Back from Japan

Not long back from Japan after 10 days there,more fun than the last time and did so much more too. Should be posting stuff up over the next while too so watch this space

ASIMO - The Honda Robot

Honda dont just make cars,motorcycles,jetskis,lawnmowers and outboard engines.For over 20 years they have developed robots and the latest version is ASIMO (Advanced Step in Innovative MObility) It stands 130 centimeters (4 feet 3 inches)tall and weighs 54 kilograms (119 lbs.), the robot resembles a small astronaut wearing a backpack and can walk on two feet in a manner resembling human locomotion at up to 6 km/h (3.7 mph). It can also run,jump and climb stairs (see below) but the day I saw it at Suzuka Circuit in Japan it was showing how well it can dance to some 70's disco tunes..... It is really quite a surreal experiance to see ASIMO with your own eyes and it takes a few moments to let it sink in that it is not someone wearing a suit







ASIMO does a wobble after climbing some steps - I understand this move was taken out of the show after it fell climbing some stairs.............

New European 4wd record holder

Video filmed and edited by Treble2

The GT-Culture / Duke Racing R33 Skyline GTR set a new European 4wd drag record at Santa Pod recently with a time of 8.3 seconds @ 164mph, on its way to winning Round 1 of the HKS Drag Series. Unlike Fuujin (see below) this car was prepared in Japan by Duke Racing and has ran low 8's in Japan before being exported to the UK. It held the previous European record with an 8.8 and now has taken half a second off that time,with more to come

Fuujin Runs

Sumo Powers new Nissan Skyline R33 GTR drag car, called Fuujin had its 1st proper runs at Santa Pod and ran a 8.54, not a bad acheivement



This was the cars 1st proper run and there is still a lot more to come as its development cycle continues to the 7 second barrier....