2012 Japanese Super GT

[aneesh99]

Originally Posted by TF110

I don't think these cars would have a problem doing a 12hour event. Their engines are all proven to be reliable enough in endurance. They, in some form, have taken part in endurance style racing before. That HSV I think is the most beautiful SuperGT car I've seen.

HSV.... *girlfriend dumped*

Just to clarify, I was talking about reliability being a possible issue for a 24 race, the sticking point for me is how the FIA would take it whilst they're trying to promote a WEC event at Fuji. I know what I'd rather watch and/or go to!

[alexkiller8]

usually 24H races like nurburgring, spa, le mans, dubai, daytona etc.... are watched and intersted by the whole world, so also for little teams is worth to run meanwhile economic difficulties, because of this.
While other "little" 24H races like the one of montmelo, has only a national appeal, 0 importance in international scenario... for SGT is the same; the champ is very famous and followed in japan but worldwide is known only by motorsport experts!
An annual GT500 program is very expensive to maintain for not backed GT500 teams! for them is already hard to run in the season with their budget... a 24H race without any big interest outside japan (that it means no pay TV rights, no main and international sponsor etc...) is pure foolish...
just remember that only recently "sprint" races came back to be of 300km... and the pokka suzuka race isn't anymore a 1000km race.

[aneesh99]

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

the pokka suzuka race isn't anymore a 1000km race.

I thought it was back to 1000km this year?

[TF110]

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

usually 24H races like nurburgring, spa, le mans, dubai, daytona etc.... are watched and intersted by the whole world, so also for little teams is worth to run meanwhile economic difficulties, because of this.
While other "little" 24H races like the one of montmelo, has only a national appeal, 0 importance in international scenario... for SGT is the same; the champ is very famous and followed in japan but worldwide is known only by motorsport experts!
An annual GT500 program is very expensive to maintain for not backed GT500 teams! for them is already hard to run in the season with their budget... a 24H race without any big interest outside japan (that it means no pay TV rights, no main and international sponsor etc...) is pure foolish...
just remember that only recently "sprint" races came back to be of 300km... and the pokka suzuka race isn't anymore a 1000km race.

You must not have played Gran Turismo! Thanks in part to them, Super GT is WELL known the world, maybe with more makes it would be more popular in other areas. Which is a reason a DTM link-up would be a good idea (provided they keep the GT500 regs instead of DTM's).

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by aneesh99

I thought it was back to 1000km this year?

It's inevitable that they they have to shorten it for this year due to energy costs. They're importing crude oil, and the people there are reluctant to use nuclear energy.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by MagVanisher

It's inevitable that they they have to shorten it for this year due to energy costs. They're importing crude oil, and the people there are reluctant to use nuclear energy.

I don't think that's really gonna be an issue. How much of a difference is it gonna make anyway?

Let's say a car burns through 100l per hour, so that's 600l per car or 24.000l for a 40 car-field.

By shortening the race by one quarter, you'd save 6.000 liters - that's not even a blip on anybody's radar.

[TF110]

Is he meaning the fuel of the cars, or the electric power used by the event?

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by TF110

Is he meaning the fuel of the cars, or the electric power used by the event?

Both of them, since the Japanese has to use petrol to power up most of the electricity other than the car themselves.

Of course, if they want to save their gasoline reserves... Super GT needs to change to alternate fuel in addition to hybrid drives. But that would be impossible to implement.

[TF110]

Honda wants to use the new NSX- hybrid. Lexus is set to introduce a new coupe- hybrid. Nissan has the leaf Nismo RC- all electric. Toyota use the Prius in GT300. Honda is set to use the CR-Z in GT300 later this year also. But I get what you're saying. I hope all goes well and the race is 1000km.

[alexkiller8]

Originally Posted by TF110

You must not have played Gran Turismo! Thanks in part to them, Super GT is WELL known the world, maybe with more makes it would be more popular in other areas. Which is a reason a DTM link-up would be a good idea (provided they keep the GT500 regs instead of DTM's).

ok, you're partially right, me too when i played gran turismo 2 remained impressed of castrol supra or pennzoil/calsonic skyline... but beyond to appreciate the beauty of liveries, never investigated more (if i rememeber well in gt2 ex jgtc cars had a power of 700hp...) about this. I knew about super GT only driven by the motorsport passion, gran turismo only gave a min. input. So for all the people who play gran turismo, maybe they will say "such a beautifull car this gt-r gt500" but can be really considered fan?
being realistic, for now super GT is known only in japan, if in future there will be a joint between dtm and GT500 maybe the cars will become famous in all the world

[rich07]

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

(if i rememeber well in gt2 ex jgtc cars had a power of 700hp...) about this. I knew about super GT only driven by the motorsport passion, gran turismo only gave a min. input. So for all the people who play gran turismo, maybe they will say "such a beautifull car this gt-r gt500" but can be really considered fan?

I was introduced to SGT or JGTC as it was back then through the Gran Turismo series, the cars looked great and were really fast so I investigated JGTC more and now Im a big fan of the series for nearly a decade now. Japan has some fantastic racetracks, couple that with a mix of homegrown and foreign star drivers and throw in some exciting machines in both classes and you have a wonderful championship.

Its just a shame that for non japanese speakers like most of us, that there isnt much foreign coverage of the series. Thats a big drawback for the series but on another hand it adds to its mystique. Its our Japanese members like Japanese Samurai who have generously kept us up to date with the going ons in the championship and it is much appreciated.

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by TF110

Honda wants to use the new NSX- hybrid. Lexus is set to introduce a new coupe- hybrid. Nissan has the leaf Nismo RC- all electric. Toyota use the Prius in GT300. Honda is set to use the CR-Z in GT300 later this year also. But I get what you're saying. I hope all goes well and the race is 1000km.

Although I would like to see the new NSX race with a hybrid drivetrain, but I kinda surprised that Lexus will not field a LFA for the next or more season of Super GT, and instead make a coupe (like a Supra) for the GT500 class. What a bummer!

Of course, having the Nissan Leaf to race is a biggest surprise.

Anyway, Super GT should use ethanol or biofuel to power up the cars instead of petrol. Right now, all they need to do is to invest on renewable energy. But in dire situations like cutting on spending fuel because of Iran, the country has no choice but to reluctantly power up the nuclear generators.

And BTW, if only DTM and Grand-Am would change their fuel from petrol to a renewable one.

[lms]

Originally Posted by MagVanisher

Of course, having the Nissan Leaf to race is a biggest surprise.

i missed that. replacement for the gt-r or a gt300 car?

[TF110]

Originally Posted by MagVanisher

Although I would like to see the new NSX race with a hybrid drivetrain, but I kinda surprised that Lexus will not field a LFA for the next or more season of Super GT, and instead make a coupe (like a Supra) for the GT500 class. What a bummer!

Of course, having the Nissan Leaf to race is a biggest surprise.

Anyway, Super GT should use ethanol or biofuel to power up the cars instead of petrol. Right now, all they need to do is to invest on renewable energy. But in dire situations like cutting on spending fuel because of Iran, the country has no choice but to reluctantly power up the nuclear generators.

And BTW, if only DTM and Grand-Am would change their fuel from petrol to a renewable one.

Where did you get the information the LFA wouldn't be in SuperGT? I haven't heard about that.

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by TF110

Where did you get the information the LFA wouldn't be in SuperGT? I haven't heard about that.

It's my speculation... I would be surprised if the LFA will compete in the GT500 class.

[TF110]

Someone on another forum has said this. So I was thinking I missed something. I'd prefer the LFA in GT500 next year, but who knows what Toyota are planning to succeed the SC430.

[aneesh99]

Originally Posted by MagVanisher

Reluctant to use nuclear energy.

That was crap spun by the media, the same way numerous outlets reported that Japan were shutting down reactors for good when they were doing it for maintainance...

As it pertains to Lexus, they shouldn't be in any hurry to replace the SC, it's still competitive as flip. Until the GT-A restrict it in a 'grandfather' manner or tell them to get rid of it, why would they spend the money? The LF-A doesn't really fit the ethos of GT500, it's for grand tourers, not supercars.

[alexkiller8]

in GT500 are used race born tubs and extremely developed aerokit that resemble (not so much in my opinion) the street cars... so to "introdue" the LFA for toyota is just needed some restyle work on bodykit and change the front/rear lights.

To give an idea of what i mean, think at 2012 DTM, all 3 kind of cars share the same tub and some bodywork part too but each bodywork is different enough to resemble different cars.

[lms]

Originally Posted by aneesh99

The LF-A doesn't really fit the ethos of GT500, it's for grand tourers, not supercars.

.

[TF110]

The HSV was a still born replacement supercar for the NSX, with a front mounted V10 that could match the LFA in lap times around the Nurburgring. The GTR also does the same, it's certainly not a GT. Didn't Honda have to replace the NSX because it was no longer produced, and the same with Toyota and the Supra?

[aneesh99]

Originally Posted by TF110

The HSV was a still born replacement supercar for the NSX, with a front mounted V10 that could match the LFA in lap times around the Nurburgring. The GTR also does the same, it's certainly not a GT.

The premise of the GT-R is still that of a grand tourer, though it can run like a supercar. NSX was never really a supercar as hard as they tried.

The problem is that whilst the HSV and GT-R redefine the boundaries of supercar and grand tourer, the LF-A is definitively a supercar.

Originally Posted by TF110

Didn't Honda have to replace the NSX because it was no longer produced, and the same with Toyota and the Supra?

And the fact that the new regs didn't allow MR. As for the production thing, I'm not too sure. I think Toyota may have made the switch just because it seemed like a good time with new rules, it would be good marketing for the hideous SC430

[alexkiller8]

i disagree, in my opinion a gran touring car can be a supercar as well and a supercar can be a gran touring car too...
if we want to start a semantics matter, well super GT presumes to run GT cars, ok but the street SC430 (or in the past the 350Z) is not a gt car!

(IMHO gt-r is far to be a supercar)

[TF110]

The HSV was going to be around 150K in price, easily. And perform better than the Audi R8 (one of it's benchmarks). I think that is supercar territory. The GTR is big, but what do these SGT's share with their road car counterparts besides the shape? It's like DTM, they're hardly M3's or C63's or A5's. They're race cars. I hope to see an LFA, the SC430 is long in the tooth and it's production has ceased for almost 2 years.

[ss_collins]

I hear rumours of GT300 taking over...

Will dig more at Sepang

[Ultimo]

Wouldn't seeing an HSV/NSX, LFA, and GT-R racing be ideal? The one sadness/joke is that the HSV was never produced. The race car is quite a looker; the production version coulda been awesome, especially if it was in fact called HSV and not NSX, leaving that name sacred and asleep.