Am I heading in the right direction with my mods?

[NSXonwheels]

I bought a magnificent specimen of a NSX 2 months ago, it literally has everything I could possibly ever need or want, but like the rest of you sick individuals, I have the mod disease and I can't leave well enough alone, so I've made a few minor changes in search of that perfect profile/stance/look. I'd like to get some opinions on how it's coming along, if it's an improvement, if it's not, etc. I'll try to explain the reason for each change.



This is how I bought it, great wheels, adjustable coilovers, 2002 rear valance, no crazy body kits, stock wing, carbon fiber front lip.



I'm a sucker for dark wheels, and although the polished lip looked nice and classy, I wanted more of a race car look so I plasti-dipped the lips black, that way if I regret it I can just go back to polished lips.



I decided that the car was sitting a little high, so I went down another 1/2" all around. I like the stance much better like this but the collateral damage was that the front lip was too low and it wouldn't go out of my driveway without scraping.



Got tired of seeing the front without any sort of lip, it definitely looked like it was missing something, so I bought an OEM lip and put it on. Gives it a little more of a finished look in the front, keeps the lowered stance, and I can still get out of my driveway.

After the changes, I find myself missing the carbon fiber front lip, it's the best lip I've seen, but the car would need to be raised again to make it work. Hence my dilemma, am I heading the right direction with my mods? is the lowered stance worth the loss of the carbon fiber front lip? I can also go another 1/4"-1/2" lower or so with the oem lip so it could look better that way too...and I'm not whining, I realize this is a great problem to have, I love my NSX, just wanted to get some opinions, I'll probably end up changing it again anyway at some point.

Happy Thanksgiving Primers!

 

[K1ng124]

Love your car, congrats on the purchase! Asking for opinions, I personally would prefer the oem lip combined with the lower ride height. There isn't really a right or wrong direction it take with something that you love. Just make sure whatever direction that is, you're happy with it. However, I will say this, you're off to a great start! Good luck.

 

[docjohn]

what size are your tires?

 

[s14_tat]

The blacked out lip makes the wheels look tiny. I would've plasti dip the entire wheel black.

 

[JoseJA1979]

I understand your dilemma about lowering it more and having to deal with scraping the front lip. I'm going to add a VRH kit to my car Because I want to be pretty low. Maybe you should look at getting one too that way you can pretty much ride as low as you want. I think the plastidipped wheels would look better once you crank the coilovers down further to at least bring the fender to the top of the tires.

 

[NSXonwheels]

Love your car, congrats on the purchase! Asking for opinions, I personally would prefer the oem lip combined with the lower ride height. There isn't really a right or wrong direction it take with something that you love. Just make sure whatever direction that is, you're happy with it. However, I will say this, you're off to a great start! Good luck.

Thanks for the compliments, I love this car too. I definitely prefer the lower stance, if I could only keep the carbon fiber lip without ripping it off coming out of the driveway then I would be set.

what size are your tires?

215/40/17 front
275/35/18 rear

The blacked out lip makes the wheels look tiny. I would've plasti dip the entire wheel black.

I agree with you on that, but it really only happens in pictures, in person your eye can define the edge of the rim a lot easier. I can always go all black in the future, it's the beauty of plasti-dip!

I understand your dilemma about lowering it more and having to deal with scraping the front lip. I'm going to add a VRH kit to my car Because I want to be pretty low. Maybe you should look at getting one too that way you can pretty much ride as low as you want. I think the plastidipped wheels would look better once you crank the coilovers down further to at least bring the fender to the top of the tires.

Who makes a VRH for the NsX and how much? I might take the time to measure how much lower I can go without scraping down my driveway and lower it to right above that level, I know it's at least another 1/4-1/2" lower and that should match up the top of the tires to the fenders a little better.

 

[JoseJA1979]

Sorry I've only been an owner for two weeks so I don't really know prices on everything yet… I plan to call source one when I'm ready to order. Another thing you could consider is putting some wood down in your garage along the path your tires take when backing out so that you can clear whatever is making you scrape

 

[The Hawk]

I bought a magnificent specimen of a NSX 2 months ago, it literally has everything I could possibly ever need or want, but like the rest of you sick individuals, I have the mod disease and I can't leave well enough alone, so I've made a few minor changes in search of that perfect profile/stance/look. I'd like to get some opinions on how it's coming along, if it's an improvement, if it's not, etc. I'll try to explain the reason for each
View attachment 107841

This is how I bought it, great wheels, adjustable coilovers, 2002 rear valance, no crazy body kits, stock wing, carbon fiber front lip.

View attachment 107842

I'm a sucker for dark wheels, and although the polished lip looked nice and classy, I wanted more of a race car look so I plasti-dipped the lips black, that way if I regret it I can just go back to polished lips.

View attachment 107843

I decided that the car was sitting a little high, so I went down another 1/2" all around. I like the stance much better like this but the collateral damage was that the front lip was too low and it wouldn't go out of my driveway without scraping.

View attachment 107844

Got tired of seeing the front without any sort of lip, it definitely looked like it was missing something, so I bought an OEM lip and put it on. Gives it a little more of a finished look in the front, keeps the lowered stance, and I can still get out of my driveway.

After the changes, I find myself missing the carbon fiber front lip, it's the best lip I've seen, but the car would need to be raised again to make it work. Hence my dilemma, am I heading the right direction with my mods? is the lowered stance worth the loss of the carbon fiber front lip? I can also go another 1/4"-1/2" lower or so with the oem lip so it could look better that way too...and I'm not whining, I realize this is a great problem to have, I love my NSX, just wanted to get some opinions, I'll probably end up changing it again anyway at some point.

Happy Thanksgiving Primers!

Check out Steven Lee's iLIFT System. You can lower your car as much as you want. When you come to a speed bump or driveway the car will lift up 3 inches. I have this on my car and it saved my lip numerous times on our last trip. I have the carbon fiber lip on mine and don't want it to scrape

 

[NSXonwheels]

@the hawk: I have seen some info on the iLift system, it looks great, the price is the only thing keeping me from jumping on it, for now I'll have to keep driving and tinkering with the settings until I find a right balance. I've gotten much better getting out of the driveway so I'm probably ready to lower it a tiny bit more, trying to finalize the height on it so I can do the alignment and having to spend money on alignment again would keep me from making any changes in height for a while. I still have the look back syndrome so the car is looking good regardless

 

[synth19]

I'm not a fan of plastidip to be honest. However, if you're going to do it, I would have done the entire wheel. The spokes look like they are almost floating and the tires look super massive now. I like how you have lowered the car more, but because of the sizing of the rear wheels, I would suggest going back to the original finish on the wheels. It's a much more classic and well-balanced look.

 

[T_22*]

I agree to put the wheels back to the original finish and keep it low with the OEM lip. I plastidipped some wheels and will never do it again. Cleaning them is terrible.

 

[NSXonwheels]

I'm not a fan of plastidip to be honest. However, if you're going to do it, I would have done the entire wheel. The spokes look like they are almost floating and the tires look super massive now. I like how you have lowered the car more, but because of the sizing of the rear wheels, I would suggest going back to the original finish on the wheels. It's a much more classic and well-balanced look.

Plasti-dip allows you to try new looks without permanent commitment, but yes the finish is mediocre at best, that's why I'm afraid to paint the whole wheel, the gunmetal finish it currently has is really nice, Ideally the wheel would have come all painted gunmetal for me, but this one gives me options too. I completely agree about the spokes looking like they are floating. That last picture is the worst quality of the 4. I'm going to take some better pics with the sun on them and the wheel turned a bit to show the rims more. I know it seems like it's all tire on the pics but in person it looks better. I do wonder what the polished lips would look like now though.

- - - Updated - - -

I agree to put the wheels back to the original finish and keep it low with the OEM lip. I plastidipped some wheels and will never do it again. Cleaning them is terrible.

I'm planning on going even a little bit lower, the oem lip is growing on me and would look even better closer to the road. Cleaning the plasti-dip is a pain but so was keeping those polished lips shiny, I guess it's an even trade. The main thing against the polished lip for me is that it matches nothing else on the car, just two shiny circles. It's like Darth Vader with Chrome Gucci glasses.