Oh I worked on a Japanese TV show Best driving cars In the 1990s. Regularly, track battles featuring the coolest cars of the era driven by the country’s most talented racers are gathered at the Tsukuba circuit. He never missed a beat. This test is particularly interesting, as Japan’s best performing cars of 1992 face off against some impressive supercars.
From Japan, the usual suspects included the Nissan Skyline GT-R, Mazda RX-7, Honda NSX, and Toyota MR2 Turbo. From Europe, the Ruf CTR “Yellowbird” and two Ferraris, the F40 and the 512TR. The grille is set in reverse order of horsepower, with both the F40 and CTR posting more than 500 horsepower on the dyno, and thus the rear.
The Japanese cars put up a tough battle although the GT-R is the only car to surpass the 300 hp mark. With a standing start, the Nissan gets away very well after a judicious high-rpm clutch dump, and other Japanese cars try to make themselves as wide as possible. But the very powerful and very light F40 quickly made its way to the front and pulled away.
Otherwise, the race was much tougher. The CTR has plenty of power, but it seems to struggle under braking and in corners, and I struggled with the humble MR2. Eventually, the car overtook, and was only able to overtake the GT-R at the end of the race. The MR2 even managed to hold off the 512TR for a while, finishing ahead of the RX-7 and NSX.
The time attack results were a bit different, with the Ruf besting the F40 by two hundredths, and the RX-7 beating the NSX for the podium. Then came the 512TR, GT-R, and MR-2.
Stay after the race to see full laps on the Yellowbird and F40. The Ruf likes to be backed into corners, where the heavy weight of its powerful rear motor helps the car turn under braking. For all its lack of traction on entry, it’s got plenty of grip on exit, where the driver sets the throttle too early and takes advantage of the rear weight bias. The F40 just looks worn out, doing little drifts on every exit while the twin turbo engines do their trademark push.