Police investigate speeding case after driver posts footage online

Its going back thirty years but Japanese domestic cars used to have a bell that rang if you exceeded 110kph. It was well annoying!

Yeah, I'm not sure that anyone was at risk other than the driver. He was in a tunnel at 4am, and for all we know he had someone at the end of the tunnel letting him know ahead of time if there were any cars coming.

If he didn't have that, it would have been more dangerous. If he had someone watching - I don't see that he'd be a danger to anyone other than himself.

Driving at that speed on a public road is showing contempt and no care for other citizens. Anyone around you can and will be killed.

I don’t deserve to die because of your need for speed. Take his license.

Dramatic much?

Did you even watch the video? It seems not.

The GTR is limited to 180KPH 

No it isn't! It's 188, as are most high performance cars. My ECU is off and I can hit 240kmh+ easily. But I'm not dumb enough to post my info to videos like this poptart!

The 'national' speed limit if there even is one, and the local speed limits, are different in every part of each country. Cars are simply able to travel to the limit of the engine installed; the local authority decides what speed is safe for each type of road. The highest limit in any country is not the national speed limit, but the limit for that road.

Would it even be possible to engineer cars to fit the various speed limits around the world? Would a small island nation demand that for example no Toyota Prius car can be mechanically allowed to travel faster than 30 kph? Speed limits are subject to law, and these quite often change. Would manufacturers be required to keep adjusting their engines to fit changes in speed laws by country or locality? Surely this is why cars are made the way they are, and laws are made expecting drivers to obey them.

"Freedom of choice. You can drive a Bugatti Veyron or a Trabant; the speed limit here is xyz kph, for everyone."

Just because a car can carry 8 people and produce over 200 horse power, does not mean it needs to travel any faster than the national speed limits. Yeah, the Japanese government set a peed limit on cars at 180kph, but the national speed limit is 110kph. Please explain why vehicles need to be able to travel at 70kph more than the national speed limit. Nobody has a rational answer to this question.

Because of man's curiosity with machinery and speed, passion, creativity, and the capacity to seek further advancement of more powerful and efficient automobiles packed with modern tech enhancing performance to feed the desire for more machinery and speed.

Just Because

@vistula - Well because they can? Even small domestic kei cars with little 660 cc engines are capable of reaching 140 kph, well over 110 kph, the max speed limit in Japan, on Tomei Expwy.

Simply it's because the technology have advanced so much since the first car produced in 1885 by Benz, so that even 660 cc engines are capable of doing high speed.

So is the solution to reduce the engine then? Nope, smaller engine will make the car cannot accelerate since it must support the heavy car body. So you have to incorporate an engine that is capable to move the car body, but that engine will simply enable that car to travel more than 110 kph. You can't separate the two.

And that's only kei car. Want to carry 8 people? The engine should be 1500 cc at minimum, but that will only enable the car to do higher speed. That is an unintended consequence. I can't explain more since this will turn into a mechanical engineering lecture.

So, the solution is to add a speed limiter at 110 kph then?

Well the Japanese government only require to limit up to 180 kph. As long as there is no law that require to limit the car to the max speed limit in the country, carmakers will continue to make cars that are capable of doing higher speed. Why? Because they can. And there is no law to restrict them. This already answers your original question:

"So, the solution is to add a speed limiter at 110 kph then?"

Wow! Finally! A rational statement!

Just because a car can carry 8 people and produce over 200 horse power, does not mean it needs to travel any faster than the national speed limits. Yeah, the Japanese government set a peed limit on cars at 180kph, but the national speed limit is 110kph. Please explain why vehicles need to be able to travel at 70kph more than the national speed limit. Nobody has a rational answer to this question.

The GTR is limited to 180KPH unless its by a track in JAPAN and then the ECU unlocks the rest of the cars potential, however the can be tuned and the lock removed permanently. Now since the GTR has been out for quite some time the aftermarket availability of parts seems almost endless. Cars putting down 600, 800, 1000 horsepower are everywhere, seriously fast cars roam the streets of Japan, and some seriously fast speeds are attained ALL the time. The comments are comedy, of course it's unsafe and yes shouldn't be on a public road yada yada yada, but it happens and the police know it happens and know where it happens and know when it happens.

Take away his licence. Forever.

Driving at that speed on a public road is showing contempt and no care for other citizens. Anyone around you can and will be killed.

I don’t deserve to die because of your need for speed. Take his license.

That's it, the romance too! People get their kicks on Route 66, in different ways for different peeps. I drove a Pontiac Firebird back east in the early 70s and it was a blast.

My love affair with cars has never faded, but constraints of the purse limited my choices, although I have had various cars tuned, including two Skyline GTRs. (Sadly not an R35 as in the video above). Japan was great for me to own and drive a series of heart-rendingly sweet second-hand sports cars from the 1990s.

Boys will be boys, and girls will be boys too sometimes when it comes to racing! Some commonsense needs to work its way in there too though. Even the best can get taken out.

@Hawkeye.

Ah yes the Eagles. Life in the fast lane with the Vett. U.S desert highways you say? Full moon you say? Sounds like a blast and very 70's ish. For me it is Coldplay with a mix Led Zepplin currently in my newish Mini Cooper Works on these Japanese roads while drinking a Mountindew with the Costco hotdog 180Yen combo! Thank you very much! Thats about all the excitiment I can handle for the weekend these days. Have a 1 and half year old boy in the passeger seat getting down with dayz'ed and confused. The GTR is a very exciting vehicle to drive on the track.

I had a 1985 Corvette that took me to 150 mph + and more and did this on western us desert highways, what a blast. Can't imagine what that Nissan GTR was like but ten plus miles of open Nevada backroads on a full moon night with that vette was heaven with the Eagles Hotel California pumping out the speakers.

Just watched an interview with this guy on TV, face blurred out.

From the bling rings and diamond-studded watch you can tell he has too much money to be bothered to apologize or anything. When they asked him why he did it he said because he was bored, he had bought the car, and just wanted to see what it could do. He paid 800 Man and another 200 Man for some quick and easy tuning.  I am afraid listening to the tone of his voice I finally lost my last shreds of sympathy for the guy, although similar to you, Slickdrifter, I have been there and got the T-shirt too.

I can see that is the Daini Hanna highway that links Nara and Osaka. I drive it every week and can tell you that that tunnel alone is always crawling with highway patrol. I guess they don't work late at night.

@nandak-

He did. He did wait and then made his run when there would be no traffic in the tunnel.

I suspect he was in his comfort zone and had done it many times.

And I will admit by own admission. I have done the same thing (tunnel runs as well bridge runs) in undisclosed location (rural Japan). I fully tuned a Nissan Silvia. I swapped the engine with a RBDETT Skyline engine in with HKS turbines all managed everything with a F-CONN V-Pro. Now I am not proud of this by any means and I was much younger at the time. I as well was in a D-1 drift/drag culture group. I was caught and was got in serious trouble with the local police here. (talk of deperotation during interviews). Because the the Japanese police have something much faster than a GTR. Which they do have now by the way GTR patrol car. But serious, they have cameras. That was my demise. The guy did a foolish thing by uploading the video for all of Japan to see.

It took a while before I could drive again. Now I drive like a Grandmother!

To give the devil his due, he did wait at the side of the road until he was sure that there was an empty road  'safe' envelope, ie there were no other vehicles up ahead for the course of his proposed run.

I am in the super car business. A very famous dealership in Japan actually. So, you know the car in the Video is a GTR black edition. This vehicle is absolutely governed to drive like any other vehicle made in Japan when bought new from Nissan. It is meant to be driven on the track in race mode period! I could get into all this technical jargon about how Nissan (NISMO) makes you sign a disclosure agreement not to alter the vehicle or you will void the warranty and how to never reprogram the ECRM or alter the vehicle in anyway. This is simply driver’s stupidity. If you look at the video, he has an aftermarket hinged plate lifter and catch that allows him to conceal his number plate. Yes, you can buy that in Japan! Yes, you can buy tuning chips for the GTR as well and a racing computer that will release the beast. It's a very fast car. A host of all kinds of JDM tuning parts enhancing the vehicles performance are readily available on the market for the GTR. I suspect the way the GTR performed in the video and accelerated he has by-passed the NISMO ECRM that governs the car. But I am not sure. But I can say without a doubt he was able to put the vehicle in race mode in a place he should not have been able to so.  The driver is most likely running and after market racing ECRM by a very famous maker and tuner in Japan. Will not mention any names. Look the fact is. This happens every day in Japan. It happens frequently in rural areas.

Therefore, we have so many race tracks in Japan you can go to! You want to get crazy? That’s fine. Do day at Autopolis! Or if you can afford a GTR then you can afford to go to Yokohama or Fuji speed way. The driver is very lucky he was able to make his run in the tunnel with no drama like road hazards that could include, falling tiles, trucks, other vehicles, oil on the road. He is going to end paying huge fines. He will have his license suspended. He will have to be re-educated and take a class before he issued another chance to drive. Trust me. I have learned this the hard way many years ago. I will say this. It took guts to make that run and hide his plate the way he did. But yeah amateur hour in the tunnel. Just go to the track and get your speed off there where its safe.

And, here's another one with a failed argument. Yeah, different countries have different speed limits. Therefore, why are vehicles not limited to the maximum speed limit in each country?

Domestic vehicles are to get from A to B. They are not a racing car or a show pony for someone to brag about how much money they have or fast they can drive on public roads (extremely dangerously).

Well because they can? Even small domestic kei cars with little 660 cc engines are capable of reaching 140 kph, well over 110 kph, the max speed limit in Japan, on Tomei Expwy.

Simply it's because the technology have advanced so much since the first car produced in 1885 by Benz, so that even 660 cc engines are capable of doing high speed.

So is the solution to reduce the engine then? Nope, smaller engine will make the car cannot accelerate since it must support the heavy car body. So you have to incorporate an engine that is capable to move the car body, but that engine will simply enable that car to travel more than 110 kph. You can't separate the two.

And that's only kei car. Want to carry 8 people? The engine should be 1500 cc at minimum, but that will only enable the car to do higher speed. That is an unintended consequence. I can't explain more since this will turn into a mechanical engineering lecture.

So, the solution is to add a speed limiter at 110 kph then?

Well the Japanese government only require to limit up to 180 kph. As long as there is no law that require to limit the car to the max speed limit in the country, carmakers will continue to make cars that are capable of doing higher speed. Why? Because they can. And there is no law to restrict them. This already answers your original question:

"My mind is still boggled as to why car manufacturers spend so much time and money producing domestic cars that will do these speeds when speed limits in most countries are 100-120kph."

UlsterBoy "Doesn't Japan have any race tracks open to the Public to satisfy these wannabe racers ?"

Yes, there are various circuits around the country offering a choice of regular race track or drifting experiences. It helps to have a garage that maintains your car and also gives you entry to the circuit nearest you. Perhaps the unnamed person in the article could still benefit from a few laps of Suzuka, which is not too far away in Mie Prefecture.

My Japanese cars have a devise to limit the engine speed to 190km. This is fine. Some people buy foriegn cars as Japanese law has no limit for over 190km. Why do you need to drive over 160km? I think the limit should be 160km.

@stepoutsidethebox - I guess you didn't read my comment. He should have kept it on the track. My other passions also include fast motorcycles and sports cars (though I can't quite afford either that go up to 280, but would 100% love to drive a car and motorcycle one day that speed... on track). And yes its a passion. The average person who buys viechils that can triple and quadrupedal the speed limit tend to be passionate about cars and motorcycles. My point is do you really think I put my 5000$ to the limit 100% of the time? Of course not. Its not like people driving GT-R are zooming down every street at 280. I drive a dinky Kei-car to work all the time. I pass dudes driving 300hp WRX STIs. They could smoke my car in a second. But they are driving slower than me. They enjoy that car for the engineering, for the styling, and for the POTENTIAL! That is what you are 100% missing.

I did read you post and I'm not missing anything. You have still failed to give any logical reason why domestic cars need to be able to travel at speeds in excess of national speed limits.

@vistula - Because car makers are selling the cars on many different countries, which has higher speed limits (140 in Poland), or even no speed limits on certain parts (Germany) and its not up to the makers to impose a speed limiter. Why do car makers still produce these fast cars? Because the market is there, and the place where you could max the speed of your car legally such as racetracks exists, and those are often open to public. 

And, here's another one with a failed argument. Yeah, different countries have different speed limits. Therefore, why are vehicles not limited to the maximum speed limit in each country?

Domestic vehicles are to get from A to B. They are not a racing car or a show pony for someone to brag about how much money they have or fast they can drive on public roads (extremely dangerously). Keep giving me thumbs down if you like, but not one of you has created any kind of logical rebuttal supporting why domestic cars are able to do ridiculous speeds far above national speed limits.

Ohhh

He need to calm down.

I guess he wanted many Good

points and positive responses on SNS.

Anyone who flaunts doing this has to be punished. You'll just encourage it otherwise.

My car won't do 280kph, but I do have a Japanese sword, unsharpened of course, that was a gift. May I "check the performance" in a public place?

Performance checked... license revoked.

S

Doesn't Japan have any race tracks open to the Public to satisfy these wannabe racers ?

First: A car can have adequate acceleration without having a stupid top speed.

Second: 180kph is still at least 60kph over national speed limits.

Therefore, your arguments are severely flawed!

Because car makers are selling the cars on many different countries, which has higher speed limits (140 in Poland), or even no speed limits on certain parts (Germany) and its not up to the makers to impose a speed limiter. Why do car makers still produce these fast cars? Because the market is there, and the place where you could max the speed of your car legally such as racetracks exists, and those are often open to public. 

So the responsibility lies on the government, not the makers. Actually there was a time in Japan (1970's) when it was mandated that cars should beep audible warning incessantly non-stop when it exceeded 105 kph, but the public hated that so it was removed. And why 180 kph? Then you should ask the Japanese government.

"A passion? Another flawed argument. You compare a car travelling at 280kph with a set of expensive headphones or a personal computer? Are you serious? I wonder how many people have been killed by a $5,000 computer or a set of $1500 headphones. Perhaps they were killed by their wives for spending so much.

Domestic cars do not need the ability to travel at speeds in excess of national speed limits. There is not any logical reason for them to do so."

I guess you didn't read my comment. He should have kept it on the track. My other passions also include fast motorcycles and sports cars (though I can't quite afford either that go up to 280, but would 100% love to drive a car and motorcycle one day that speed... on track). And yes its a passion. The average person who buys viechils that can triple and quadrupedal the speed limit tend to be passionate about cars and motorcycles. My point is do you really think I put my 5000$ to the limit 100% of the time? Of course not. Its not like people driving GT-R are zooming down every street at 280. I drive a dinky Kei-car to work all the time. I pass dudes driving 300hp WRX STIs. They could smoke my car in a second. But they are driving slower than me. They enjoy that car for the engineering, for the styling, and for the POTENTIAL! That is what you are 100% missing.

@vistula - What people seek on fast cars are mainly the acceleration and the joy of driving, so for example, even if you're sticking to the 100 kph limit, when you're entering a highway from a ramp, accelerating to that speed on a fast car will be a more fun experience than in a kei car (also arguably safer too since kei cars are not stable on high speeds)

Second, I saw this incident on TV that there is actually a speed limiter on Japanese cars up to 180 kph and it was removed on the car the person was driving.

First: A car can have adequate acceleration without having a stupid top speed.

Second: 180kph is still at least 60kph over national speed limits.

Therefore, your arguments are severely flawed!

@stepoutsidethebox - Same reason people like me spend over $5,000 on a PC when most spend 1k. Or I spend $1500 on headphones when most spend 100$ or less. It's a passion.

A passion? Another flawed argument. You compare a car travelling at 280kph with a set of expensive headphones or a personal computer? Are you serious? I wonder how many people have been killed by a $5,000 computer or a set of $1500 headphones. Perhaps they were killed by their wives for spending so much.

Domestic cars do not need the ability to travel at speeds in excess of national speed limits. There is not any logical reason for them to do so.

papigiulio, I agree with you, which is why I had to go and look it up!

The traditional east/west divide was at 関 Seki, (= Kan of 関西 Kansai and 関東 Kanto ) but Wiki tells us that generally the West looks like this:

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC#/media/File:WesternJapan-region_Small.png

Thanks Nandakandamanda. I also looked it up and some people say Central Japan is Hyogo, others say its Gifu/Nagano and again others say its Tochigi. Personally when looking at the map, Kansai feels like central Japan and Fukuoka/Kyuushuu as Western Japan, perhaps Japan doesn't want/use central and only East and West.

I have driven at 288 kph in a 'domestic car', but not on a public road. Quite an adrenaline rush. Oh, and you need to allow some decent braking distance! I am sure the guy will be happy to take whatever they slap him with as he knows he deserves it.

Reminds me of Smokey Nagata who went over to the UK to hit 197mph on British roads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Vcx3zRE-0

Banned and never to drive again.

Who whould want to give this idiot his license back?

Could be someone YOU care about he injures or kills with his next bout of showing off.

"My mind is still boggled as to why car manufacturers spend so much time and money producing domestic cars that will do these speeds when speed limits in most countries are 100-120kph."

What people seek on fast cars are mainly the acceleration and the joy of driving, so for example, even if you're sticking to the 100 kph limit, when you're entering a highway from a ramp, accelerating to that speed on a fast car will be a more fun experience than in a kei car (also arguably safer too since kei cars are not stable on high speeds)

Second, I saw this incident on TV that there is actually a speed limiter on Japanese cars up to 180 kph and it was removed on the car the person was driving.

Dangerous as hell, and potentially irresponsible to others. But looks sooooo fun.

Alternatively this:

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC#/media/File:Western_Japan-region_Small.png

The traditional east/west divide was at 関 Seki, (= Kan of 関西 Kansai and 関東 Kanto ) but Wiki tells us that generally the West looks like this:

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC#/media/File:WesternJapan-region_Small.png

"My mind is still boggled as to why car manufacturers spend so much time and money producing domestic cars that will do these speeds when speed limits in most countries are 100-120kph."

Same reason people like me spend over $5,000 on a PC when most spend 1k. Or I spend $1500 on headphones when most spend 100$ or less. It's a passion.

But this guy should have stayed on the track

My mind is still boggled as to why car manufacturers spend so much time and money producing domestic cars that will do these speeds when speed limits in most countries are 100-120kph. It only results in idiots like this using public roads as race tracks putting innocent lives at risk. A domestic car is transport from A to B. It is not a race car.

Where I come from, this idiot would instantly receive a lifetime ban on driving and would be facing jail time for this extremely dangerous lunacy. His car would also be confiscated and crushed. The footage of which would be used for road safety campaigns.

Shouldn't it be CENTRAL-Japan.

Well, because it is. It's in Kansai region, where the -sai kanji means West. Central Japan is around Nagoya area.

Just lucky nothing went wrong.

A few track days, as RiskyMosaic says above, will show him that even at 4:00 am public roads, especially tunnels (602miko), are more unpredictable and potentially seriously more dangerous than a dedicated race track which tends to be safer in most respects.

hmmm, I still don't understand why Osaka is referred to WEST-Japan. Shouldn't it be CENTRAL-Japan.

He was driven on the tunnel the most scary places if there's an accident no escape. This idiot has no brain. They should take off his licence.

Guy can afford a GT-R but not a go pro for the footage? That’s the biggest crime here.

I'm not convinced this guy was an idiot for speeding given he did it at 4 in the morning, which reduced the risk of others being in the speedway. He is an idiot for posting footage of his crime.

Idiot...at least he didnt hurt anyone!