Throwback Thursday: J’s Racing vs. Powerhouse Amuse S2000
Best MOTORing puts two of Japan’s finest tuners to the test in the touge.
This Throwback Thursday post comes to us from the finest automotive program to ever come from Japan: Best MOTORing. For the uninitiated, B.M. was effectively Japanese Top Gear with race car drivers. The head personality, Keiichi Tsuchiya, is the D.K., and one of the originators of drifting. Needless to say, it’s a very entertaining show, and if you haven’t already, hop on YouTube and go down that rabbit hole. It’s worth your time.
That said, this particular B.M. clip is a classic. Two of the biggest names in Japanese tuning: J’s Racing, and Powerhouse Amuse supplied their widebodied S2000 demonstration cars to the show for some full throttle runs down the touge. Both cars have the majority of their respective brands’ catalogs thrown at them, so it makes for an intense battle.
Although the Powerhouse Amuse car has, at one point, been a 600 horsepower turbocharged monster, in this form, it’s sporting a stroked 2.3-liter F20C engine making 300 horsepower, all-motor. Likewise, the J’s Racing car is naturally-aspirated, and features their full suite of intake and exhaust goodies.
Interestingly though, the J’s Racing car also had an upgraded final drive, with a much more aggressive gear ratio, improving the acceleration. Despite both cars being similar on paper, that gearing advantage has the J’s Racing car sitting right on the bumper of the Amuse S2000. Watch the in-car cameras, the J’s Racing S2K is working out 3rd and 4th gear a lot, even in the tight confines of the touge.
Despite the stronger acceleration of the J’s Racing S2000, the final outcome was a…draw? Perhaps the Best MOTORing team was being kind to Team Powerhouse Amuse. From where we’re sitting, this was a clear victory for J’s Racing.
