Fresh news from Japan. 280ps regulation has now been lifted. The gist of it: The chairman of the Japanese Automobile Association has confirmed the abolishment of the 280ps limit regulation on cars on June 30. The regulation was introduced along with speed limiter as safety measure in 1990 when the number of road deaths increased but its correlation with actual safety has not been proven during the regulation's effective period leading to the abolishment of the power limit. With the abolishment of the rule it means that the need to have separate models of cars like Toyota's Celsior and Soarer for domestic and international markets will no longer be required. European manufacturers beware...(I put that in) For those with better Japanese skills than mine: http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20040721-00000319-yom-bus_all J.
That's all good, but we are still left with the rice that comes with those power restrictions. Maybe if the Zed was still being made with a Twin Turbocharged engine of some sort, those rules might be good news to an extent. But, the way the automotive industry is looking at going, it's making cars slower not faster (read Toyota Hybrid)IMO...Plus with the RTA making everywhere freaking 50 zones (and slower- school zones are the exception) and reducing 90 zones to 70 (for no apparent reason), there isn't going to be anywhere left to "go for a spin", nor even to get out of 2nd gear. Just my 2 cents. Cheers Grant:-Z
