-
Protip: Profile posts are public! Use Conversations to message other members privately. Everyone can see the content of a profile post.
NSX Automatics
- Thread starter Sohcem
- Start date
There are some posts. However, I think there are three reasons why there are not more: (1) Automatics are only 9 percent of NSXs. (2) Those most interested in performance (which, in one way or another, constitutes a good part of the discussion) are more likely to have the manual transmission, with its higher performance (as well as the higher performance engine that comes with it). (3) Because there are limits to how much power the automatic transmission can handle (the reason for the lower 252 hp engine), there is only so much you can do with modifying the drivetrain before you have to look at replacing the automatic transmission with a higher performance transmission.Sohcem said:
I have yet to hear anyone ever getting a Level10 upgrade for their NSX tranny. This company claims that they can do any transmission, but there are just some trannys that bumping up the line pressure and putting in better friction materials in, just isnt going to help. I'll believe it when i see it.
If you are going to hop up an auto, use the best quality synthetic fluid you can, and a large cooler to keep the fluid temps as low as possible. Elevated auto tranny fluid temperatures are the number 1 cause of premature transmission failure. Every single one of my camaros, vettes, and mustang that i owned, a large capacity tow package cool went into. Never had a tranny failure and this was back in the stupid 16-21 mentality of driving, and beating the shit out of the car.
-Ray
If you are going to hop up an auto, use the best quality synthetic fluid you can, and a large cooler to keep the fluid temps as low as possible. Elevated auto tranny fluid temperatures are the number 1 cause of premature transmission failure. Every single one of my camaros, vettes, and mustang that i owned, a large capacity tow package cool went into. Never had a tranny failure and this was back in the stupid 16-21 mentality of driving, and beating the shit out of the car.
-Ray
I'm sure it's quite possible to install a CTSC and have it run with no problems for a couple of years - a lot depends on how it was driven however - if it rarely or infrequently sees max boost, then just having it on there for any amount miles doesn't really prove much re the reliability of the transmission. I'm not suggesting it hasn't been driven hard - I really don't know - but that is the point: you can't decouple having it installed with how it may have been utilized.1TITENSX said:
I drove my auto tranny '94 for 3 hard years of autox without a whimper from the the tranny. I won trophies with it. Could I have done better with a manual? Yes. Did I have less fun because of the auto? No. You learn to drive what you brought to drive. Forget the tranny, just learn to drive the car. You will not be disappointed. And you'll beat a whole lot of other folks.
Instead of s/c'ing your auto, go to a performance driving school. You'll be amazed at who you'll beat after that.
Have fun,
t
Instead of s/c'ing your auto, go to a performance driving school. You'll be amazed at who you'll beat after that.
Have fun,
t
djjoonie said:
Thats why when i posted my auto tranny for sale after i converted my car to a manual it sold within a few days. hehehehe, :wink: :wink:
Now if you guys with the autos would start snapping axles i could sell mine to you. :tongue:
-Ray
jgtcnsx said:
That one "i believe" was also a manual conversion (if you were talking about the white Esprit NSX in the FujiFast Best motoring video, English version), they said that the engine was base on a automatic. Which means they either converted the car, or when they built that engine for the car they used a automatic as a core to start with.
Mine engine is an automatic setup, even though i have now converted to a manual. Reason being, i dont see the point of switching out the automatic camshafts for manual ones, when i plan on installing aftermarket performance cams sometime in the near future. I only dyno slightly lower than a comparable manual transmission with the correct cams in the car, although i do have slightly more mid-range power/torque with the automatic cams.
I for the longest time tried to figure out the best way to sqeeze more performance out of my automatic. And it boils down to few options, switch out or trade the car out for a manual, install a transmission cooler/dont go crazy with extra power/and cross your fingers if you drive hard, OR as Tank said..... take a driving course.... learning the limits and correct techniques for the car will do wonders for your lap times & improve your changes greatly of beating someone who may have a faster car.
-Ray
The modified torque converter makes a significant impact on how the car feels. The car screams off the line now and seems to be much quicker. As a side benefit, better gas mileage should result. As soon as there is a proven way to strenthen the tranny, I will go FI.
If you don't mind how much did the torque converter cost? I have an automatic and while I love the car I got the auto so my wife could drive if necessary. (one of the conditions for me getting the car). I do think a manual is more fun to drive but as an every day driver an auto may be more practical. I am always intested in ways to safely get better performance out of the car for $$ I can sneak past the wife or get her to agree to. :biggrin:
The other thing to realize, as far as reliability/durability and how well a transmission can handle power, is this: You are not talking about certainties; you are talking about probabilities. You can put a supercharger (or any other significant power-increasing modification) onto an automatic transmission NSX, and that doesn't mean that it is going to fail the first time it is driven hard. Maybe, over the course of driving it for a year with a certain amount of driving hard, the chances of the transmission failing are X percent with that mod. When you look at any particular car after a year, it's possible that it is one of those X percent that have failed, or it's possible that it is one of the (100-X) percent that have not failed. This is a chance you take with any modification; you may feel that X is sufficiently low (or zero) that you're willing to take a chance on it, but if it turns out that you are wrong and/or unlucky, you pay for that chance. And it may turn out that you never have any problems, too.D'Ecosse said:
Mark Basch has reported here that his shop has seen several instances of the automatic transmission failing on modified cars.djjoonie said:
The cost for modding the torque converter + an extra cooler was $900. Labor would be several hours for installation.
See http://www.jmousa.com/us/flash/frame/index.html for more info.
I got an automatic because my wife insisted on it. I plan on getting an '02+ later on so I can have a 6-speed also. FactorX will have a new customer when I get it.
See http://www.jmousa.com/us/flash/frame/index.html for more info.
I got an automatic because my wife insisted on it. I plan on getting an '02+ later on so I can have a 6-speed also. FactorX will have a new customer when I get it.
What about Gruppe M supercharger for automatic from SOS? You might want to ask if the stock auto transmission can handle the power from that.
Jin1976 said:
I would think a Gruppe M would be even harder on the auto because of all the extra TQ. Maybe I am not understanding this correctly. Is it the high HP or the High TQ that causes the problems?
Any idea of how much extra HP or torque you have picked up with the converter? 
Well, the way I understand it is the torque converter allows "more" hp and torque to reach the wheels, it doesn't actually raise any power at the crank level. As far as numbers, I have no idea and neither did the company that did the mod. But considering seat-of-the-pants feel, it is a good improvement. Reading about other cars, other than NSXs, that have had performance torque converters installed, their 0-60 times dropped by .5 - .75 seconds. If this holds true for the NSX, then that makes the auto just as fast as the manual - at least a stock manual anyways :biggrin: .
Sohcem said:
The automatic transmission cars have a different kind of use for the most part. I know that I really only drive mine when I am going into places where I do not want to be having to shift all the time. For instance....Chicago. When I bought my '91 NSX (automatic) I was spending a LOT of time in Chicago, and it fabulous city traffic jams. Having a manual transmission NSX would have been kind of retarded for me. The automatic allowed no shifting on my part, and I could still have fun hauling a$$ through the holes in traffic on the Skyway. No big deal. Tons of fun.
Fast forward to not having to be in Chicago near as much. I bought a '94 NSX with manual transmission. No real traffic to deal with where I live now, so I can have a blast whipping around country roads and winding out the revs to the 8,000 RPM redline instead of the 7,500 RPM redline in the automatic. Trust me, when you drive them back to back, that 500 RPM is noticed.
Point is, both cars are great fun. But the majority of people on here are more aligned to really getting all they can out of the car, hence the prevalence of the more powerful manual shift NSX. Neither is a bad car...so if you have manual or automatic, at least you have an NSX.
Lopaka69 said:
This is very common for drag racing cars, higher stall torque converter will allow launching the car at higher rpm. Tranny can be built to handle more hp.
One example below, street driven daily driver with higher stall torque converter+built tranny on completely stock non turbo engine internal with bolt on turbo kit:
http://www.speedtoys.com/~daveh/93na-t/10.17lo.wmv
If I have an auto NSX, higher stall torque converter would be my 1st modification.
