automatics

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3 June 2004
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Location
florida
hey folks, i am considering buying an automatic nsx. the car is owned by a very meticulous person. from what i have read, they are slower. ( so what! i dont race) is their any other issues other than that to be noted? the car is mint! any input would be nice.
 
Inflight said:
... i have read, they are slower. ( so what! i dont race) is their any other issues other than that to be noted? the car is mint! any input would be nice.
If an auto is your thing, and you found a nice one - go for it. No issues inherant to the auto that I know of (not an auto owner) other than a tad less power than a manual.
 
Performance is the only issue (they are a LOT slower if you're talking about 97+). Build quality and reliability are equally as bullet proof as the manual tranny cars.

Also, they are unmodable. Basically, you have to test drive the auto car and be 1000% sure you are satisfied with the performance because you won't be changing it. That's the biggest drawback I see after having owned a 98 and currently owning an 03.
 
spookyp said:
Also, they are unmodable. Basically, you have to test drive the auto car and be 1000% sure you are satisfied with the performance because you won't be changing it. That's the biggest drawback I see after having owned a 98 and currently owning an 03.

Why not? I/H/E are different?
 
The only thoughts I have are I originally shopped for an automatic and when I found one and had it pre-purchase inspected by Acura they found some kind of problem with the transmission.

The NSX certified technician did not find the problem....the service department manager did. After it was inspected the service manager, who owned an NSX, drove it and detected the transmission problem. He alerted me to the problem and then he covered it under warranty. Probably a $10K job for the brand new transmission. If your car is under warranty, no problem, but just be sure the transmission is cool.

I did not buy this car when I learned that dealership personnel put 5K miles on the car, beyond the posted mileage I was aware of, while it was on their lot. In addition to that, all 4 tires were now bald on the inside edges. This was a 2001 silverstone car with about 40K miles on it. It was for sale at a Saturn dealership in North Carolina I think if I remember correctly.

It all ended well when my wife and I finally decided that a 6 speed would be OK given we were not going to commute in the car. I am glad we bought the car we did. This is the easiest to drive 6 speed car I have ever owned or driven. It is just like driving an Integra I had back in 1996. God I love this NSX!

Good luck,
 
satan_srv said:
Why not? I/H/E are different?

No, you can do all of that. Just with FI the transmission is not strong enough to take it. Or so we hear. There are CTSC Auto's out there, but none of them post on prime..
 
I/H/E are possible, but realistically, there's really no measurable performance improvement from I/H/E. You may get some sound improvement (subjective) and you get decent weight reduction, but losing 20lbs or so and gaining 15hp isn't going to make a huge difference.

FI, N2O and engine mods (heads/cam) aren't possible... Both Comptech and several of the respected NSX techs have said that the auto needs to just be left alone...
 
With I/H/E I would think you will get close to +25HP.

Just adding my anytime exhaust was noticeable.

Do you have these mods? if so, you would know better than I would.
 
I dont... I've been very reluctant to sink upwards of $3 grand into something that may ultimately be a waste...

Keep in mind that the auto is starting with Acura RL type performance... We're talking 0-60 in 6 seconds and a 14.5 second quarter mile generally. Personally, I can't imagine that you'd see more than a tenth or two in the 1/4 from I/H/E. For $3 grand, thats a tough sell. Keep in mind that on my Corvette, I had seen a confirmed .5 second reduction in the 1/4 from a torque converter (which was like $600 installed).
 
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There not a lot slower as posted...theres seems to be a miss con
ception as to the auto cars being wayyyyyyyyy.......slower than the stick jobs.Not true..
 
NSXXXXXXXXXX said:
There not a lot slower as posted...theres seems to be a miss con
ception as to the auto cars being wayyyyyyyyy.......slower than the stick jobs.Not true..
The automatic is typically about half a second slower in 0-60 and in the 1/4 mile than the 3.0-liter 5-speed, and almost a full second slower than the 3.2-liter 6-speed. Whether you consider that to be "a lot" is a matter of semantics.
 
I have Comptech headers and exhaust on my auto and realized
a 15 hp gain. My next NSX will be a 6 (or 7?- ie, HSC) speed and not an auto. Still, I love my NSX, even with its automatic transmission. Having driven both early 5-speeds and autos,
I can tell you the difference in acceleration isn't that big. The 3.2 6-speed is another story.
 
Ken is correct of course... Perceived performance differences are a matter of opinion...

To me, .5 seconds is just huge. The auto is around 5.7-6.0 0-60 and >14 seconds in the quarter. To me, I can feel the difference immediately between a 14 second and mid 13 second car. Others may not. Add to that the fact that manual trans cars generally convey a greater sense of acceleration than autos anyway, and I perceive the NSX auto to be much slower than the 5 speed (forget the 3.2L).

Compared to my old modded C5 auto or the 911TT Tip I test drove, the auto NSX feels like its standing still (although with those two cars, the 3.2L 6 speed would probably feel slow as well)...
 
JimK said:
I have Comptech headers and exhaust on my auto and realized
a 15 hp gain. My next NSX will be a 6 (or 7?- ie, HSC) speed and not an auto. Still, I love my NSX, even with its automatic transmission. Having driven both early 5-speeds and autos,
I can tell you the difference in acceleration isn't that big. The 3.2 6-speed is another story.

Forget it... was asking how you measured, but searched the archive and found it was with GTech Pro...
 
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NetViper said:
No, you can do all of that. Just with FI the transmission is not strong enough to take it. Or so we hear. There are CTSC Auto's out there, but none of them post on prime..

Being an auto owner myself, I'd love to hear some feedback from the CTSC folks i.e., what yr X do they have, any problems thus far, mileage on their X, how long have they had it, how often do they run it, dyno results, etc. Although these folks don't post anywhere, is there anyway someone can get this info?
 
LarryB spoke with Comptech for me and the outcome was "do not FI an auto". According to Comptech there are a FEW SCd autos out there, but they are pre 95 cars only and there aren't that many.

Comptech basically issues an "at your own risk disclaimer" on this one. So LarryB, MarkB, Chris at SoS and Shawn from Autowave all gave the thumbs down to FI on the auto.

I'm not arguing with those guys! And believe me, there is probably no one who wanted to get more performance on the auto than me. It was either mod it or sell it, and Id really rather not sell it, so I was willing to take a bit of risk or spend a bit more. It's just not a feasible option since there is NO aftermarket for the auto.
 
Thanks for the information. I am willing to accept some risk, but being the qualitative/realist person that I am, I wish I new some specific numbers for the auto CTSC pre-95 folks. Oh, you are right, can't argue with the NSX specialists but I still wish I knew specifically how big the risk is :confused:
 
Can't you just identify the weakest link in the tranny and modify that accordingly? The NSX auto tranny works like any other, surely someone like Comptech, AutoWave, and SoS can figure something out. Or is it that it's just not worth their while? Can't be many auto NSX's out there.
 
Ponyboy said:
Can't you just identify the weakest link in the tranny and modify that accordingly? The NSX auto tranny works like any other, surely someone like Comptech, AutoWave, and SoS can figure something out. Or is it that it's just not worth their while? Can't be many auto NSX's out there.

You hit it right on the head. There are no aftermarket tranny mods for the NSX because not enough demand exists. For someone coming from the LS1 or Mustang world, it comes as a real shock (it did for me). From the LS1 side, I was used to auto trans mods being pretty common. I cant even find a torque converter for the NSX!

Basically, you're left with either risking killing the tranny (which seems nearly guaranteed to happen) or with taking a shot as being the first NSX in history to go to a Level 10 or TCI for a rebuild. Shaun advised strongly against that, questioning if any of the aftermarket trans guys could really deliver on a rebuild of the NSX trans given that they've never touched one.

Either way, the trans is so core that being testbed car #1 (not one auto after 95 has had a Comptech SC) seemed like a bad idea to me.

To put things in perspective, there are probablyless than a thousand autos in existance...
 
Forgive my lack of auto knowledge, but arent they all the same engine wise? 95,00,04 etc... or did they go OBD2 and that is why there is even more trouble?
 
That's correct... They went OBD2 and throttle by wire... Also, I may have the year of the cutoff wrong... It may not be 95 (might be sometime later), but Im sure the info is in the FAQ somewhere. Either way, no "new" autos have had the procedure done...

EDIT: looked it up - http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/General/changesbyyear.htm

Actually, 95 was the first year of the changes, so it would be 91-94. Change was the throttle by wire that effects the SC. Not sure if the Sportshift change complicates thingsalso...
 
Can you swap an auto tranny from another car in the NSX? Vette? MB E55?
 
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