Horiba to Conduct Road Relay to Measure Global Car Exhaust Data to Commemorate Fifty Years in Business

Tokyo, Japan, Jan. 22, 2003 - (JCN Newswire) - To commemorate fifty
years in business, Horiba, Ltd. (headquartered in Kyoto, president
Atsushi Horiba) will launch what it calls the Horiba Global Eco-Drive
Road Relay during a ceremony to be held on January 25, 2003. This road
relay is the world's first of its kind, with the employees of Horiba
group companies volunteering as drivers, who will drive the "baton" - a
car mounted with a mobile exhaust measuring system - past the relay
points in Japan, the United States, and Europe. In the spirit of
appreciation for fifty years in business, the company wants to give
something back to society by releasing useful data from this event
through academic societies and the Internet, as a contribution to
environmental and energy-related initiatives. 


Outline 

A key feature of this road relay is that by measuring exhaust gases
emitted from a vehicle in actual operation on normal roads, using the
world's first on-board car exhaust gas measuring system, it has become
possible for the first time to collect actual measurement data on a
dimension that until now was not well known. The exhaust data and other
recorded information will lead to a better understanding of how a
vehicle's burden on the environment changes in real time, in response to
factors such as traffic conditions, weather, and altitude. Through this
road rally it will be possible to obtain data from the world's roads
that will be valuable in the fields of the environment and energy, and
that data will be released in a timely manner through academic societies
and the Internet. 

Parameters: Vehicle emissions of CO, CO2, HC, NOx, and A/F (air-fuel
ratio) will be continuously measured. The mass of exhaust gases and fuel
consumption per kilometer will be calculated from values measured by an
exhaust gas flow meter. 


Key Facts 

Start/finish: January 25, 2003 (start) to August 2003 (planned
completion) 
Road segments: Point-to-point in Japan (from Kyushu in southern Japan to
Horiba's headquarters in Kyoto), then in the United States, Europe, and
back in Japan (from Horiba's headquarters to Hokkaido in northern
Japan).

Employees of Horiba Group companies will be volunteer drivers. Each team
of two partners will cover a designated distance in two-day segments
with one overnight stop. At the fiftieth anniversary ceremony on January
25, company president Atsushi Horiba will present the keys to the first
driver.


About Horiba Ltd.

HORIBA, Ltd. was incorporated in 1953 and develops and
markets many types of analytical instruments. The company is a leading
maker of measuring instruments and analyzers for environmental
pollution. While it is an affiliate of Hitachi, Ltd., HORIBA's
management is independent of Hitachi. HORIBA has subsidiaries in the
U.S. and Europe.For further information, please visit the Horiba Ltd.
home page at: global.horiba.com/index_e.htm
<http://global.horiba.com/index_e.htm>