Conversion: '02 Targa to COUPE Type-R

13 minute(s) of a 52 minute read

Hmm...this month's Intersection magazine has a small article on my Type-R. They stitched together my many responses to their email questions, and voila, instant article. They sent me a JPEG of the article, as I can't find the magazine in New Delhi. Anyway, at least the car looks good

Best part is that Jon Martin has begun to strip down my 3.0 (I sold the 3.2) and build it back up to a 3.8L stroker motor. And, Vance is upgrading my gauges to the Type-R look. Saweet!

9-27-2006

Short article on my NSX-R that appeared in Autumn 2006 Intersection magazine:

9-19-2007

Speaking of reviving from the dead...as of last week, car and I are both back in Fort Lauderdale. As I've already mentioned to a few friends, the power is f-e-r-o-c-i-o-u-s! Like mixing an NSX-R with...with...Barry Bonds  

I'm just finalizing some ECU tuning tweaks with AEM and breaking in the God-Almighty-Noisy 4.4 LSD. I should post initial driving impressions soon. We now have real NSX-R seats, and yes, it was all worth the wait. Jon built me a stunning, killer motor, all NA. And as good as that engine is, the JRZ/Moton adjustable suspension he installed is the best I've ever felt. Stay tuned for photos, and video.

11-13-2007

Sorry folks for the long delay. Since returning home from living overseas I've been slammed with a home renovation that has recently become my F/T day job. However, I did have a little time with the car after it was shipped for me to drive out here in South Florida, mostly for testing. After I made my initial assessments, the car went back to Jon Martin and AEM for final tuning. While out there, I'm also having Jon install a GruppeM V3 to test against my Lightweight Taitac GT, currently installed. A few other odds and ends for that ultimate NSX-R clone. This sickness never ends?

The best way to describe this car is to let someone else do it for me; JC from AEM says: "Anil has the most bitchen' car I've ever driven." And JC has had his share of nice rides. Now, he wants an NSX-R exactly like mine! Some of you know that JC is the founder of AEM and helped personally tune my car. Uh...I think mostly by driving the piss out of it. He drove it for a while, and lamented to Jon why he'd just sold his own NSX for a Ferrari 550 Maranello. As I had just sold my P.O.C. F550 to make room for this NSX-R, we routinely compared both cars. One is a muscle car. The other is a scalpel.

JC is an awful nice guy and was gracious to host me (with Jon's insistence) at his "boys night out" at SEMA. His friends -- a bunch of heavy-hitters in the car biz -- have this standing dinner for the past 18 years, at an Italian "mob" restaurant. I kid you not, I was told not to stare at any gentlemen with greased-back hair. At one point the door blows open and a fight brakes out between two waiters rumbling right next to our table. One of our group (Steve, from Stoptech) ran over to try and break it up. To which a few others from our table shot up to stop Steve! "Are you crazy, man? You're going to get killed!"

But, I digress.

During dinner, a sober (but just) JC kindly offered up to the group that this NSX-R is the finest NSX he's ever driven. JC, Jon and I talked about how its perfectly balanced between every man's desire for the highest level of usable performance (as opposed to absolute performance), while still being an everyday Honda. Its just stunningly balanced in this way. Not in an in-your-face F430 way, which is more like an out-and-out race car. Nor like my 911 which I loved to drive.

This NSX-R does take a while to appreciate all the small nuances Jon built into it. Its not the outright fastest thing on the road, it just feels that way. I can easily extract 9/10ths of the performance on tap at any given moment. With my Ferraris or my Porsches, nailing the throttle required a measured disregard for safety. I could hurt myself or others on the street if not careful in those cars. In the NSX, "its like butta." No drama, no trauma. Just ferocious streetable power, smoothly delivered through the OS Giken 4.4 LSD, set on 1.5 for street and light track duty. And with the lightened rotating mass (JUN) -- all balanced as a single unit -- the revs rise and fall fast, more like a race car.

As I've written elsewhere, I have this new LSD on my 2002 6-speed. Ordered it from MJ at Dali. When Jon Martin delivered me the car with the 4.4 LSD...I hated Jon's guts! It was the worst mod I had ever had. Ever. It clanked. It sputtered. It slipped. It was jerky, unpredictable, and the worst thing is that it did all this in the parking lot as people watched in horror as if my car was coming apart.

And then one day, I launched my car hard out of a corner...I mean HARD...and that's all she wrote. S-A-W-E-E-T! Even with the added power, this LSD just catapults the NSX from corner, to corner. And with the über-sticky Falken Azenis Jon recommended (BTW, the BEST tires I've ever had across 8 brands I've tried over 17 years with an NSX), even the 3.8L's extra torque doesn't allow slip out of the corners. Well, just a little And soon the chatter from the grabby LSD clutch packs will simmer down after we change from the break-in tranny fluid to the street fluid. This diminishes chatter and improve drivability. Nice thing is that the LSD is still ultra sensitive and lets me feel exactly when I've locked it, and unlocked it. Once this was mastered, as Jon promised, I learned how to lock and unlock the diff...at will. I now can't live without it. I just shotgun from corners like that slingshot effect we all aim for.

Hard into the break point, blip, blip, break, b-r-e-a-k, turn in, trail break, back on the throttle, lock the diff, nail it, track out to the exit! And that's just in the parking lot...just kidding folks I guess I now owe Jon a steak dinner. As I said, short of a new F car or P car with E-Diff or launch control, this NSX launches better than any other car I've ever owned. But you really need to spend some time with it to feel as I do. To come to grips with its immense yet usable performance envelope. It doesn't impress you initially, say like a Porsche GT3 does. It sneaks up on you, with these subtle improvements, all hopefully like Honda would have engineered.

The same goes for the brakes. With massive 330mm discs we fill up the JDM NSX-R wheels. And I converted the stock calipers to R specs, then painted them R red. The rotors are slotted just like the NSX-R, but also drilled. Interesting is that the drill holes are located inside the slots, so no-one really sees them. I understand this minimizes the chances for small cracks so notorious with conventionally drilled discs. Though I still get the venting benefits from both technologies. But once again, when Jon delivered the car I was somewhat disappointed with the lack of eye-popping brake action from my car. I paid a lot for these slick rotors, caliper mods, pads, etc. But after a while, a funny thing happened. The more I drove the car, the more I appreciated what had been accomplished.

The car offers dead neutral braking in normal driving. Nothing touchy like my old M5 -- just breath on those and the nose dives -- M brakes are strong, but somewhat difficult to modulate. This NSX-R brakes very linearly, until you need to get into it. Then, its all business. The pedal gets rock hard at doesn't depress anymore at about the same level as...the go-fast pedal. The same level. Duh, can you say effortless blips? Its beyond perfect. I use the Autovation pedals and they are the best buy for heal-and-toe shifts. Even after repeated braking, no fade. So now what we have is break action that feels OE under street driving, is perfect for heal-and-toe, but doesn't fade even with repeated hard breaking. Again, its a subtle thing you just gotta drive to appreciate.

This subtlety is found elsewhere. From my first-hand experience comparing the '02 NSX-R suspension with my new setup, I suggest that a lot more folks need to chat with Jon Martin about his JRZ adjustable suspension. Hands down, it is more comfortable than my 2002 OE NSX in regular street driving, but it automatically adjusts for any aggressive driving. The nose doesn't dive under braking, the car is F-L-A-T through high-speed turns, no push, and it sits LOW but doesn't bottom out. His JRZ setup on my R clone is one of those rare times when you get what you pay for. Its worth every penny. With the Falken Azenis, this NSX exhibits incredible grip.

The car is still back at AEM getting my ECU dialed in. No hurry. Lets get it all correct. At our SEMA dinner, JC was telling Jon we should try a small methanol injection like he has on one of his other cars, for 25 extra ponies. I never know what these guys will do to my car next. But its all good.

And while the exhaust note is aggressive enough now, I bought the GM V3 exhaust to try to get a bit more F1 note from the car. But without cats, Jon says I won't like the dB levels for my everyday ride. We're going to give it a whirl and then decide.

I've written many times about real R seats. What I can't explain in text is how they make me feel like a fighter pilot in this NSX. At 5'-10"/155lbs I pull the seats forward to the wheel so I have plenty of elbow flex left for full lock turns. In this position, once the throttle is flat, it really does feel like a video game. Perfect seats, instant power, perfect R steering wheel, incredible outward vision. Complete satisfaction.

Our entire build process stays "just this side" of balanced. Even a hint more and we'd be on the dark side of the curve. This car has about 99% of the mods one could ask for from a street car; drive cross country without issues, and win a race or two along the way. One can't ask much more from their everyday ride.

To contrast, I was recently invited to Porsche's Rennsport '07 event at Daytona. My friend and old instructor David Murry gave me a flying lap of the course in an AWD Turbo with the new launch control, then I went again in a GT3. As nice as these P cars are -- and they are very nice, that launch control is just killer -- there is just something about an NSX that defies explanation. Like a perfect women, the car makes you feel like a better driver than you really are. By day, she cooks, she cleans, and she helps the kids with their homework. At night, she's your very own sex-kitten, in South Beach.

Finally: I get the cost question a lot, so here goes. It co$$$ts about what a used 360 Spyder costs, but will simply "walk" a 360, and with some urgency. It also gives the new 430 a run for its money (driver dependent). But an oil change is still only 50 bucks. Even cops like this car as compared to the plethora of F and P cars running around South Florida. It stands out everywhere.

In terms of hard costs, most Prime members are pretty knowledgeable in this area: the 4K mile White 2002 NSX-T donor was $75K, correctly converted to a rock-stiff-chassis '02 Coupe with NSX-R treatment $37K, real R seats with brand-new NA2 R covers $13K, 3.8L Jon Martin motor build, running est: $30K, NSX-R wheels $3K...carpets, tons of JDM NSX-R bits, all JDM NSX-R underbody aero parts, real R engine cover, R chassis bars, corner balanced, R-style gauges, multiple exhausts, GM intake, JRZ adjustable suspension, OSG 4.4 LSD, R+ brakes, Procar CF hood and wing...blah, blah, blah. This is a cost-no-object build, getting past $150K.



Correct, I'll never recoup this money. That's just a LOT of money to spend on an NSX, any NSX. You gotta really, and I mean really, want an NSX-R like this to fork over 150 large. The upside is that I regularly get more usable performance from this car than any F or P car I ever owned. And with 6,700 miles, its practically new. Thinking if Honda made an NSX-RR today, a car like this(?), I guess a price of $150K wouldn't shock anybody. Specially if this RR ran the Nürburgring anywhere near what we think this car would do. But that's just bravado talking.

Is this NSX-RR for sale? I get enquires from time to time. Mostly from overseas (Dubai). Hey, everything is for sale for the right price! One email, from the auto buyer for the Sultan of Brunei. Oh yeah, and I'll be sending some money to that kind gentlemen...in Nigeria.

...though now that its done...drum-roll please...I've been lurking on the Alfa boards as I have my eye on a '69 Alfa GTA widebody "step-nose" I'd like to build for some vintage events...

Any day now my wife is going to admit me to the psych ward.