97-01 vs 02-05
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the 02+ has higher top speed by, i think, 3mph.
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i have both.
they are identical in acceleration, however at high speed the 02-05 is more aerodynamically efficient (front profile, side skirts, rear valence and rear under spoiler (under rear wing ) and has a higher top speed. it is more then 3 miles an hour faster (i beliieve something like 8 mph) but i have not taken either above 145 mph.
One thing the ulev na2's (which i believe are 01-05) hame some noteworthy changes that are good and bad (mostly good)
-lower emissions
-modified exhaust design versus earlier na2 so the cats heat up quicker and reduce start up emissions
-much faster ecu
-air pump and air injection
owning an earlier na2 that does not have the air injection system and owning s2000's that have had it (00-05) and an s2000's that doesnt have it (06-09) i can tell you that one thing i don't like about the air injection system on the ulev na2 nsx is you can hear the air pump cycling on and off at different times. This is very subtle and i believe if you didn't own an na2 nsx without the air pump i don't think you would actually notice it was happening. But owning both i can tell and i can say that it is better without the air pump noise particularly at stop lights. With the 06 s2000 honda moved away from this system and no longer used air injection... if we would have had an 06 nsx it wouldn't have this system either.
the transmssions are the same part number 97-2001 (excluding 99 zanardi that used a different 6 speed tranny) and then this same 97-2001 transmission was used in 04 and 05 nsx's. you hear of more 02-03 nsx's with complaints of notchy shifting then 04-05 or 97-2001, however in the last week there were two complaints of 05 owners with notchy shfting.
also the ulev (01-05) nsx's with the faster ecu's and air injection do seem to make slightly more power (~5-10 rwhp) on a dyno.. so they are more efficient and make better power.
they are identical in acceleration, however at high speed the 02-05 is more aerodynamically efficient (front profile, side skirts, rear valence and rear under spoiler (under rear wing ) and has a higher top speed. it is more then 3 miles an hour faster (i beliieve something like 8 mph) but i have not taken either above 145 mph.
One thing the ulev na2's (which i believe are 01-05) hame some noteworthy changes that are good and bad (mostly good)
-lower emissions
-modified exhaust design versus earlier na2 so the cats heat up quicker and reduce start up emissions
-much faster ecu
-air pump and air injection
owning an earlier na2 that does not have the air injection system and owning s2000's that have had it (00-05) and an s2000's that doesnt have it (06-09) i can tell you that one thing i don't like about the air injection system on the ulev na2 nsx is you can hear the air pump cycling on and off at different times. This is very subtle and i believe if you didn't own an na2 nsx without the air pump i don't think you would actually notice it was happening. But owning both i can tell and i can say that it is better without the air pump noise particularly at stop lights. With the 06 s2000 honda moved away from this system and no longer used air injection... if we would have had an 06 nsx it wouldn't have this system either.
the transmssions are the same part number 97-2001 (excluding 99 zanardi that used a different 6 speed tranny) and then this same 97-2001 transmission was used in 04 and 05 nsx's. you hear of more 02-03 nsx's with complaints of notchy shifting then 04-05 or 97-2001, however in the last week there were two complaints of 05 owners with notchy shfting.
also the ulev (01-05) nsx's with the faster ecu's and air injection do seem to make slightly more power (~5-10 rwhp) on a dyno.. so they are more efficient and make better power.
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We have had 97+ cars and 02+ cars on hub mounted dynos on the same day and we couldn't find evidence to suggest that 02+ cars have more power.
Thanks for the info Socalx and I have two questions
1. Do you know of any differences between the Zanardi tranny and other NA2 trannys
2. Would it be hard to remove the air injection pump for weight savings or is that a don't even bother type thing?
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- 24 January 2004
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1) i don't know the difference in zanardi vs other transmissions
2) i don't believe it would be easy to remove the air pump system. I actually think the heads are slightly different (they are for sure on the pre06 s2000's which also had this air system.
sorry i don't have more info
2) i don't believe it would be easy to remove the air pump system. I actually think the heads are slightly different (they are for sure on the pre06 s2000's which also had this air system.
sorry i don't have more info
Do you know in what way the ECU on the 02-05 NSX's are 'faster'.
Is the circuit board between the new and older model completely different or is it just some parts that have been modified??
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i don't know the details on the ecu change either. (what all was changed)
observation. when the battery goes dead on my 97 na2 it takes the car quite some time to recalibrate the 10 or so emissions ready diagnostics. on the 05 in the same situation the ecu is ready on the 10 emission ready diagnostics very quickly.
here in the us (in california) when you smog and OBD2 equiped vehicles(i believe 1995 and newer) the smog shop hooks into your obd2 diagnostic port. you must pass the tail pipe emssions test AND have the ecu say it is ready on at least 7 of the 10 or so ECU diagnostic tests. (you can fail even with clean emissions if the ecu isn't ready on these diagnostics. what i'm saying above is that the newer na2 learns quicker and is ready much sooner on the diagnostic tests side then an early NA2
observation. when the battery goes dead on my 97 na2 it takes the car quite some time to recalibrate the 10 or so emissions ready diagnostics. on the 05 in the same situation the ecu is ready on the 10 emission ready diagnostics very quickly.
here in the us (in california) when you smog and OBD2 equiped vehicles(i believe 1995 and newer) the smog shop hooks into your obd2 diagnostic port. you must pass the tail pipe emssions test AND have the ecu say it is ready on at least 7 of the 10 or so ECU diagnostic tests. (you can fail even with clean emissions if the ecu isn't ready on these diagnostics. what i'm saying above is that the newer na2 learns quicker and is ready much sooner on the diagnostic tests side then an early NA2
