Just got to work and can't wait to drive home- Story of my Comptech R&P

Joined
7 February 2001
Messages
1,617
Location
CORONA, CA USA
Last night, my 4.55 R&P was finally installed by Larry at NSX Modified. Yes, he works Sunday night into the late hours. We were done around midnight.

Before I give my impressions, I do want to thank Larry, once again, for making this possible.
He was the one who let me borrow a stock R&P to ship to David in exchange for the Comptech. I would not have been able to do the deal without him.

The install went fairly quickly and took just a few hours, if that. Since he runs an open shop, I was able to see the entire process. Although I understood everything he did, I doubt I would be able to reproduce the effort.
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I received some bad news once the tranny was apart. My RM clutch was broken. One of the small metal brackets that holds the disc in place was cracked off. Apparently this is a common issue with the RM as Larry shows me a pile in the corner with broken RM clutches.
He says it's a great clutch when it's working, but that this happens to them all the time. Mine felt fine, but was bound to go sooner or later due to that broken piece.

I wasn't planning on the expense of a new clutch and was in a bind. Once again, Larry manages to surprise me. He throws my broken clutch in the pile and pulls out a practically new stock clutch he has laying around. He basically GIVES me the clutch and says don't worry about it. He completely resurfaces the clutch, flywheel and other tranny parts and installs it back on the car.
Thanks again to Larry Garcia from NSX Modified for making this install possible.
Building a good faith relationship with Larry is the BEST thing that I have done since purchasing my NSX. He knows I'm a good customer and a man of mny word. His selfless assistance with every one of my hairbrained adventures has earned him a loyal customer for the life of my car.
Larry, you are THE man!


OK... you want impressions, right?

First, these gears are not as extreme as many make it out to be. From what I have read, I expected to be reving much higher and buzzing all over the place.
This is not the case. My RPMS while cruising around are only slightly higher than normal. 70 on the highway... almost no difference in RPM.
Driving home last night, I hit 4K RPMS at around 85mph. Cruising at 70-75 had me in the low 3-3500s. Very livable with the long gears and not annoying for daily use at all.
The only gear whine I hear is when decelerating with my foot off the gas. Otherwise, it's as quiet as my previous setup.


Second, the bog is completely gone. Second gear pulls well even below 3K RPMs. I no longer feel like I need to downshift into 1st for slow corners. There must be something else involved outside of higher revs with the gears... because I purposefully drove the car slow, below 3K, and it still pulls hard from 1.5Kup in 2nd gear. With the stock R&P it would bog considerably when being driven at that low RPM in second. Am I putting more torque to the wheels? Maybe that is the reason.

When I take off from a start and floor it, it revs up FAST! However, taking it easy results in a perfectly smooth transition around town. In fact, where I felt I needed to take 1st a bit further with my old R&P (as not to bog when shifting to second), I no longer need to do this. I can slowly accelerate to 3500RPMS in 1st, shift to 2nd, and the car just continues to pull with no bog or delay. Excellent.

At speed, every gear feels marginally improved. If cruising at 3KRPMS, every gear pulls a bit harder when hitting the gas. Nothing major like a blower, just a marginal improvement like a decent amount of weight was removed. The biggest difference is when accelerating hard in any gear where it puts you back in your seat.


My new clutch will take some getting used to as well. Aside from the fact it broke, I loved that RM clutch. It grabbed HARD and pulled instantly at every shift. I retained the kevlar portions from the RM clutch, but the rest is stock. When shifting hard from 1st to 2nd, it doesn't grab as hard. I notice a slight drop (about 200 RPMS) before it fully engages and swings up again.
Maybe this is normal or maybe it needs to break-in for a while. However, without question the RM clutch felt superior for hard acceleration. That shift to second isn't quite as visceral with a stocker.
However, around town is another story. It's miles easier to engage and drive around town than the RM. Very quiet, very smooth, almost luxury like. Next time I need a clutch job, I'll be switching back to a high performance... probably Larry's clutch or similar. I love the RM, but the reliability is not acceptable. Since it came with the car and I personally didn't buy it, there is nothing I can do or claim.
Going from RM to stock, I finally realize how important a clutch can be for performance. The difference between the two is night and day and I would have no hesitation in putting my hard earned cash into a high performance clutch next time around.

Ask questions. I have not had enough time with the R&P to come to any final conclusions. What do you want to know. I will keep your questions in mind while driving around this week and answer them.

So who wants a ride at out meeting this Thursday?
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All hail the 4.55 R&P, lord of the streets, master of speed.

The pull is unweildy, the gear whine is choice
As I rip through the gears you shall soil your shorts

Bow to the Ring
Of such power and grace
As the redline grows closer
Fear covers your face

You beg and you plead
I have children to feed
But the almighty Pinion has no pity for thee

It spins faster and faster, the redline is reached
The shift into second straight rattles your teeth

You cross your heart faintly and pray to your God
Most folks find religion when eating their snot

All hail the 4.55 R&P, lord of the streets, master of speed.

As the gear whine grows slower
you can't feel your feet
Palms grasping the bolsters
A stain on your seat

Thank God I'm alive
What the hell was I thinking
I payed how much for this?
It's time to start drinking!

As your heartbeat subsides
the addiction creeps in
Hot Damn that was Awesome
LETS DO IT AGAIN!!!!


All hail the 4.55 R&P, lord of the streets, master of speed.
 
Hey Ilya, did you install that R&P already ?, i'm really wondering what you think of it
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geez, enough sarcasm.
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I feel like I'm watching MNF with Dennis Miller.

BTW, he also changed my LSD settings while the tranny was open. Since I saw him do all the work I can tell you what that entails.

Basically, there is a small shim that drops into a part of the bell housing. The shop manual has a list of the different shims and how they change the torque settings. So he dropped in a different shim and that was all it took... unless he did something else I missed. I was asking about it so he showed me in the manual and what it was when he made the change.
 
Originally posted by ilya:
...There must be something else involved outside of higher revs with the gears... because I purposefully drove the car slow, below 3K, and it still pulls hard from 1.5Kup in 2nd gear. With the stock R&P it would bog considerably when being driven at that low RPM in second. Am I putting more torque to the wheels? Maybe that is the reason....

Yes, that's precisely the reason. The fact that you are at a slightly higher RPM at the same speed in 2nd accounts for very little of the difference. The extra torque is due primarily to the higher numerical value of the R&P, which translates to a higher torque multiplication. You can do the math. Calculate the % difference between the old R&P and the new one. That's what you gained in torque to the ground. Now look at the torque curve from a dyno run at the RPM range in question. (you need to know the RPM at a given speed for each R&P) What is the % difference between the RPM points for the two R&Ps at that speed? That's all you gained purely from changing where you are in the power band, and then only for the brief instant until you would have gotten to the higher RPM with the stock gear. In other words, nil. But the torque multiplication is throughout the gear.

Of course, as often stated here, depending on the MPH range over which you measure, you may give those time gains back again due to additional shifting.
 
Actually, 12.07% increase.
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But all that work and you didn't do the short gears too? Tsk, tsk. You're missing out on some real fun.
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I planned to do the gears too, but an iminent addition to the family means I need to put the money elsewhere now.
I almost sold the R&P as well, but knew it was my last mod and would have regretted it.

The R&P is probably the last mod I will get to do for quite a while.
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(aside from a Recaro child seat)
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Originally posted by ilya:
So that would be a 12% increase of torque to the wheels across the entire RPM range, correct?

Yes - within a given gear. But not necessarily at any particular road speed; it depends on what gear you're in, and that could change. As we've said before.
 
I planned to do the gears too, but an iminent addition to the family means I need to put the money elsewhere now.

IOW: Narrowing the gaps between the gear ratios of your car is dependent on widening the gaps between the year ratios of your family.
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Decisions, decisions...
 
Originally posted by nsxtasy:
Narrowing the gaps between the gear ratios of your car is dependent on widening the gaps between the year ratios of your family.

Good one.
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