Sorry for the long post, just putting my thoughts out there into the world!
I've been lucky enough to own this 94 Brooklands Green over Tan for a little over 4 years now (time flies), it's been on a slow march of improvement. I figured before I get much further into my ownership it'd be nice to document the progress so I could reflect back on the car's evolution over time.
What are the long term goals for the car? To be my version of a perfected NSX. Take the 10+ years I spent working in calibration and integration in the auto industry and apply it to how I would mold the car if I were the chief engineer. Which is something you never get to do as low-level grunt. To go down that train of thought, what really matters to me in a sports car? In today's world of EV's there's no point trying to go fast. If you want acceleration go electric. If you want good ole fashion engagement, go with an manual analog sports car, which an NSX is one of the best! Horsepower won't be a focus, but the manner in which the horsepower is made will be.
The two main goals are Emotion and Engagement. In my head they break down as follows to actual changes on the car.
911 GT3 - perfected dynamic driving experience. I've always admired and respected them, but never truly lusted over one due to the lack of emotion.
458 Speciale - emotion off the charts, it's a perfect 10/10 for aesthetics.
C8 Z06 - Watching this product develop internally. The emotion, dynamic driving experience were sweat over. I want to follow the process the team went through to get the sound right.
So here's the story so far:
Bought it in Feb 2019 around the 30th anniversary of the NSX unveiling. Which is also a rough time in Michigan as you can see...
This car had 167k miles, grinded going into 3rd gear, awkward tire sizes and ride heights, but otherwise a great car to start from. It was mostly stock with CE28s, B-Line intake, DC catback, type S tear drop shifter. The seats have been recovered and the paint is a respray. In good mechanical shape, but VERY far from a collector item. GREAT! No one is going to lose sleep over me slapping on some modifications and piling on the miles!
The car is actually the same one mentioned in this nice-price-or-crack-pipe jalopnik article.
The first changes were KW V3s, getting more appropriately sized tires 215/40/17 and 255/35/18 vs the 295s that were on there?! There was also small clean up with new sun visors (with the warning labels though.. booooo!), new knee bolster under the steering wheel, door triangle sashes, MITA reinforced inner door panel frames, and Honda MTF trans flush (fixed the 3rd gear grind!). Had a few years where I just enjoyed the car as-is and really learned why it's such an amazing car. I could do 7 hour road trips to Tennessee getting 27mpg in comfort, then turn onto the tail of the dragon and attack it. The duality was amazing, I really learned to respect the car. The steering which feels light in normal operation becomes shifter kart heavy on a backroad as the lateral G's build. Sending direct feedback of each road imperfection. Amazing. It was during this time I often exclaimed this was the best car I've ever owned.
Living with the car was effortless, arguably more reliable than my daily driver (2001 B5 S4 Avant) and constantly more fulfilling. The only downsides were the constant attention and lack of useable space. I found ways to work around that (see Seasucker bike mount) and sold the daily, committing to a minimalist lifestyle. The additional use led to a worn-out fiberglass lip (see Tail of the dragon image above, already in a sad state). Being low and a daily meant lots of scrappage and I swore myself off anymore fiberglass bodywork.
Was fortunate to get a large service done but Source 1 in Ohio to keep it running in tip top order. RR halfshaft boot was torn, crank pulley shield put in place, new oil pan seal, valve adjustment, VVIS butterfly screw locktite, Koyo Radiator. Replaced the brake master cylinder as well after the fact. Car should be happy for many miles
My wife and I relocated to CA for work, where a daily driven NSX doesn't raise eyebrows anymore. In fact, it almost blends in with the extremely eclectic mix of daily driven cars out here, from Ferraris to Ford Galaxy's. It's a truly wonderous place for a car enthusiast. The real level up was the amount of world class driving roads that can be done within a half day from the house. Those roads combined with the lack of any precipitation convinced me to step up in tire choice. But since I'm cheap I waited a bit to wear out the tires I had. Maybe we'll call it sustainability focused, we are in California after all, I didn't want to just throw these tires into the landfill half-used!
Did a 'Hillclimb' with VARA at Horse Thief Mile, which finally let me get comfortable with the car over the limit. Those used tires I decided to keep were near the end of life as the car loved to rotate on light braking. Fortunately, the seat time behind a drift car kept me comfortable and HTM's corners are very low speed and low consequence. I could see this behavior being a handful on a higher speed course though, so a change to a more modern set of rubber was in order.
I've been lucky enough to own this 94 Brooklands Green over Tan for a little over 4 years now (time flies), it's been on a slow march of improvement. I figured before I get much further into my ownership it'd be nice to document the progress so I could reflect back on the car's evolution over time.
What are the long term goals for the car? To be my version of a perfected NSX. Take the 10+ years I spent working in calibration and integration in the auto industry and apply it to how I would mold the car if I were the chief engineer. Which is something you never get to do as low-level grunt. To go down that train of thought, what really matters to me in a sports car? In today's world of EV's there's no point trying to go fast. If you want acceleration go electric. If you want good ole fashion engagement, go with an manual analog sports car, which an NSX is one of the best! Horsepower won't be a focus, but the manner in which the horsepower is made will be.
The two main goals are Emotion and Engagement. In my head they break down as follows to actual changes on the car.
- Emotion - it needs to feel special.
- Sounds - the intake noise is AMAZING. The change over from the VVIS and the VTEC stirs me every time. No work necessary here. It's so good that when I was at GM we actually recorded the intake noise from this car as a benchmark for the C8 Z06! Although, the exhaust noise leaves a lot to be desired.
- Aesthetics - It's special out of the box, so just some small choice elements to enhance the already timeless and beautiful exterior and interior.
- Engagement - it needs to drive like a well-executed and integrated vehicle.
- Dynamic driving experience - It needs to have dynamic excellence and the low CG and KW V3s have got a majority of the way there, but there are a few items that need to be addressed. First the gearing on the USDM 5spd is awkward and incohesive. The steering has excellent feel and feedback when loaded up, but the inputs are slowed by the ratio and the giant school bus steering wheel. Finally, it needs a progressive and predictable handling balance to instill driver confidence.
- Touch points/driver interface - Probably the only thing that needs improving is the steering wheel, as it's a bit too big. Otherwise, the seats, shifter and pedals are already world class out of the box. Although I can't sit in the seat with a helmet on so that might need to be addressed.
911 GT3 - perfected dynamic driving experience. I've always admired and respected them, but never truly lusted over one due to the lack of emotion.
458 Speciale - emotion off the charts, it's a perfect 10/10 for aesthetics.
C8 Z06 - Watching this product develop internally. The emotion, dynamic driving experience were sweat over. I want to follow the process the team went through to get the sound right.
So here's the story so far:
Bought it in Feb 2019 around the 30th anniversary of the NSX unveiling. Which is also a rough time in Michigan as you can see...
This car had 167k miles, grinded going into 3rd gear, awkward tire sizes and ride heights, but otherwise a great car to start from. It was mostly stock with CE28s, B-Line intake, DC catback, type S tear drop shifter. The seats have been recovered and the paint is a respray. In good mechanical shape, but VERY far from a collector item. GREAT! No one is going to lose sleep over me slapping on some modifications and piling on the miles!
The car is actually the same one mentioned in this nice-price-or-crack-pipe jalopnik article.
For $25,000, Is This 1994 Acura NSX Investment Grade?
Did you miss the narrow window when Porsche 911 prices weren’t crazy? Were you also sleeping when Panteras and 308s could be had on the cheap? Well, you don’t miss the NSX boat too. Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe example may be your last chance, that is if it hasn’t already started the climb.
jalopnik.com
The first changes were KW V3s, getting more appropriately sized tires 215/40/17 and 255/35/18 vs the 295s that were on there?! There was also small clean up with new sun visors (with the warning labels though.. booooo!), new knee bolster under the steering wheel, door triangle sashes, MITA reinforced inner door panel frames, and Honda MTF trans flush (fixed the 3rd gear grind!). Had a few years where I just enjoyed the car as-is and really learned why it's such an amazing car. I could do 7 hour road trips to Tennessee getting 27mpg in comfort, then turn onto the tail of the dragon and attack it. The duality was amazing, I really learned to respect the car. The steering which feels light in normal operation becomes shifter kart heavy on a backroad as the lateral G's build. Sending direct feedback of each road imperfection. Amazing. It was during this time I often exclaimed this was the best car I've ever owned.
Living with the car was effortless, arguably more reliable than my daily driver (2001 B5 S4 Avant) and constantly more fulfilling. The only downsides were the constant attention and lack of useable space. I found ways to work around that (see Seasucker bike mount) and sold the daily, committing to a minimalist lifestyle. The additional use led to a worn-out fiberglass lip (see Tail of the dragon image above, already in a sad state). Being low and a daily meant lots of scrappage and I swore myself off anymore fiberglass bodywork.
Was fortunate to get a large service done but Source 1 in Ohio to keep it running in tip top order. RR halfshaft boot was torn, crank pulley shield put in place, new oil pan seal, valve adjustment, VVIS butterfly screw locktite, Koyo Radiator. Replaced the brake master cylinder as well after the fact. Car should be happy for many miles
My wife and I relocated to CA for work, where a daily driven NSX doesn't raise eyebrows anymore. In fact, it almost blends in with the extremely eclectic mix of daily driven cars out here, from Ferraris to Ford Galaxy's. It's a truly wonderous place for a car enthusiast. The real level up was the amount of world class driving roads that can be done within a half day from the house. Those roads combined with the lack of any precipitation convinced me to step up in tire choice. But since I'm cheap I waited a bit to wear out the tires I had. Maybe we'll call it sustainability focused, we are in California after all, I didn't want to just throw these tires into the landfill half-used!
Did a 'Hillclimb' with VARA at Horse Thief Mile, which finally let me get comfortable with the car over the limit. Those used tires I decided to keep were near the end of life as the car loved to rotate on light braking. Fortunately, the seat time behind a drift car kept me comfortable and HTM's corners are very low speed and low consequence. I could see this behavior being a handful on a higher speed course though, so a change to a more modern set of rubber was in order.
Last edited: