Hey all,
There has been a few threads on pedal covers so I thought I'd throw in my two cents also...
Previously I had great experiences with the Mugen Sports Pedal kit in other Hondas so I decided to buy a set for the NSX. Those unfamiliar with them can read a brief description of them at www.kingmotorsports.com The short form is the brake and clutch are of a cast aluminum construction with a porous metal "sponge" that provides grip to the pedal (even when wet). The accelerator pedal is a polished NC cut piece of aluminum so you can slide your foot smoothly to just apply the exact amount of throttle you want precisely.
After installing them, I decided to uninstall them and put the stock ones back.
Why?
Simply put: the fit and function were not on par with the OEM part, which is HIGHLY unusual for Mugen because they are practically perfect substitutes for OEM parts when it comes to fitment and they almost always work better than OEM.
First, the brake and clutch pedals rotate ever so slightly once they are installed. Granted they are held in place by 2 adhesive strips and clips they still move. The reason for this is the NSX pedals are different from all other Hondas: at teh very least they are smaller than the EK, EG and DC2 pedals. Because the pedals are smaller the edges of the recess in the backside of the cover are not fully against the pedal so some range of motion is allowed. It is not much, but it is annoying (to me at least) to know it is there.
Second, as noted before in this board: the curvature of the accelerator pedal does not match so you have to make the compromise of the adhesive in the middle (actually the ends of the adhesive strip in the middle contact the pedal because the pedal is formed to have a facing the firewall) and the two clips to fix the pedal in position. You do not have to drill holes for the Mugen pedals because of these clips. Since the curvatures of the pedal do not match you have to sequentially and slowly apply torque to the fasteners holding on the clips to try to "balance" the cover on the pedal--otherwise one will want ot pry off the other. To me, the set up seems somewhat sketchy, but it does hold in place: once you get everything tightened down, it's ok. BUt if things were to loosen up because you didn't use some Loctite 242 or 246 on the threads... If you were to opt for drilling the pedals, I don't know how you would fix it in place: either it would be canted vertically or horizontally, depending on which way you tilt the pedal. Finally, I noticed that you could not reach WOT with the accelerator cover in place: the fasteners for the clip hit the stop on the floor board before the dimple of the pedal does. The fasteners effectively raise the height of the floor so you would have to adjust the throttle cable (not sure about that throttle by wire set up) to truly reach WOT, I think. I suppose one could find a way to bend the cover to match that of the accelerator pedal but it just seems like way, way, way too much hassle IMHO.
Third, and finally, the feel of these pedals just weren't that great. The grip on the clutch and brake are awsome, but they just felt "heavy" and kludgy. You lost some of the "direct" feel the stock pedals had. The stock pedals felt lighter and more responsive.
Hopefully that helps those in the market for pedal covers...
--
George
There has been a few threads on pedal covers so I thought I'd throw in my two cents also...
Previously I had great experiences with the Mugen Sports Pedal kit in other Hondas so I decided to buy a set for the NSX. Those unfamiliar with them can read a brief description of them at www.kingmotorsports.com The short form is the brake and clutch are of a cast aluminum construction with a porous metal "sponge" that provides grip to the pedal (even when wet). The accelerator pedal is a polished NC cut piece of aluminum so you can slide your foot smoothly to just apply the exact amount of throttle you want precisely.
After installing them, I decided to uninstall them and put the stock ones back.
Why?
Simply put: the fit and function were not on par with the OEM part, which is HIGHLY unusual for Mugen because they are practically perfect substitutes for OEM parts when it comes to fitment and they almost always work better than OEM.
First, the brake and clutch pedals rotate ever so slightly once they are installed. Granted they are held in place by 2 adhesive strips and clips they still move. The reason for this is the NSX pedals are different from all other Hondas: at teh very least they are smaller than the EK, EG and DC2 pedals. Because the pedals are smaller the edges of the recess in the backside of the cover are not fully against the pedal so some range of motion is allowed. It is not much, but it is annoying (to me at least) to know it is there.
Second, as noted before in this board: the curvature of the accelerator pedal does not match so you have to make the compromise of the adhesive in the middle (actually the ends of the adhesive strip in the middle contact the pedal because the pedal is formed to have a facing the firewall) and the two clips to fix the pedal in position. You do not have to drill holes for the Mugen pedals because of these clips. Since the curvatures of the pedal do not match you have to sequentially and slowly apply torque to the fasteners holding on the clips to try to "balance" the cover on the pedal--otherwise one will want ot pry off the other. To me, the set up seems somewhat sketchy, but it does hold in place: once you get everything tightened down, it's ok. BUt if things were to loosen up because you didn't use some Loctite 242 or 246 on the threads... If you were to opt for drilling the pedals, I don't know how you would fix it in place: either it would be canted vertically or horizontally, depending on which way you tilt the pedal. Finally, I noticed that you could not reach WOT with the accelerator cover in place: the fasteners for the clip hit the stop on the floor board before the dimple of the pedal does. The fasteners effectively raise the height of the floor so you would have to adjust the throttle cable (not sure about that throttle by wire set up) to truly reach WOT, I think. I suppose one could find a way to bend the cover to match that of the accelerator pedal but it just seems like way, way, way too much hassle IMHO.
Third, and finally, the feel of these pedals just weren't that great. The grip on the clutch and brake are awsome, but they just felt "heavy" and kludgy. You lost some of the "direct" feel the stock pedals had. The stock pedals felt lighter and more responsive.
Hopefully that helps those in the market for pedal covers...
--
George
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