As much as i love my NSX, I always wanted a little more.
There, I said it. After eight years and 100,000 miles of telling myself my car was fine the way it was, the truth comes out. It's not that I was unhappy, I wasn't, but I wanted more. Just a little more. I bought headers and exhaust six years ago because the internet told me that would give me more, but honestly, my butt dyno never felt it. It wasn't really more, it was just louder. I wanted more. Just a little more.
The trouble, of course, is that after you've done headers and exhaust, there's not a lot more. Not for a price I was willing to pay, anyway. What I really wanted was a supercharger, but with prices in the five digits for new kits, it wasn't happening. So the years rolled by. I drove my car a lot. I was happy enough, but secretly I wanted more.
Then, this past spring brought together a perfect storm of circumstance where I had a chance to sell a toy I could no longer play with and use that money towards the group buy for the CT Engineering supercharger kit. It was still a lot of money, but I could pay for it without raiding savings so I pulled the trigger and ordered the kit. Five months later, I have it on my car.
I'm usually a man of few words, so let me condense it down to this. I got more. Not "on paper" more, but genuinely more. Enough more that my butt dyno could feel it. CT claims 70 RWHP, but it feels like a different car where it counts. As forced induction kits go, it's pretty mild. Hell, it's even legal in California. Nonetheless, adding the blower made an unmistakable, and occasionally startling, difference in performance.
At low RPMs and with no sudden throttle position changes, it's hard to know the supercharger is there. Idle is just as smooth as before and only a subtle whistle from the blower gives it away. Under even modest acceleration, the blower makes itself felt and heard. The power band feels very much like it did before, but everything happens faster. I spent the first few days relearning how to drive at higher RPMs. I kept finding the car was ready for me to shift before I was. Now, two+ weeks and several hundred miles later, I have adapted and it feels terrific. The sound in the cabin from 4000 to 8000 RPM is stunning. Here is an in-cabin recording of it going to the redline in 1st and 2nd. Windows up, A/C on. Heavenly trumpet.
https://vimeo.com/74536170
I've heard this described as how the car should have been new, and I can't argue against it. It's simply better.
My engine cover/targa top holder doesn't have a place in this New Way. Won't fit, banished to the rafters of the garage with the stock exhaust. The engine looks like a million bucks under the back glass. On a purely visceral level, I much prefer the twin screw contour of the Lysholm supercharger case over the older breadbox looking blowers. I painted the stock water bottle black and I would be happy as can be except for one little thing.
Losing the engine cover means is my roof now has to go in the trunk when I want to roll topless. For people who take their roof off regularly, like me, there's no sugar-coating this. It sucks. The roof does fit, but only just, and it won't lay flat so it takes up the whole trunk. Plan on carrying something soft to wrap your roof in and something to cushion the roof from sliding side to side while back there. I plan to try to modify the stock cover to fit. I hear it's been done, but I haven't seen how. It would really suck on road trips to not be able to get roofless.
I also want to note that I put a new clutch in along with the supercharger. I replaced a stock unit with the Sport 350 clutch sold by Science of Speed. The flywheel that comes with this clutch is significantly lighter than stock and I really like it and indeed, it seems to wind down much faster than before. Again, took a couple days to adapt, but feels great now.
My final analysis is that this has been exactly what the doctor ordered for my own circumstances. My car has a new edge that I believe will satisfy me for years to come. Just as importantly, I believe this added punch won't destroy my 157,000 mile stock internals engine. Probably. That's good enough for me.
One very pleasant preliminary finding is that fuel economy has been barely impacted, if at all. After two tanks of gas, my stats, which I've tracked religiously for many years, are right in line with the kind of driving I've been doing. I had read other's reports claiming the same and am delighted to confirm.
There, I said it. After eight years and 100,000 miles of telling myself my car was fine the way it was, the truth comes out. It's not that I was unhappy, I wasn't, but I wanted more. Just a little more. I bought headers and exhaust six years ago because the internet told me that would give me more, but honestly, my butt dyno never felt it. It wasn't really more, it was just louder. I wanted more. Just a little more.
The trouble, of course, is that after you've done headers and exhaust, there's not a lot more. Not for a price I was willing to pay, anyway. What I really wanted was a supercharger, but with prices in the five digits for new kits, it wasn't happening. So the years rolled by. I drove my car a lot. I was happy enough, but secretly I wanted more.
Then, this past spring brought together a perfect storm of circumstance where I had a chance to sell a toy I could no longer play with and use that money towards the group buy for the CT Engineering supercharger kit. It was still a lot of money, but I could pay for it without raiding savings so I pulled the trigger and ordered the kit. Five months later, I have it on my car.
I'm usually a man of few words, so let me condense it down to this. I got more. Not "on paper" more, but genuinely more. Enough more that my butt dyno could feel it. CT claims 70 RWHP, but it feels like a different car where it counts. As forced induction kits go, it's pretty mild. Hell, it's even legal in California. Nonetheless, adding the blower made an unmistakable, and occasionally startling, difference in performance.
At low RPMs and with no sudden throttle position changes, it's hard to know the supercharger is there. Idle is just as smooth as before and only a subtle whistle from the blower gives it away. Under even modest acceleration, the blower makes itself felt and heard. The power band feels very much like it did before, but everything happens faster. I spent the first few days relearning how to drive at higher RPMs. I kept finding the car was ready for me to shift before I was. Now, two+ weeks and several hundred miles later, I have adapted and it feels terrific. The sound in the cabin from 4000 to 8000 RPM is stunning. Here is an in-cabin recording of it going to the redline in 1st and 2nd. Windows up, A/C on. Heavenly trumpet.
https://vimeo.com/74536170
I've heard this described as how the car should have been new, and I can't argue against it. It's simply better.
My engine cover/targa top holder doesn't have a place in this New Way. Won't fit, banished to the rafters of the garage with the stock exhaust. The engine looks like a million bucks under the back glass. On a purely visceral level, I much prefer the twin screw contour of the Lysholm supercharger case over the older breadbox looking blowers. I painted the stock water bottle black and I would be happy as can be except for one little thing.
Losing the engine cover means is my roof now has to go in the trunk when I want to roll topless. For people who take their roof off regularly, like me, there's no sugar-coating this. It sucks. The roof does fit, but only just, and it won't lay flat so it takes up the whole trunk. Plan on carrying something soft to wrap your roof in and something to cushion the roof from sliding side to side while back there. I plan to try to modify the stock cover to fit. I hear it's been done, but I haven't seen how. It would really suck on road trips to not be able to get roofless.
I also want to note that I put a new clutch in along with the supercharger. I replaced a stock unit with the Sport 350 clutch sold by Science of Speed. The flywheel that comes with this clutch is significantly lighter than stock and I really like it and indeed, it seems to wind down much faster than before. Again, took a couple days to adapt, but feels great now.
My final analysis is that this has been exactly what the doctor ordered for my own circumstances. My car has a new edge that I believe will satisfy me for years to come. Just as importantly, I believe this added punch won't destroy my 157,000 mile stock internals engine. Probably. That's good enough for me.
One very pleasant preliminary finding is that fuel economy has been barely impacted, if at all. After two tanks of gas, my stats, which I've tracked religiously for many years, are right in line with the kind of driving I've been doing. I had read other's reports claiming the same and am delighted to confirm.
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