GT5 Transcripts/Honda TAKATA DOME NSX (JGTC) '03

For the 2003 Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) season, Honda race engineers made big improvements to the NSX that waged war in the hotly contested GT500 class. Facing revised regulations for 2003, they went from a transverse to a longitudinal engine mount and attached the transmission to the front of the engine rather than the back. Engine power traveled through the transmission and then along a propeller shaft running around the side of the cylinder block to arrive at the differential gear on the rear axle behind the engine.
The complex layout was chosen to concentrate mass to the center of the vehicle and thereby achieve superior maneuverability. But a newly imposed flat-bottom aerodynamic regulation made the NSX highly sensitive to drive as well as giving it a very narrow margin for settings. Even worse, a new regulation imposing an excessive weight handicap on mid-engine cars left the NSX struggling hard through the first half of the season.
The development team rushed to boost engine power, and a revised engine was fitted for the second half of the season. As a result, the NSX sprang back to life. The Takata Dome NSX driven by Ryo Michigami and Sebastien Philippe took the win in the fifth race and the G'ZOX NSX driven by Daisuke Ito and Tom Coronel won the sixth race of the series.
Category:GT5 Transcripts