"Right" way vs "a(ny)" way

Surfed upon this link via Reddit, comparing different cultures and methods of doing things.

It still blows my mind how different Japan is compared to the rest of the world. The attention to the most minute of details, pride in their work, professionalism, sense of duty and honor etc is so deeply ingrained in their consciousness, it's no wonder senior executives would choose to end their lives than to suffer the ignominy of being tried and convicted of white-collar crimes.

Underwater Fireworks

EJ257 dyno

Dotted lines represent the projected torque and power values using linear regression if there was no clutch slip. Data are unaltered as produced by the dyno machine and input into Excel for analysis.
The original chart is here.

According to the graph, peak power is at 5718 RPM. Assuming ideal conditions, a 2.5L engine would flow about 530 cfm of air at 1.1 bar of boost pressure... about 366 crank horsepower. This compares favorably with the 290 PS measured at wheels, and sounds pretty reasonable for 4WD drivetrain loss while also taking the clutch slip into account.

Dyno Dynamics: some math

How torque and horsepower are derived from measurements recorded on a Dyno Dynamics:

Calculated torque (Nm) = Tractive Effort (N) * Roller radius (m)
Roller speed (RPM)= (Vehicle speed (km/h) * 1000) / 60 / Roller circumference (m)

Torque at wheels (Nm) = Calculated torque (Nm) / (Engine speed/Roller speed)
Power at wheels (PS) = Torque at wheels (Nm) * Engine speed (RPM) / 7020

Example:
Roller diameter: 0.217m
Roller circumference: 0.681726m
Vehicle speed: 130 km/h
RPM: 5417
Tractive Effort: 7866 N

Calculated torque = 7866 * (0.217/2) = 853.461 Nm
Roller speed = 130 * 1000 / 60 / 0.681726 = 3178.207 RPM
Torque at wheels = 853.461 / (5417/3178.207) = 500.734 Nm
Power at wheels = 500.734 * 5417 / 7020 = 386.4 PS

HKS Supra with his mouth

That Integra sounds just like the real thing! :)

The Tuner Market is Dead

Kent’s aforementioned entry brought up the age-old argument that people need to stop buying cheap parts. For those of you who didn’t read his entry, he basically says “People who buy the cheap parts ruin the market and hurt the industry as a whole. People need to be educated about high quality product because if they learn about why a product is high quality then they won’t want the cheap stuff anymore.” For a long time, I too was an avid believer and supporter of those ideals. But recently, things have changed. In order to explain what my beliefs are I must first define “The Tuner Market” as what most people see as our aftermarket industry. Whether you modify your car for street, show, drift, drag, road race or time attack, you’re a part of the “tuner market.”

Very well-written article and I agree with most of his points.

Cal physicists make a radio 10,000 times thinner than a human hair

Physicists at UC Berkeley say they have produced the world's smallest radio out of a single carbon nanotube that is 10,000 times thinner than a human hair.

Professor Alex Zettl led a team that developed the minuscule filament, which can be tuned to receive AM or FM transmissions.

The first song it played? "Layla" by Derek & the Dominos. Eric Clapton's unmistakable guitar riff can be heard on a scratchy recording of the nanoradio's output posted by Zettl online.

Skyline launch

Gotta show the GTR some love too :)

NGD test

Your Score: Pure Geek

39 % Nerd, 65% Geek, 30% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Geek, earning you the title of: Pure Geek.

It's not that you're a school junkie, like the nerd, and you don't really stand out in a crowd, like the dork, you just have some interests that aren't quite mainstream. Perhaps it's anime, perhaps it's computers, perhaps it's bottlecaps, perhaps it's all of those and more. Your interests take you to events and gatherings that are filled with people you find unusual and beyond-the-pale, but you don't quite consider yourself "of that crowd." Instead, you consider yourself to be fairly normal.

Which, you are.

Congratulations! You're the one on the RIGHT!

###

So my self-assessment was spot on. :)

Via Sandbox

Supra From Hell

This one's for you Ben!

Sandbox: Meme, meme, meme

Via Ben's Sandbox: Meme, meme, meme

According to the meme:

i. Grab the nearest book.
ii. Open the book to page 123.
iii. Find the fifth sentence.
iv. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
v. Don't search around and look for the "coolest" book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

Here's what I've got:

This state is detected by a third pair of piezoelectric elements 3-3'.

View from Aqa Hotel, Nagano, Japan

View from Aqa Hotel, Nagano, Japan
Originally uploaded by crufty

So I'm back from Japan! And I love it!

In Japan, humanity coexists with Nature in harmony. Everyone is extremely mindful of the impact of their actions on the environment. I've been to a lot of developed countries where the government pays lip service to eco-friendly initiatives, but Japan in my mind is far ahead of everyone. I didn't even go specifically for sightseeing but the panoramic views took my breath away. I'm equally impressed by Nature's majesty as well as human ingenuity; from the humbling peaks of faraway mountains to the massive bridges spanning large expanses of water... it is in a word, magical.

Japanese people are extremely polite and disciplined. They have a very powerful work ethic, even so-called menial tasks such as arranging travel brochures do not escape their attention to detail.

By extension the country is astonishingly clean. Temples in Asia are notoriously dusty affairs but those that I've seen in Japan are polar opposites. There is no dust under the eaves. There are no cobwebs in forgotten corners. It's so mind-blowingly amazing it has to be seen to be believed. Yet for its cleanliness, some people still spit on the streets to clear their nasal passages and everything still goes on with nary a raised eyebrow! It's exactly this sort of juxtaposed incongruity that has me bewildered.

Tokyo residents generally are over-dressed. The weather was perfect, in the low 20s, yet everyone has a jacket on. Except for the crazy schoolgirls with their impossibly short skirts. Don't ask me how they keep their rear ends warm in the height of winter. I seriously have no clue.

Japanese love white cars. And big Mercedes-Benzes, like the S500 or the E55. Oh and the MkIV Supra and the Mazda RX-7, pretty amazing considering that these cars have been out of production for many years. Tons of them. Evos aren't very popular there. I've seen at most 10 cars, of the various generations. The Subaru Impreza doesn't fare significantly better, most are in the rally blue but I did catch sight of an S204. Porsche seems to be doing very well. Saw 2 Ferrari F430, a 360 Challenge Stradale and a handful of Lamborghinis. Just one yellow Corvette C6 Z06.

OK I'll stop for now. Maybe more in the next entry. In the meantime the photo collection is up, and I'll be adding comments and descriptions as I get more time.