The itch for Turbo...

It's only been a few months since I purchased my 2000 NSX CTSC and already starting to think about going turbo. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the CTSC. It feels great and a blast to drive around town, but coming form a gen 2 viper I do miss the torque. Since I bought the car with the CTSC (low boost pulley) on it and got a great deal, I am doing a cost analysis on what I can realistically sell my CTSC for (less than 5,000 miles on it) and then putting a LoveFab stage 1 or 2 turbo on it.

The car is a weekend blaster only, maybe drive it 5,000-7,000 miles a year. It currently has 42,000 miles on it. I don't usually keep cars for more than a few years, however, the NSX has been one of my dream cars and may end up keeping it for longer. Would love to hear some feedback. I did a search and read many people talking about the change from CTSC to turbo, and i think the underlying factor is that the reliability of the CTSC is practically like OEM (definitely a big deal to me).

Since you are in CA and staying smog legal is presumably of interest to you...

Have you considered changing to the CTSC high-boost pulley with bigger injectors and an AEM FIC tune?

This is compliant with the letter (if not the spirit) of all the lovely CARB laws since the SC system technically still carries the EO # etc.

If you have friends in South Carolina or Florida who will let you register the car at their house then disregard this advice.

I personally don't think a lovefab will still come close to replicating the tq feeling in a viper.

Having been in almost ever set up out there I would probably leave it alone or consider the high boost kit - but I don't know how much reliability suffers with the high boost kit. You can go full aem with it, but then the cost probably outweighs the benefits of the high boost.

With lovefab you will also lose your cats so your car will be smelly. :wink:

bngl3rt said:

Since you are in CA and staying smog legal is presumably of interest to you...

Have you considered changing to the CTSC high-boost pulley with bigger injectors and an AEM FIC tune?

This is compliant with the letter (if not the spirit) of all the lovely CARB laws since the SC system technically still carries the EO # etc.

If you have friends in South Carolina or Florida who will let you register the car at their house then disregard this advice.

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I have not considered the high boost pulley option yet. From what I have read, many say its not that big of a difference for the cost and reliability issues.

I've never driven/ridden in a Viper. But I'd agree with NetViper's comment that a turboed NSX isn't going to give you that flat torque band of a motor that has that much displacement and N/A. Once the boost is on though....look out!

I never had a CTSC, but I had a BBSC and going to a turbo setup was night/day.

How many cars have the SOS twin system? It sounds like it is designed to be reliable and keep the character of the car. I'm interested in one but I don't really hear much about them on Prime and that scares me.

Please consider me a candidate when you put your supercharger up for sale.

06_typeS said:

Please consider me a candidate when you put your supercharger up for sale.

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Haha definitely will. I haven't researched much on market value of a great condition CTSC? The turbo project won't be until end of the year if I actually decide to go that route.

Do a search on sos turbos. There are more than a few satisfied customers

Is SOS the only kit that can pass smog in Cali?

There's still a lot of people talking about reliability. I don't know why it still comes up with the reliable kits out there like SOS, lovefab, and Angus's. It's really not the kit itself that fails, it's typically the engine, or the tuner per say.

My suggestion to you is find someone and ride in a high boost set up and if you're happy then great. If you still aren't satisfied try to find someone with a 500whp turbo set up. If you're still not satisfied then find someone with a 600whp setup.

But really the first thing you need to figure out though is the smog issue because the high boost pulley may be your only option. Then it's the budget because getting a low 400whp nsx is a lot less money then getting a 500whp nsx and ect... If you're doing a high boost pulley then it's probably only a few grand for a pulley, AEM unit, tune, and stuff. If you were to swap out to a turbo kit, even the basic Angus kit to achieve the same HP level of the high boost supercharger you're probably around the same amount of a loss. Then if you want to reach more power you're looking to do internal engine work which isn't cheap.

There's an old thread by VegasNsx titled I think "how many times did you blow up your motor" and it goes through his transition of different power levels and his opinion and a few others of what the "sweet spot" is in terms of power for our cars. A lot of ventured down the road of seeking big power, and I know of at least 2 individuals now that have blown motors, and have come back down to the mid 500's for their power goals.

I sold my ctsc for the turbo. I love the spool of the turbo. It might not be worlds faster than the sc, but the feel is surely different. Can't beat that spool at 8k rpm. As for reliability, I drive mine about 5-7k a year as well. Maybe a little less. Other than the initial start up till it's warm, the car drives great.

peiserg said:

Do a search on sos turbos. There are more than a few satisfied customers

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Just purchased another NSX with a Comptech SC ............... now I want turbo ..........................it never ends!

As far as I know there is no Turbo Setup that passes CA inspection.

NA1MT said:

As far as I know there is no Turbo Setup that passes CA inspection.

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This is correct. Not even the SOS twin turbo can pass thru CARB because you have to run a full stand alone EMS and you will not pass the OBDII inspection. If you decide to go this route you will need to register the car out of state.

Zmoney said:

It's only been a few months since I purchased my 2000 NSX CTSC and already starting to think about going turbo. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the CTSC. It feels great and a blast to drive around town, but coming form a gen 2 viper I do miss the torque. Since I bought the car with the CTSC (low boost pulley) on it and got a great deal, I am doing a cost analysis on what I can realistically sell my CTSC for (less than 5,000 miles on it) and then putting a LoveFab stage 1 or 2 turbo on it.

The car is a weekend blaster only, maybe drive it 5,000-7,000 miles a year. It currently has 42,000 miles on it. I don't usually keep cars for more than a few years, however, the NSX has been one of my dream cars and may end up keeping it for longer. Would love to hear some feedback. I did a search and read many people talking about the change from CTSC to turbo, and i think the underlying factor is that the reliability of the CTSC is practically like OEM (definitely a big deal to me).

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Not too many options:

1. sell your NSX, get a OBD1 year NSX, install a SOS SC with DA inter-cooler (my set up) and give the smog tech the CARB EO # (both times I've smogged and they didn't need the sticker, just the # so they can check on the government site)
2. still not happy? start thinking about a stroker kit paired with #1

Thanks for the feedback everyone. After doing some research, I think I'm going to stick with my current set up for now.

The car is a joy to drive and plenty fast for the street. I think I was hit with the "I want more" syndrome for a bit there. The smog restrictions makes it tough for me to switch. Its nice to have the option of going to higher boost down the line. I will see if I can get a ride in a local nsx that has a high boost CTSC set up.

I see on the SOS site that they have a modified AEM series 2 EMS and it states that it maintains the OBD2 system. Does that not mean you can still plug in for the OBDII test?

Going from sc to single turbo was the best thing I ever did for my car.

Sounds like a sensible move to me.

Zmoney said:

The car is a joy to drive and plenty fast for the street.

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Statements like this remind me of a post written by w.mitty about the realities of owning an enormously powerful super car

"Consider the following: in the realm of exotic car ownership in the United States, there are very few instances where one can truly drive a car like the 458 or the GT the way that it was designed to be driven. It’s sorta like keeping a cheetah in a Manhattan High Rise; a great conversation piece, but fun for neither the cheetah nor its owner."

The "underpowered" NSX on the other hand is a much more usable car in the real world. It won't get panties tossed at it, it won't win drag races and you will lose the "mine's bigger than yours" contests at car meets, but you can DRIVE it a lot more than other people in a realistic way. To me, that is one of the very subtle aspects of NSX ownership that I really enjoy. Do I want one of those big, impressive cars in my garage? Heck ya - who wouldn't! But I also want a car that I can comfortably take out of the garage too.

To get comparable Tq to your old Viper, you would need to go Turbo.....period. The sensible thing to do and most cost effective option would be to drive what you have and if you decide you love it and intend to keep it......which you already stated you probably won't, then you could consider upgrading to hi boost set up for your setup and go with FIC.

I am very pleased with my LoveFab kit, but would like more tourque. I plan to go 3.5 and considering SOS Twins but with lack of video/visual proof, I'm undecided. "Google" LOVEFAB and see what pops up and with 24-7 support and over $1800 in towing saved I have no complaints.

For some reason owners of SOS TT don't post their kits like LOVEFAB owners.(hope that changes)
I would love to see rather than just here it's awesome.

We are doing a low compression engine and SOS TT kit right now at the shop. I will gladly give you my reviews of it after owning The LoveFab stage 2 and STMPO kits and doing installs on all of them.

OKI-BOY said:

I am very pleased with my LoveFab kit, but would like more tourque. I plan to go 3.5 and considering SOS Twins but with lack of video/visual proof, I'm undecided. "Google" LOVEFAB and see what pops up and with 24-7 support and over $1800 in towing saved I have no complaints.

For some reason owners of SOS TT don't post their kits like LOVEFAB owners.(hope that changes)
I would love to see rather than just here it's awesome.

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SOURCE 1 said:

We are doing a low compression engine and SOS TT kit right now at the shop. I will gladly give you my reviews of it after owning The LoveFab stage 2 and STMPO kits and doing installs on all of them.

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Awesome. That would be very much appreciated.

blue_myriddn said:

Sounds like a sensible move to me.


Statements like this remind me of a post written by w.mitty about the realities of owning an enormously powerful super car

"Consider the following: in the realm of exotic car ownership in the United States, there are very few instances where one can truly drive a car like the 458 or the GT the way that it was designed to be driven. It’s sorta like keeping a cheetah in a Manhattan High Rise; a great conversation piece, but fun for neither the cheetah nor its owner."

The "underpowered" NSX on the other hand is a much more usable car in the real world. It won't get panties tossed at it, it won't win drag races and you will lose the "mine's bigger than yours" contests at car meets, but you can DRIVE it a lot more than other people in a realistic way. To me, that is one of the very subtle aspects of NSX ownership that I really enjoy. Do I want one of those big, impressive cars in my garage? Heck ya - who wouldn't! But I also want a car that I can comfortably take out of the garage too.

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your statement means little, realistically. "you can DRIVE it a lot more than other people" means nothing. Whats preventing me from driving my enzo, or whatever at the same rate of accelleration and lateral G as the NSX? Nothing. the only difference is that if I so choose to take a blast up to 150, it doesn't take 3 lifetimes like in an nsx. May as well say "well, gee, the NSX is really too much car for the city, I drive my prius at the limit every day." Probably a true statement... driving a prius at the limit probably won't break any laws... driving even an NSX, as slow as it is, at the limits, would get your arrested pretty fast.

peiserg said:

your statement means little, realistically. "you can DRIVE it a lot more than other people" means nothing.

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Of course it doesn't, that is because you only quoted part of it. You need to add the full "in a realistic way". I might also add "in a realistic way where I live" - which is in the DC area. If I was in the more open western states, it may be a very different experience.

peiserg said:

Whats preventing me from driving my enzo, or whatever at the same rate of accelleration and lateral G as the NSX?

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Quite a lot actually. Driving an extreme car like an enzo (or F50) at low or slightly above legal speeds is a bit of a chore as the car has so much more power waiting to be unleashed. As mentioned above - a cheetah in a NYC apartment.