• Protip: Profile posts are public! Use Conversations to message other members privately. Everyone can see the content of a profile post.

Type S #14, Visit to the PMC on 1/26 & Anna Engine Plant on 1/27

Great pictures- a sea of Type S! Is it weird that I am such a nerd for the multi-material spaceframe? I've always felt it is such a clever and innovative way to solve the problem of weight and rigidity. Especially the steel A-pillars. Brilliant. I'm showing my wife that Valencia Red in hopes she will finally agree to buy one!
 
NSX Insider Pictures

Great pictures- a sea of Type S! Is it weird that I am such a nerd for the multi-material spaceframe? I've always felt it is such a clever and innovative way to solve the problem of weight and rigidity. Especially the steel A-pillars. Brilliant. I'm showing my wife that Valencia Red in hopes she will finally agree to buy one!

Thank You, most are from my Canon DSLR, the pictures of me and my wife with PMC and Engine build Associates are from John Watts. I need to post the engine installation picture vertically, also John made a video of the engine installation, I am not sure if I can post a video, it is not too long. I posted the pictures from the 2nd floor as you can see most of the factory, I have more, but I tried to post enough for people to see almost everything.

I agree with the space frame, it was impressive, also after it is baked, they cover all of the screw heads, rivet heads, etc. with silicone, they told me the frame was waterproof before they start installation. They also inspect every weld on the frame after the robots weld everything, any welds that do not pass inspection are ground and welded by hand, very impressive.

I have 3 blue cars now, my wife said get a different color (I am trading my 2019 Corvette Grand Sport, 7 speed manual (I will miss shifting), Elkhart Lake Blue Metallic on the NSX), I originally wanted the Nouvelle Blue as I am not a huge fan of red, but I do like darker Maroon type reds and when I saw the Valencia Red in person I thought it was great. After seeing the GG in person and talking to the paint people, I am glad I did not try to get GG, don't get me wrong, it does look great, but I think you would have to clear wrap it to protect it. I also like a shiny car, I have mine scheduled for ceramic coating on 3/28, about 90 days from the paint date, maybe a day or 2 short, but close enough to 90 I think.
 
Looks like you guys had a blast!
 
NSX Insider Tour

My wife and I had a great time, my wife is not into cars, sports cars especially as I am, but she really liked it, learned a lot, asked questions, was more involved than I expected. We had dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel (Guild House) and across the street at Marcella's, both were good, there are many others on the street the hotel is on.

I was very happy she was so involved in watching the build process, she did make a comment when she saw the engine being installed and the completed engine at the Anna engine plant that the engine was bigger than the engine on the Honda Jet we saw at the Museum.

I am not sure how much she will drive it, but she can as it is a DCT, like my 911 (PDK), she drives the 911 occasionally, as her car is a Honda Pilot, she prefers to be in a vehicle that is higher then sports cars. She cannot drive a manual, so any sports car without a clutch is OK with her, personally I like to shift, but few mid engine sports cars offer a manual transmission.
 
Nice pictures ....interesting pictures of the Spaceframe, they never allowed us to take any Photos , but that was back in 2016 when everything was new and secret.

Bram
 
We had dinner at the restaurant attached to the hotel (Guild House) and across the street at Marcella's, both were good, there are many others on the street the hotel is on.

My wife and I had our two dinners at Guild House and Marcella's as well! :D
 
Thank You, most are from my Canon DSLR, the pictures of me and my wife with PMC and Engine build Associates are from John Watts. I need to post the engine installation picture vertically, also John made a video of the engine installation, I am not sure if I can post a video, it is not too long. I posted the pictures from the 2nd floor as you can see most of the factory, I have more, but I tried to post enough for people to see almost everything.

I agree with the space frame, it was impressive, also after it is baked, they cover all of the screw heads, rivet heads, etc. with silicone, they told me the frame was waterproof before they start installation. They also inspect every weld on the frame after the robots weld everything, any welds that do not pass inspection are ground and welded by hand, very impressive.

I have 3 blue cars now, my wife said get a different color (I am trading my 2019 Corvette Grand Sport, 7 speed manual (I will miss shifting), Elkhart Lake Blue Metallic on the NSX), I originally wanted the Nouvelle Blue as I am not a huge fan of red, but I do like darker Maroon type reds and when I saw the Valencia Red in person I thought it was great. After seeing the GG in person and talking to the paint people, I am glad I did not try to get GG, don't get me wrong, it does look great, but I think you would have to clear wrap it to protect it. I also like a shiny car, I have mine scheduled for ceramic coating on 3/28, about 90 days from the paint date, maybe a day or 2 short, but close enough to 90 I think.

yes, you took some great pictures. If it would be possible to load all those shots so that we can download them. I am not sure how to go about that. Drop box, or ?. I imagine the native pics are 5 megs each?

We truly are the lucky ones having one of the NC1s from 2017-2022. What a great car!
 
I love the pic of the engine. It is beautiful looking engine. Sad we cannot see more of it once in the car.
 
NC1's

Yes, I feel lucky getting one of the 299 US cars, I always will, especially with so many who wanted one and did not get one, I think the original NSX owners have great cars too.

I will look into posting all of the pictures with a link this weekend, I will post a vertical picture of the engine ready to be installed tonight.
 
to me it looks like alot of fiddly bits with too many welds...why not just solid larger piece rather then the bunch of smaller ones..:confused:
 
Doc, this is because of some of the Engineering constraints, with using different type of materials (aluminum of various types, steel and carbon fibers to build the NSX.
This well documented in Acura magazine they provided at Launch to some.

Bram
 
Doc john, here you go: Seeing all those welds and different pieces does beg the question, why not cast a larger part. It is always a challenge whether to make a more complex part with all the inherent issues or make it simple and add to it. Also, the welds shown, all have the burn marks. Once cleaned up, they look a lot better. If you would like to see more information, please check out the following while looking at page 6 plus page 17 2017-Acura-NSX-Model-Media-Information.pdf (nsxwiki.com)

Space Frame and Body Panels Like the original Acura NSX, which was the world’s first all-aluminum exotic car, the all-new Acura NSX has a cutting-edge structure. Its multi-material space frame and body panels utilize new materials and construction methods. They deliver next-generation structural rigidity, outstanding outward visibility, world-class collision performance and superior surface and paint quality, befitting a next-generation Acura supercar. The aluminum-intensive space frame and multi-material body panels also minimize weight with superior packaging flexibility for the NSX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD power unit. The high level of dynamic rigidity reduces noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) and ensures that driver inputs are directly translated to vehicle actions with incredible speed and fidelity—the essence of the New Sports eXperience.

Some key features of the NSX multi-material space frame and body panels are: Unmatched dynamic torsional rigidity – The NSX directly responds to the driver’s cornering demands, instantly transmitting those inputs to the chassis while maintaining perfect connection between front and rear axles, communicating both the driver’s action and any changes in the road surface with the utmost fidelity. Ultra-high local chassis rigidity –

Each chassis component is mounted to a rigid casting supported by extruded aluminum frame members that act like “truss structures” such that high local attachment-area stiffness is ensured in all directions, helping maintain the precisely-designed chassis geometry at all times. World’s first automotive application of ablation casting technology – Used both at front and rear, these ablation cast aluminum frame nodes serve as ultra-rigid mounting points for the suspension. Applied in key crush zones, these nodes link frame sections together and uniquely deform in a manner similar to a forged component but with lower weight, enabling shorter front and rear overhang, reduced vehicle mass and world-class collision performance.

A-pillars: Super strong, yet slender – In another world’s first, a new three-dimensional bent and quenched (3DQ) frame member was employed to create thin yet sturdy A-pillars. The resulting ultra-high-strength material allows a slender cross section to maximize forward visibility while meeting structural demands, including roof-crush requirements
 
Last edited:
Thanks, drmanny3. As a non-engineer with very limited knowledge on the pros/cons of different materials and building methods, it took me reading each section of your narrative a few times to try and understand what was being explained.

It’s incredible that what might seem like a complicated space frame assembly to the untrained eye (myself included), compromising either cost, weight, rigidity, safety, feel, etc. is actually exactly the opposite. Cutting edge, first-of-its-kind methodology that actually improves upon all of those areas. Incredible.

Enjoyed reading that, as I too was wondering why the space frame looked so complicated to build, and very happy to even be just a witness to the development of yet another spectacular, ahead-of-its-time, sometimes-misunderstood, and often under-appreciated modern JDM supercar marvel (GT-R, LFA, and NSX).
(I know, the NSX is American-made, but still JDM to me…)

The modern-day JDM supercar trilogy.
 
Last edited:
Real sharp! Now all you need is a white SUV to complete the America theme.
 
Back
Top