering ability are very even as well.

The winner will be determined based on acceleration on the last straight.

[Takuya] He's going to pass me on the straight

[Nakaya] His exiting speed is clearly slower.
Good work~

[Takuya] He's got that wicked grin on his face when he passed me
but this car can corner every bit as well.

The M3 takes the pole in this battle with its power advantage
However, the Skyline supressed the Z and took 2nd place
The Z renewed its best time on Tsukuba in this battle


Conversation:

[T] The main attraction today is the Skyline Coupe
[N] It's made in Japan,
[N] It's been awhile since we had a new domestic coupe,
and it's got 280hp and 6 speed transmission.
This is the car everybody has really been anticipating.
So how was it?

[T] This is my first time driving the car to its limits
doing a full test on Tsukuba Circuit.
and got to demonstrate its true potential.
I wanted to see what this car can do.
While cornering, the weight of the car is concentrated on the outside tires
This is probably due to the long wheel base of the vehicle.
That design worked out very well.

[K] The Skyline coupe has a very satisfy effect on its drivers.
[T&N] That's very true
[N] The Z is a new model car, it does things alittle better than the Skyline
[T] but both Z and Skyline got around the same 1 min 9 sec to complete Tsukuba Circuit
These times and top speeds are fairly slow compared to the extreme sport cars,
but as far as driving pleasure of a FR Coupe, it performed beautifully in our 3 lap race.
[N] They are not supposed to be full blown performance cars
[T] For normal Sport Coupes, this car will be the new benchmark from now on.

[N] Things are going to be great.
The M3 comes with new technology like the SMG,
and well over 300 hp
I hope Japanese cars can make cars with more power as well.
Everyone must have noticed the difference on the straights
The BMW has overwhelming advantage on straights
However, around corners, all three cars are pretty much equals

[T] In a time where not many sport coupes are being made
These coupes are definitely making a impact
I hope that mean more excellent cars like these will be released in the future.


Footnote:

* Price of a BMW M3 SMGII in Japan 8,430,000 yen (~$71,440 USD),price of the 6MT Skyline Coupe 3,290,000 (~$27,880 USD). This means the M3 SMGII costs about 2.5 times as much as the Skyline Coupe in Japan.

* For those who believe better tires makes better cars. The Japanese Fairlady Z Version ST (= US Track edition Nissan 350Z) uses the exact same tries as the 6MT Skyline Coupe (= US Infiniti G35 Coupe)

* The most experienced driver in this competition is undoubtedly Motoharu 'Gan-san' Kurosawa. He is also the father of the Skyline Coupe driver, Takuya Kurosaw

 

less than 8k/s = loose. i'll post my comments in 2 hours when it finishes DLing.

(host on a faster server)

 

LOL! Its hosted on a university AFS file server with a dedicated 30mbs T3 line. I originally hosted this in a computer in my basement. I was getting 100k/s before lunch. An hour ago it was 1k/s. I posted this video link on 2 other forums. Next week you will probably get 300k/s transfer rate easy. I hope the network guys don't kill my account.

 

Thanks for linking and hosting the vid! As expected, the M3 pulls on both cars.

 

booooooo z came in last

 

http://www.g20.net/brian/g35/g35zm3.mpg <--- mirror provided by b00gie

 

thx the other link was going at 8kbs, kinda slow..Now i am going at 325kbs woohoo!

 

no worries, there were times it was obvious that the Z was being held up a bit, BUT didn't have enough power difference to drive around hte G (much like they say in racing, "it is one thing to catch a guy, it is another to get buy/pass"). The Z had to worry about the G in front and also the fact that he KNEW the M3 would be coming through anytime. Line them up EQUALLY to the 1st turn, and the order ends up M3, Z and G.

 

Damn,

I only got an average of 600k during the download

 

I don't think the Z was being held up. When the cars ran the circuit individually, they both finished in 1:09.

 

Can someone post the ivideo on the individual runs?

 

Have you guys seen this video yet? Be warned ... it's really slow!
Still downloading .....

http://forums.freshalloy.com/ubbthre...b=5&o=&fpart=1

 

This has also been posted in the racing forum. There is a mirror available that I got 250 kbps from, had it in a couple of minutes.

 

i've seen it before, i think it's a bit off here, the z can beat the g in any time (i'm not talking about the place but c'mon, at least the lap time should be better) shouldn't the g have a slower lap time then the z? I'm also very doubtful when the M3 pass the G and the Z, if it pass the G and the Z by half of a car lenght then i'll understand that, but the M3 just jump right behind the G and took the first place, i was like what!? i know M3 is very fast(even faster than the Z) but i don't understand how can the difference be that big~

maybe i'm wrong but that's just my 2 cents~

 

but you have to realize that the drivers were all of different talents. and also this should put to rest the notion of a Z being faster than an M3. you could easily see it pull on both cars on the straights. thats the fact JAAAACCCCCCKKKK.........


Doc

 

great point, the Best OF videos are FUN to watch, BUT for somereason they ALWAYS race the cars and say "XYZ vs NWP cars", they seem to totally throw out the driver variable, I don;t know why

 

Of course driver skill plays a HUGE part in any race but that particular track does expose how close the Z and G are in performance. Maybe a straight 1/4 mile track would give the Z the advantage but that's if everything else is equal(drivers, tires, etc) which never is the case on the street. It's 50/50 with these two cars when it comes to racing which wouldn't be hard for anyone to understand given the circumstances.

 

the problem with that is, WHO the freak races and lets the other guy start 20 feet down the track????? NOt me, not the NHRA, and the ONLY reason CART and F1 do it, is so that they PUT the faster qualifying cars at the front to avail accidents and give the faster cars more open track, for some reason, best of.....videos does it the other way (faster cars or more HP:wt cars) in the back so they can see if they can get buy (very hard to do in a similar car). Look at the video again, it is clear that the Z is quicker out of the whole, if they line up equal (like drag races are) OR the more HP:wt (faster car) car infront (like IRL, CART, NASCAR, F1, ALMS, GRAND AM, etc, etc, etc....) the Z wins.

I just think that with ONLY 3 laps, a M3 to worry about getting in the way and 2 similar cars, and the fact that the Z starts from 20 feet behind, the Z has NO chance of getting by and win.

 

everyone keeps saying how much FASTER the 350z is then the G35 SC.. What are the differances... 200 Lbs.. 7 more HP.. I think a diff driveshaft.. Diffrent intake.. Might be more but not sure if there is please tell.. I'm no expert but that isnt much to brag about considering that 7 HP will be givin back to the G aftyer a few mods.. Plus i was told the 7 HP come from intake/exhaust so im not sure why z people are so upset at this they are equal cars and the z will beat the G in a straight line but by how much .1 or mayyyybbeeee .2 of a sec.. But all in all I like the clip is was nice to watch just wish it was in english

Just my 2 cents

 

200lbs=.2 sec in 1/4 (typically 100lbs=.1 sec)
7hp=.07 sec in 1/4 (typically 10 hp=.1 sec)

total is about .27 in quarter difference, which is pretty close and seems to be constant with what the mags are reporting, BUT I am trying to make my car faster, and I gotta spend a lot of $$ to decrease my time by .27 of a sec (Borla Dual and a few other things might get me there, but that is well over $1000 just in mods and would put the car at well over 300hp),

it is the Law of Diminishing returns, you pay a lot for a little, thats just the way it is. The G is an AWESOME car, truth be told, if the Z never came out I would be totally happy with a G. My brother is currently debating on getting a G35SC 6mt or a used 911, which says something imo.