Targa roof shaking

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nsx27

Contributing Member
Joined
17 February 2009
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NJ
Hi all.. Does anyone have a problem that the wind shield, or rear view mirror shake? When you drive with the targa roof is off? Even with stompo rear engine triangle bar, and type r front bar, after market sway bars, tein coilover, I just don't understand. And it flows when you hit like 70mph. Can anybody tell me what to do? Please thank you all :)
 
nsx27 said:
Hi all.. Does anyone have a problem that the wind shield, or rear view mirror shake? When you drive with the targa roof is off? Even with stompo rear engine triangle bar, and type r front bar, after market sway bars, tein coilover, I just don't understand. And it flows when you hit like 70mph. Can anybody tell me what to do? Please thank you all :)
Click to expand...


What does that mean.... "flows" ?

I can tell you what to do...... drive it, store it, or sell it.


Do search on "cowl shake."
 
As to the rearview mirror shaking when driving, mine did the same when I first bought the car. Didn't matter if the top was on or off. I pryed off the back cover of the mirror mount and tightened it up a little bit and the shakey mirror was fixed.
 
I meant the windshield was shaking as well. The car was a little not stable. Kind feels like flowing on the road. Even I did all the after market parts to make this car more rigid and solid. Does anybody happen like this before? Thanks
 
nsx27 said:
I meant the windshield was shaking as well. The car was a little not stable. Kind feels like flowing on the road. Even I did all the after market parts to make this car more rigid and solid. Does anybody happen like this before? Thanks
Click to expand...

check your tire balance and alignment... it shouldn't be shaking unless you're driving on a really bumpy road?

and get rid of those TEINs! Get some KW V3's or JRZ RS's :)
 
enkrypt3d said:
and get rid of those TEINs! Get some KW V3's or JRZ RS's :)
Click to expand...
Getting these coilovers won't help. They are still plenty stiff.

OP - you've stiffened up your chassis but the targa has one big weak link. The lack of a roof connecting the A pillar to the B pillar. If you stiffen the bottom end like you did (braces, coilovers, and what not) you will aggravate the forces being transferred to the weak link; the lack of a roof. Go back to stock suspension or drive around with your targa top back on if it really bothers you.
 
Are your wheels straight? They may be bent or off balance since you seem to mention vibration at speed.
 
RYU said:
Getting these coilovers won't help. They are still plenty stiff.

OP - you've stiffened up your chassis but the targa has one big weak link. The lack of a roof connecting the A pillar to the B pillar. If you stiffen the bottom end like you did (braces, coilovers, and what not) you will aggravate the forces being transferred to the weak link; the lack of a roof. Go back to stock suspension or drive around with your targa top back on if it really bothers you.
Click to expand...

Im saying that the TEINS are TOO stiff - the cowl is shaking b/c those TEINS have little adjust-ability... you need something that is more compliant.
 
enkrypt3d said:
Im saying that the TEINS are TOO stiff - the cowl is shaking b/c those TEINS have little adjust-ability... you need something that is more compliant.
Click to expand...
I'm with you. It's just that you see the cowl shake even with *stock* suspension... so how will going stiffer than stock help? Yes, the Teins are stiffer than those you mentioned.
 
A little off topic but a buddy lent me his /09 Porsche 911S convertible that I have been driving last 4 days. I have a pristine /94 NSX (pre-targa as you are all aware) with 36,000 miles on the clock. We have horrible roads here in Michigan but I can tell you that the 18 year old NSX with a fixed roof feels more rigid than the 3 year old Porsche convertible -- yup, that roof sure makes a big difference. And for what its worth, yes the rear view mirror in the Porsche does shake a bit at all times. And finally, no, I'm not inclined to move from the NSX to a 997 series Porsche coupe (S variant of course) with a sunroof -- tempting (the Porsche really is a wonderful machine) but I'm not ready to end my love affair with the NSX! Although the NSX in near stock form isn't the car that the 997 (S) is, the NSX has been so sweet and ownership experience in all regards has been so pleasant, inexpensive and trouble-free it would be very hard for me to move over to P-car ownership at this time.

Best,
Jeff
 
i have stock suspension and stiff potenza re-11 tires,and get some wiggle in the steering wheel when the top is off and i hit a bump.i believe this is normal,and is worth it to me for the pleasure of having the top off on a nice day.i had the car at the mechanic's today and asked to check for any looseness in the suspension just to be sure this wiggle was normal.the suspension was all tight.

fyi honda did quite a bit of stiffening to the body when they added the targa,so they did attempt to address this.it's still like a shoebox when you take the lid off though:it will move around more.
http://www.nsxprime.com/wiki/Changes_by_Year#Changes_for_1995
 
Last edited:
Not much you can do about the shaking. It is a side effect of chopping the top for open air motoring. If you have mirror smooth roads, it wont affect you much. Anything else, it will be noticeable. You can attempt to stiffen the chassis, and it will minimize it to a degree, but it will always be there.

Clarkson explains this pretty well:

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ksbclJ4nGSQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
nsx27, When you put the roof back in and drive exactly the same over the same roads is your problem completely gone? Do you still detect any vibration?
 
Yah that helicopter sound is crazy. My work van does it to the extreme, and there is a section in the owners manual explaining it. The first and only time I experienced it was a WTF moment. Then you roll the windows up and its all gone. Back to normal. They even have a term for it, Buffeting? or something, I will check on it in a couple days.
 
slow joe said:
Yah that helicopter sound is crazy. My work van does it to the extreme, and there is a section in the owners manual explaining it. The first and only time I experienced it was a WTF moment. Then you roll the windows up and its all gone. Back to normal. They even have a term for it, Buffeting? or something, I will check on it in a couple days.
Click to expand...

yea sometimes my passenger side window isnt rolled up all the way and its an easy fix... roll up the window! instead of the small crack at the top.
 
nsx27 said:
Hi all.. Does anyone have a problem that the wind shield, or rear view mirror shake? When you drive with the targa roof is off? Even with stompo rear engine triangle bar, and type r front bar, after market sway bars, tein coilover, I just don't understand. And it flows when you hit like 70mph. Can anybody tell me what to do? Please thank you all :)
Click to expand...

any chance you can gopro video and put it on youtube when you are out on a drive to better explain the symptoms that you are experiencing.

explain "flows"... is that a good thing or bad thing?
 
My 95 does it somewhat. Its normal. The STMPO front brace helped a little. I believe the front Strut Tower brace is claimed to help a decent amount as well.

For my, the open air experience is worth all the drawbacks of a targa (cowl shake, rattles, wind noise, weight).
 

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