Dave, your threads and builds have been an inspiration to me since I had the black car. Honestly, yours is one of the voices I respect the most on Prime. Which is why I'm surprised by your advice! I did the full 01+ ABS conversion on the black car and loved it. But, that car was a daily driver including in winter. For safety, then, ABS was a must for me, as was the ancient TCS system, both of which saved the car on several occasions in the snow. One place where the modern ABS never came into play for me was the track. I'm dating myself, but my first car was a 1983 Mazda RX-7. My junior year of high school, I bought it for $500 not running and rebuilt the carb- ran perfectly after that.
Soon after acquiring the car, I started tracking and autocrossing it. My racing instruction at the time taught "threshold braking," where you brake progressively harder and later each lap to find the limit of traction and learn to feel the point just before lockup. Once you figure it out, you just brake at that limit and you never slide. The RX-7 certainly did not have anything like ABS! So, I learned to threshold brake. My racing instruction appears to be like riding a bike because, in almost 5 years of tracking the black car, I never once got into ABS.Combine the above with the fact that the Imola S Zero will be a sunny day, track and car show car- basically the complete opposite of the black car- I doubt it will ever see even rain! Thus, I'm not sure if the funds earmarked for the ABS upgrade (whether OEM or Syndicate S2000) are best dedicated there, or spent somewhere else that may deliver more enjoyment out of the car. Because of my profession, I have the funds to do everything OEM and new on this project. But, because of my marriage and the compromises that go with it, I have agreed to severely limit the budget and stage the build process over years. Rather than get mad, I've decided to embrace the challenge! It adds an element of DIY and creativity to the project. I can delete the ABS entirely for about $100 worth of parts and make it look like an OEM option from Honda, thanks to your fantastic delete build...
As noted above, I had to make compromises. Because of the scarcity of OEM Type-S parts and bits, I decided that the color and cosmetic change should be Stage 1, so that I can grab the badges and all of the other little Honda bits that might not be available in a few years. There will always be hundreds of wrecked NSXs that I can pirate all of the manual shift parts from, so the time pressure is less. Only potential issue is the 6-speed availability, but Honda is still making them to order, though there is a 12-month wait. Makes sense considering the 2005 model year likely will continue to be supported until 2025. Worst case is I grab a 5-speed and put a ATS carbon 4.4 LSD in it. So, lots of options for the manual conversion that will remain so for a while.
I'll PM you about the panel. The OEM Type-S Zero part is $120, so this is a good example of the issue described above. I can say "yeah honey, but look, I was able to save $120 by using an aftermarket panel from a friend- remember that guy who bought my titanium exhaust?- and just painting it Honda Graphite Gray."
Is it dimensionally the same as the OEM panel?So happy to hear about your experience with the Fujitsubo- I continue to believe it is simply the best exhaust ever made for the NSX, and so mad that I let my spare one go!! lol. Now, I'm going to have to import another one! (part of Stage 2 sadly...)
As for the ABS, yeah that is my fear- ruining a good set of tires at the track- but in a recent convo with my dad (who was also one of my first track instructors), he made a good point when he asked whether I had ever activated ABS in the old NSX on the track and his eye roll when I said no and mini-tirade about how kids these days are using computers to make up for their lack of driving ability (and subtly bashing my GT-R). He finished with "well at least you remember how to threshold brake." For reference, he tracks his 1992 Miata with a Ford 5.0 V8...and no ABS. I've driven that car...scary is a word I would use.
Still, the Syndicate S2000 option is tempting...
