Tokyo 2009: Suzusho Supasse-V strives to be a Le Mans racer for the road
by Drew Phillips on Oct 21st 2009 at 11:58AM 
Suzusho Supasse-V - Click above for high-res image gallery
The concept behind the Suzusho Supasse-V is a good one. Take a lightweight chassis, a Le Mans-inspired body, then stuff it with the turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-4 from the Mazdaspeed3 and a 6-speed transmission. How can that go wrong? Well, we wouldn't say the Supasse-V is a failed attempt at the formula, but it fell short of our expectations from when we first learned about the car a few weeks ago.
In person the Supasse-V looks like...well...a kit car. We don't know why this is a surprise, since Suzusho specializes in Lotus 7 replicas, but the car actually looked pretty good in pictures. Up close we couldn't help but notice the awkwardly shaped and oversized wheel wells or the dated headlight design that always seems to come with kit cars. The interior is spartan but purposeful and reminds us of a Lotus Elise, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Still, the Supasse-V is far short of cars like the relatively polished Rossion Q1. Check out all the details for yourself in the high-res gallery below.
Gallery: Tokyo 2009: Suzusho Supasse-V
Photos copyright ©2009 Drew Phillips / Weblogs, Inc.
Press Release:
Supasse V - Tokyo Motor Show 2009
This is the second car show of extremely high performance closed sports car Supasse V. Director Toshio Suzuki was a Racing driver. He and his two sons and his professional staff has been to designing and manufacturing sports car using 3D CAD systems for many years. The monocoque chassis and the suspension is designed by Suzusho. The rear sub frame is bolt on and is easily replaceable. The Suppasse-V is the closest thing on the road that is equal to a competitive racing car which, can be seen at Le-mans and many other circuits. The Body is shaped and designed by the famous Kenji Mimura, who is well known for Dome Zero and Le-mans cars in Japan. We are very pleased to present to you with satisfaction the Supasse V.
Specifications
Length 3,873mm
Width 1,953mm
Height 1,160mm
Wheel Base 2,447mm
Track Fr/Rr 1,540mm ／ 1,550mm
Road Clearance 95mm
Weight 850Kg
Chassis Alminium twin tube monocoque , Steel tube sub frame
Body ＦＲＰ
Engine L3-VDT
Poweｒ 2,260cc 264PS/5500 rpm
Transmission 6 speed manual
Suspension Fｒ/Rr Double wishbone push-rod dumpers
Brake Fｒ/Rr 4pod ventilated disc ／ Single pot solid disc
Tyre size Fｒ/Rr 245/35-18 ／ 265/35-18
Wheel size Fr/Rr 8.5J/18 ／ 9.5J/18
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
vespid82 12:11PM (10/21/2009)
The 1960s called. They want their POS back.
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Ligor 12:18PM (10/21/2009)
ugly POS
T3hD0gg 12:12PM (10/21/2009)
Unless they used a different turbo, that isn't the best engine for the job. Those stock engines lose significant power past 5500RPMs.
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nighttime 12:13PM (10/21/2009)
reminds me a teeny, tiny bit of the Yamaha OX99-11
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MeiSooHaityu 12:16PM (10/21/2009)
Reminds me of a mini Enzo kit car. Might be fun to drive, but that kit car vibe it throws off ruins it for me. For now the Elise is still my favorite in this segment.
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fazzster 12:20PM (10/21/2009)
Shift knob and shift boot are from the Mazdaspeed3 as well...
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TonyInMI 12:23PM (10/21/2009)
I like the design with exception that the B pillar is too big.
It has a kit car feel maybe because it is very light?
The application of giant curvy clear headlights with multiple beams and fake jewel-like ornamentation is getting a bit old. Less is more.
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MeiSooHaityu 12:31PM (10/21/2009)
Kit car feel comes from the overall cheap plastic type look to it. It is hard to explain, but normally when you see a kit vehicle, it just looks cheap.
jinsei888 12:41PM (10/21/2009)
tommy kaira anyone?
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TonyInMI 12:46PM (10/21/2009)
Kenji Mimura?
Brandyn 12:45PM (10/21/2009)
Surely you mean "Tokyo 2009: Suzusho Supasse-V strives to be a Daytona Prototype racer for the road" because this is a far cry from Le Mans inspired.
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jjpg2000 12:52PM (10/21/2009)
They couldn't even put the Tac in right?
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BoxerFanatic 1:04PM (10/21/2009)
are you kidding, or not?
Many race cars do that. Because most drivers have more to pay attention to than the numbers, and they drive by needle-position.
The needle starts at the bottom, and winds clockwise. PLUS, as it approaches the meat of the RPM band, and the shift points... the needle is pointing somewhere between 9 and 12-o'clock positions... rather than more toward the 2-o'clock position, where the needle would be obscured by the small steering wheel, and possibly the driver's hand.
Most tachs aren't made for a 6-oclock zero, most sweep from 8-oclock to 4-oclock positions in normal road cars. So a race car rotates the tach, and the numbers look weird. The tach still shows the information, and shows it inside the steering wheel's viewable area.
jjpg2000 1:07PM (10/21/2009)
Yes, I was kidding. However, I didn't know the reasoning behind doing it that way. Thanks!
BoxerFanatic 1:11PM (10/21/2009)
Now... if they had built this with a longitudinal version of the engine, and a lateral porsche-style robust gearbox, and styled it to look even slightly like the Mazda Furai race car... THAT would be hot as hell.
with a longitudinal layout, you could have a Miata block, with the Mazdaspeed 3 DISI head and fuel pump, and a custom turbo layout...
Or you could have a turbocharged or 3-rotor rotary engine, or a V6, or even an upcoming longitudinal version of the ecoBoost twin turbo DFI V6...
(Actually, I wonder if the SHO engine and some sort of manual 2WD transverse gearbox would fit in this little thing..... )
The styling isn't that horrible, and it does look like a kit car due to the depth of the moldings, (the gills and slats don't have a lot of depth to them before they are just open to the airspaces under the body panels.)
But it is a little to rounded and cutesy... A harder edge, like Furai's styling would have been a home run, even with the same level of molding development.
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RLQ 6:49PM (10/21/2009)
I've seen cheaper kit cars that looked better.
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