yamaha3sge

Well I guess I won't argue with that. I guess I'd really have to max out my 6th gear to see it for myself some day. :) My argument is that given aerodynamics (frontal area and drag co-efficient) and gearing effects (gear ratios and wheel size and rolling resistance) for a vehicle, there is a certain horsepower required to overcome these forces at a certain speed. What I'm saying is that the RS200 (love it as much as I do) does not have the required horsepower to overcome these forces at 150+mph. Particularly aerodynamic resistance. The additional horsepower required to overcome aerodynamic resistance is roughly squared as speed increases. That is to say as speed increases you need more than a proportionate increase in horsepower to overcome aerodynamic and rolling resistance. Example. Most car mags clock the NSX at around 160 mph. If you look at the NSX, it not only has 280bhp but it's frontal area is extremely low as compared to the RS200 resulting in greater efficiency. Plus it suffers less transmission losses. It is these combined strengths that make it able to reach that top speed. The RS has none of those advantages. The NSX is Japanese too. Another case is the Civic Type-R. In Japan it is rated at 220ps (roughly 210+bhp). It's power is the same if not more than the RS. And yet it's top end is no more than 146mph. And being FWD, it suffers less transmission losses as compared to the RWD RS200 meaning it has more horsepower at the wheel (where it counts). Logically then the RS200 should have roughly this sort of top end. Putting it another way (Civic) 210bhp = 146mph, (NSX) 280bhp = 160mph. 10% increase in speed requires 33% increase in horsepower. Yes these cars are not directly comparable to the RS200. But look at it closer, the RS200 does not have the NSXs other advantages in aerodynamics and transmission nor does it have 280bhp. So again, logically speaking it just can't do 157mph or whatever it is. Well tell you what, if any of you make it to Germany in the RS, then test it out by recording the time it takes to go from one kilometer marker to another when the car's maxed out. That way you can roughly calculate the top speed. I'd love to know what it is. If the RS200 can really top out at 150mph+ then I'm a happy chappy and I'll pick a fight with the Type-Rs and 330is over here. 328s and 325s have already been scalped! :D

I've no doubt about 140. As I mentioned on my previous post I did 220km/h (137) in 5th at which point the engine still has lots remaining. I just ran out of space otherwise I'd have loved to see what she'd do in 6th. You simple math assumes a linear relationship between bhp and top speeds. Not so. Given that the higher the speed you go, the drag increases by the square of speed. (Read that somewhere). And given higher rolling resistances at higher speeds, you'll need more than a linear increase in bhp to reach the 159mph. In that case you'd need NSX sorts of power, with its lower frontal area aerodynamics and its super efficient gearbox and drive train (transverse mounted mid engine / rear drive has less power loss). No standard car I know of can hit the rev limiter on top gear. 7750 rpm in 6th? No way. Not unless you change to a lower final drive. (TRD 5.1 final drive anyone?) Standard gearing always makes sure that top gear is for cruising comfort.

Haven't really thought about the Greddy stuff. The Motec is similar in price to the TOM's replacement ECU. Both beyond my budget right now. (But if you can afford it I'd recommend the Motec instead). I've installed a HKS exhaust manifold (Super header). The manifold seemed to add bags of mid range punch at the expense of top end. But it cured the 4000-5000rpm power dip on the standard engine. Now a very nasty flat spot occurs at roughly 2500rpm instead. Plus I could do with a cleaner top end. I'm guessing a reprogrammed chip that maps a richer fuel mix at lower revs, might just do the trick. It did with my previous car which was the Civic SiR. (1.6 DOHC VTEC).

157mph? Somehow I don't think so. Not from 210bhp. A 330i beemer gets up to around 150mph (according to most car mags) and it has roughly 230bhp. Given a 0.29 drag coefficient and the sort of frontal area on the Altezza (quite similar to the beemer), I think we're talking tops 143-145mph. Mine's a 6 speeder. Pretty much a standard engine with TOM's flywheel, a HKS replacement filter element and HKS super header exhaust manifold with cat removed.

Hi I currently own an Altezza RS200. I'm currently looking for a chip upgrade for my car. The TOM's TECS2 replacement ECU or the Apexi PowerFC is way beyond my budget. And I'm not interested in the HKS F-Con and friends. Are there any companies in the UK doing reprogrammed chips for the RS200? Something that I can swap with the standard chip in the ECU. Any suggestions?

Actually, there are a number of devices made by the Japanese tuners. I am currently using the SARD Attack Meter. This installs on the dash and hooks up to the ECU box. Asides from giving you a wealth of information e.g. max revs and speed since start up, stopwatch functions, shiftlight functions, it also removes the 180km/h JDM speed restrictor. Dunno about the RS200s you guys have but the speedo on mine reads up to 180km/h. That's cause in Japan all cars are speed restricted to this maximum. Anyway, I didn't have mine installed myself relying instead on a professional to do it for me. That's coz you wanna be able to calibrate the speedo readings to the speed readings on the SARD device. That's a bit tricky if you DIY. But in the end I got the 180km/h restrictor removed, and the RS200 will happily get up to 210km/h very easily before tailing off in acceleration. I've taken it up to an indicated 220km/h in fifth gear. And it was still pulling like a train. Didn't have the space to change up to sixth and see where she'd top. My guess is she'd have done 230-235. BTW, another device would be the Apexi GP meter (I think this is what they call it). Or you can install the HKS F-CON or the TOM's TEC 2 replacement ECU although this option is expensive. I'm from Malaysia and I bought the SARD attack meter can be had to around RM600 (about 100 pounds)