newbie question: 14.4 1/4 mile for 91 vs. 13.9 for 92 nsx?

[Hellspawn]

Hi! I'm new here but been lurkin for a while, I have a modded '01 Lightning w/ 400rwhp/500rwtq and I am getting kinda serious about selling/trading for an NSX, especially after how much fun my bro with 390rwhp 300zx tt had at an auto-x yesterday.

Anyways, I have looked at a few sites with car stats and all of them have 1/4 mile times of 14.4 for the '91 NSX and 13.9 for the '92. I was under the impression that the performance of the NSX's were the same until the bump in power in '96 or '97. Is the time difference just the driver or is there a performance difference between the '91 and '92? What do most '91/'92 do in the 1/4 mile (even though thats not what it's going to be used for ) Thanks!

also, my dad has a 350z, how do early model NSX's fair against these?

 

[AndyH]

I think 14.4 is for AT and 13.9 is for manual.

 

[Hellspawn]

ahh thank you. I was gettin kinda confused there. carstats.com, fast-autos.net, etc. didn't specify that

 

[Xcite50]

HellSpawn,

you shouldn't have too much problem with the new 350Z, off the line he might inch you because of the torque difference b/w 3.0L and 3.5L but from 2nd gear you should be able to gain back.

 

[brahtw8]

Performance of 91-94 coupes should be virtually the same.

I consider 5.3 seconds to sixty and 13.7 in the quarter to be the accepted numbers for a manual 91-94 NSX coupe. 95-96 targas are a few ticks slower.

I have seen early cars as low as 13.4 and as high as 13.9 in published data. At the track, a high 13 second pass should be attainable by anyone who knows how to launch a car properly.

The Z may get you off the line and the NSX bogs from 45-55 MPH as a result of the tall gearing and resulting drop in RPM from 1-2, but once you hit 60 or so you should be fine.

 

[Hellspawn]

cool, thanks for the info! Do the short gears which keep the motor in VTEC during the 1-2 shift (if I know what I'm talking about) help in the 1/4?

 

[brahtw8]

cool, thanks for the info! Do the short gears which keep the motor in VTEC during the 1-2 shift (if I know what I'm talking about) help in the 1/4?

My understanding is very little, if anything is gained in the quarter mile. I believe the regular gear car and the short gear car accelerate the same 0-80, with the short gears having an advantage from approx. 45-55 and the regular gears having an advantage from 72-81 mph.

I think you need a different R&P, either a 4.23 or 4.55 to see an increase in the quarter (based on gearing).

 

[satan_srv]

cool, thanks for the info! Do the short gears which keep the motor in VTEC during the 1-2 shift (if I know what I'm talking about) help in the 1/4?

You're thinking of a Prelude VTEC, where bogging the 1-2 shift makes you a lot slower, but that's if you suck.

The NSX isn't like that....VTEC engagement is much higher and is not such a dramatic crossover. You're not in VTEC after the 1-2 shift...and it's not a big deal

 

[brahtw8]

The NSX isn't like that....VTEC engagement is much higher and is not such a dramatic crossover. You're not in VTEC after the 1-2 shift...and it's not a big deal

I disagree somewhat. The 1-2 shift drops you to 4400 RPM, which is below the NSX powerband (which is 5k-8k, and VTEC is around 5800) and there is a noticeable difference between 1-2 at redline and 2-3/3-4/4-5 (although I have not had the opportunity to engage 5th at 145 MPH)

The NSX is kind of a dog from 45-55 MPH, as a result of gearing.

 

[NSX/MR2]

Normally, about 5.2s 0-60 and 13.7-13.8 for the early NSX. You will have such an easy time with the 350Z, it waon't even be fun. The 350Z has plenty pf problem with the S2000, let alon a NSX. Trust me, after many, many races in all conditons and 3 NSxes, I know what it is capable of.