Since 1989, all Japanese automakers have supported – at least on paper – a kind of gentlemen`s agreement that limited their advertised power to 276 horsepower for locally produced vehicles. Their main goal was to avoid a shrink war in a country where the top speed is 62 mph. But in October, Honda officially broke the deal at its Legend (Acura RL in the U.S.) press conference when it unveiled the model`s 3.5-liter, 300-horsepower V6. The horse had bolted and there was no point in locking the stable door. From that point on, Japanese automakers continued to outperform each other in terms of performance and performance (much like U.S. and European automakers did). A clear example of this is the Mitsubishi 3000GT/GTO. In the United States, the facelifted 3000GT VR-4 had 320 hp. In Japan, it came with 276 hp, although both have exactly the same engine. Read our Mitsubishi 3000GT/GTO Buyer`s Guide for more information. Curiously, Mitsubishi did not even bother to change the nominal torque of JDM models compared to models in the US market.
You have only entered a lower HP number to complete the Gentleman`s Agreement. This aroused DeMuro`s curiosity. After finding an AWD test bed at AWE Tuning near Philadelphia, he drove his production R-32 on it three times to be safe. The power of the wheels was constant by 281. Roughly translated, the car then delivers 320 hp. This means that Japanese automakers produced cars with more than 300 horsepower throughout the deal period. They just didn`t put the numbers on paper. Rather, the agreement was a set of guidelines that Subaru vaguely adhered to.
But I know that at that time, Subaru cut the power of the WRX and IST to comply with that agreement, and slowly turned the power back on every year, a few horsepower at a time. The agreement also focused on technology and innovation included in cars. There was also another speculation that it would have to meet the desired specifications needed to use a car in a particular racing category. An obvious example is the Nissan Skyline GT-R, especially the R32 generation from 1989 to 1994. Designed with the sole purpose of competing. and maybe you dominate the defunct Group A-Class, it was limited to 276 hp / 280 hp, but once the boost limiter is removed, it can emit about 300 hp or even more. Thanks to the ATTESA E-TS, which divides the torque sent to the front wheels by up to 50% (yes, the Skyline GT-R is technically rear-wheel drive under normal conditions) and HICAS all-wheel steering, the R32 GT-R has become a wonderful rocket ship. A gentleman`s agreement defined in the early 20th century as “an agreement between gentlemen seeking to control prices” has been described by one source as the loosest form of a “pool.” [4] It has been pointed out that such agreements can be found in all types of industry and are numerous in the steel and iron industries. [4] Something had to be done. Japanese automakers were all “in the game,” producing cars that kept their agreement unwritten on paper, but broke it on the road and track.
The status quo would never last forever! However, Japanese engine designers will gladly admit that the country`s manufacturers have built cars with more than 276 horsepower. It`s just that none of the automakers officially wanted to break the deal. It`s no secret that the Mitsubishi Lancer Evos, Subaru Impreza WRX and Nissan 300ZX biturbos have been violating the deal for years, but at least in Japan they all claimed to have 276 horsepower. Misleading advertising was ignored for the sake of harmony. None. Nissan`s RB26DETT also had increasingly high torque values over the years (about 260 to 290 lbs/ft), although it showed the same number of power. At the end of the 90s, it seems quite useless that the agreement was maintained, because it was clearly broken by almost everyone. According to the Japan Times, this informal agreement has its roots in the mid-70s, when Japan began to have a real problem with groups collectively called Bosozoku – street gangs on motorcycles and cars that ignored traffic rules and wreaked havoc. .