There are several people that offer tuning options for the NSX

http://www.scienceofspeed.com/products/engine_performance_products/NSX/ScienceofSpeed/NA_power_stages/

http://www.tdi-plc.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=107_108_347_566

with Plans being considered the best people to do the work

http://www.plansmotorsport.com/

I got sent the raw data from the TDI dyno day

http://www.noelwatson.com/blog/PermaLink,guid,2aeb46b9-a379-4466-a23d-b8aabbf65106.aspx

NSXTDIDynoRaw - April 2008.xls (280 KB)

NSXTDIDynoRaw - April 2008 Type-S.xls (291 KB)

Suggesting that I should be changing up slightly short of the limiter when going from 4th to 5th

NSXTDIDynoGearChanging - April 2008.xls (94 KB)

in slight contrast to the data from Surrey Rolling road

http://www.noelwatson.com/blog/PermaLink,guid,35b51c27-802c-449f-b794-0ad5d4560c45.aspx

Saturday involved around ten of us from NSXCB going over to TDI at Essex

http://www.tdi-plc.com/index.php

to have a go on their hub mounted dyno. Usually costing £100 an hour + VAT, I was very impressed to see the machinery in action. Compared to Charlie's plot at SRR, the torque curve fluctuated a lot more, indicating that there was less of a smoothing effect. My car gave 255.8bhp @ 7250 and 197.9 lb-ft @6550. This was the lowest of the 3.2's tested (most of which had exhausts/air intake mods), indicating that the NSX is receptive to some modding work.

Other rototest numbers are here

http://www.rri.se/index.php?DN=29

Cayman S (auto)

http://www.rri.se/popup/performanceg...p?ChartsID=252

S2000

http://www.rri.se/popup/performanceg...p?ChartsID=695

911 (1998)

http://www.rri.se/popup/performanceg...p?ChartsID=378

350 Z

http://www.rri.se/popup/performanceg...p?ChartsID=637
http://www.rri.se/popup/performanceg...p?ChartsID=447

Z4 M Roadster

http://www.rri.se/popup/performanceg...p?ChartsID=606

and NSX prime says the 3.2 typically gives 15 bhp more than the 3.0, which agreed with our measurements

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Performance/measure.htm

Other numbers from the day are here

http://nsxcb.co.uk/testvb/showthread.php?p=41990#post41990

I also had the opportunity to weigh my car (numbers in brackets is with me in the car - all numbers with 3/8 tank of fuel)

FL 274 (293.5)     FR 281 (316.5)
RL 387 (397)       RR 410 (448.5)

So the car appears to be heavy on the right hand side - even without driver. The weight distribution is 41:59, changing on slightly to 42:58 with me in the car

So the question remains, if I add these modifications to my car - how much will this affect my terminal speed at Bruntingthorpe

NSX.xls (15 KB)

My initial calculations indicate that I will need another 10bhp (199 vs. 189) to hold a steady 165 vs 162 (current record). Further investigation will have to be undertaken to see how the extra power will affect acceleration within the constraints of the Bruntingthorpe straight.

Sunday was Goodwood for the breakfast club,

http://www.goodwood.co.uk/breakfastclub/default.asp#diary

with the weekend's theme being ‘Modern Sports Car Legends – great drivers’ cars, from 1980 to the present day’. I was lucky enough to park trackside, along cars such as the short wheelbase Quattro.

There had been warnings that there may be a band of showers passing through the region, but nothing prepared us for the snow, the kind of which I hadn't seen since I was a child. After around twenty minutes, Mark (in his targa) and I decided to make a run for it back towards London.

We pulled over to take a picture of the cars. In hindsight this was probably not the best of ideas as the mild gradient meant that my car struggled to get going again. Mark had new tyres and his traction control may well have been more lenient, whereas my car would go nowhere with the traction control on.

Soon after this photo was taken the road was blocked off after a collision ahead, so we decided discretion was the better part of valour and took shelter in a local hotel. It seemed we weren't the only ones, as there were numerous exotics parked up, including a Zonda, Diablo SV and De Tomaso.

After around an hour I decided to make a break for it but made the mistake of taking a B road. It wasn't long before the traffic ground to a halt on a slight incline. The NSX was starting to struggle so I headed back towards the A27, which had been gritted unlike the majority of the smaller roads

I've written about the NSX several times

http://www.noelwatson.com/blog/PermaLink,guid,35b51c27-802c-449f-b794-0ad5d4560c45.aspx

and after achieving 162 mph at last weekend's VMax

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=507510

 I have decided that I will not be able to make it go any faster. I am starting to wonder if the NSX's time has gone - it woke up the established car players in the early 90's, but as time has moved on and other manufacturers have improved the range (Ferrari for instance went from 348-355-360-430), the NSX stayed still.

Recently the car magazines have begun testing the new Nissan GTR, with all saying it surpasses the opposition.

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122409

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Video/Search-Results/Video/Features/Nissan-GT-R-vs-Porsche-911-Turbo---part-one/

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Video/Search-Results/Video/Features/Nissan-GT-R-blasts-around-Rockingham/

http://www.nagtroc.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=22031

http://www.autocar.co.uk/VideosWallpapers/Videos.aspx?AR=231443&CT=V

http://www.autocar.co.uk/VideosWallpapers/Videos.aspx?AR=231444&CT=V

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=31&article_id=6594

Now 55k isn't cheap, but when 05 plate NSX's are going for 45k, and 911 Turbos >100k, it starts to look like remarkably good value. Especially when you consider it can get round the 'ring in 07:38. Astonishing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2U1Fw5nE-8

Seventeen years ago the 3.0 C30A in the Honda NSX was considered cutting edge

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_C_engine#C30A

utilising advanced technologies such as titanium conrods to develop 270bhp. BMW recently released a 3.0 with 272bhp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N53

What is most impressive is the C02 output, which at ~170g is not much more than half of the NSX's 290g. The NSX received a LEV certificate in 2000

http://www.hondanews.com/search/release/2653?q=supercar&s=acura

But the question remains - will it sound as good?

http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=120&i=5985

"motivating the NSX with any real urgency requires plenty of revs - which not only produces rapid acceleration but THAT noise.

From around 6,000rpm when the VTEC's high lift lobes take over until the limiter cuts in at 8,500rpm the NSX emits a sound that's probably best described as a cross between a roar and a wail. It is quite simply aural ecstasy for petrolheads and it's a pity we didn't grab an MPEG to go with this report because it must rate as one of the best road car soundtracks ever.

After my Bruntingthorpe adventure and defeat by M3's, 

http://www.noelwatson.com/blog/PermaLink,guid,77c9f0a9-ad33-482e-bc96-a819a3524724.aspx

I thought I would see how much power the car was putting out, and work out optimum gear changepoints. The car gave 234bhp at the wheels which I think is about right (claimed 276 at crank) - the M3 gives around 280 at the wheels (claimed 343 at crank)

NSX-Surrey-Rolling-road.xls (21.5 KB)

The spreadsheet shows that the optimum change up points are on the red line in each gear.

• Power at wheels

• Power at flywheel

• Air fuel ratio

I bought an NSX earlier this year after some research

http://www.noelwatson.com/blog/PermaLink,guid,682dda25-accd-4deb-8df4-2b677dae5164.aspx

was wondering how fast it would go. Unfortunately with the speed limit in the UK being 70mph, getting to the top end of 2nd gear would see me breaking the law - let alone the 4 gears above this.

http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Technical/gearratios.htm

Fortunately, Pistonheads organised a day at Bruntingthorpe

http://www.bruntingthorpe.com/

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=bruntingthorpe&sll=54.162434,-3.647461&sspn=12.342065,38.188477&ie=UTF8&ll=52.490463,-1.134768&spn=0.025033,0.074587&t=h&z=14&iwloc=addr&om=1

which has a 2 mile runway enabling drivers to get near to their vehicle's top speed. Unfortunately in the morning it had been raining, so the braking zone distance had to be increased, meaning that the speeds achieved were not what they could be. My best speed was 156mph - near the limiter in 5th gear (see picture)

After lunch the track had dried out meaning that the braking distances could be reduced. The car hit the limiter at around 160 meaning that  a change into 6th was required. Acceleration at these speeds was limited meaning that the best I could manage was 161 mph - a record for an NSX at Bruntingthorpe but slower than an M3 - my target. Full results can be seen here

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=428585

The NSX was released in 1990, and took the established supercar manufacturers on at their own game. Developed with the help of Ayrton Senna,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAwJsOECGBU

it offered everyday practicality with genuine supercar pace. Launched with a 3.0 litre 270 bhp engine, it was modified rarely during its lifecycle - an increase in capacity to 3.2 litres in 1997 and a six speed gearbox fitted and a headlight redesign in 2002 being the main changes.

The NSX never sold in great numbers in the U.K., so it can be difficult to track down used examples. Honda Chiswick

http://www.chiswickhonda.com

are an authorised NSX dealer, and usually have several example in stock

• Wiki article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_NSX

• U.S. forum

http://www.nsxprime.com/

• U.K. forum

http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/

• Specifications year by year

http://www.hondanews.com/catid3047?html=acura2005.html

• Clarkson - best handling cars - mid 90's

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVJePPjxX2E

• VBH looks back over NSX history and drives a late example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAbvmLsAsdg

• NSX (S Zero) beats 355 over quarter mile

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYjUZV4OP8c&mode=related&search=

• Good NSX book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/NSX-Hondas-Supercar-Brian-Long/dp/1904788432

• Best place for sales

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/list.asp?s=328

We travelled to Le Mans last weekend in a Porsche 911T

http://www.classiccarclub.co.uk/carpages/por_911T.asp

I asked for the Aston but was informed that it was overheating so had the Porsche instead (Classic Car Club review at end of the year).

http://www.classiccarclub.co.uk/carpages/aston_martin_v8.asp

We left Portsmouth on the 7a.m. ferry and arrived around 4 hours later in Caen. We were the last off the ferry - I think they put all the old cars near the back in case they couldn't start.

The journey down was uneventful and we arrived at a campsite near the Porsche curves after an hour of searching. Unfortunately we missed the start of the race, but this didn't matter too much as there was plenty of racing to watch.

Of all the cars racing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans

The three best sounding cars were the

• Corvette

http://www.corvetteracing.com/

• Panoz

http://www.panozmotorsports.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=2176

Lamborghini

• http://www.motorsport.com/photos/lemans/2006/24h/thumbs/lemans-2006-24h-eg-0006.jpg

The strangest sounding car was the Audi Diesels (one of which in fact won) which were almost silent, the only noise I could hear was some gearbox whine. It reminded me of Jackie Chan's Subaru in the CannonBall Run.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cannonball_Run

We had a slightly more interesting journey when returning on Sunday morning. After slowing to pass through a village, the local "Cheese Eating Surrender monkeys" (I thought Jeremy Clarkson coined this phrase, but apparently not) Gendarme

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese-eating_surrender_monkeys

pulled up alongside and motioned for us to follow them into a car park. After accusing us of speeding (I don't think we were going as quick as they claimed), our pockets were lightened by 90 Euros and we continued on our way. This appears to have happened to others as well.

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?t=281339&f=25&h=0

We stopped at the Chateaux de Sassy for a quick look round - it's just off the N158

http://www.chateauxcountry.com/chateaux/sassy/struct.html

We got back to Portsmouth at around 10:00 p.m., and when I started the car the alternator light was glowing slightly. My mobile had been damaged that afternoon, so I could see myself breaking down on the A3 at midnight with no way of getting in touch with the AA. Fortunately the Porsche was fine (we were last off the Ferry again).

For next year's trip, I would change the following

• Stay in a hotel rather than a campsite
• Return earlier and on the fast ferry - it's no fun getting back into London after midnight if you have work the next day