Last night I was looking through the Acura NSX book and it seemed to me that some of the cars may have been lowered to give them a more menancing look. In particular the two different full page spreads of the red and black cars. They appear much lower than a stock car. Also I wondered why Acura decided not to lean more towared the concept car drawing which is much wider and lower than the production car. Things that make you go hmm.....
Black/Silver NSX book
- Thread starter raven
- Start date
Because, thankfully, common sense practicality prevailed.
I scrape my chin spoiler as it is, and my car is at the stock height.
I like to drive my car on the street.
-Jim
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1992 NSX Red/Blk 5 spd #0330
1991 NSX Blk/Blk Auto #3070 (Sold)
1974 Vette 454 4 spd Wht/Blk
1976 Honda Accord 5 spd, 3 door Blue/Blue
1977 Honda Accord - Custom - Under Construction
2003 MINI Cooper S - On Order - All Black
1986 Chevy Suburban
http://homepage.mac.com/jimanders/PhotoAlbum1.html
I scrape my chin spoiler as it is, and my car is at the stock height.
I like to drive my car on the street.
-Jim
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1992 NSX Red/Blk 5 spd #0330
1991 NSX Blk/Blk Auto #3070 (Sold)
1974 Vette 454 4 spd Wht/Blk
1976 Honda Accord 5 spd, 3 door Blue/Blue
1977 Honda Accord - Custom - Under Construction
2003 MINI Cooper S - On Order - All Black
1986 Chevy Suburban
http://homepage.mac.com/jimanders/PhotoAlbum1.html
It's possible that's merely an optical illusion. I don't recall the car height being raised from the '89 prototype to the production car.
This is a common characteristic of concept car drawings. They are not designed to be practical; they are designed to convey emontion and style. Few cars look exactly like their concept car drawings. If anything, the NSX resembled its concept drawings more than most.
Obviously I wasn't advocating a chin lip that's 1/4" off the ground. A car low enough or with wheels large enough to fill the huge gap between tire and wheel well would have been nice. I think by the large number of owners that either lower their car or upgrade to larger wheels and tires or do both I think support my statement.
Raven,
Over the years, Honda has made the NSX wheels larger. Perhaps that was in some measure a styling issue.
In any event, their engineers have determined that to go much lower or larger would cause potential interference problems for most users.
I'd rather have a bit more clearance than be plagued by rubbing or bottoming out.
But that's me. Obviously a small percentage of NSX owners feel differently and that's OK.
Keep in mind that most NSX owners don't care and don't even visit this forum.
-Jim
[This message has been edited by Jimbo (edited 16 February 2003).]
Over the years, Honda has made the NSX wheels larger. Perhaps that was in some measure a styling issue.
In any event, their engineers have determined that to go much lower or larger would cause potential interference problems for most users.
I'd rather have a bit more clearance than be plagued by rubbing or bottoming out.
But that's me. Obviously a small percentage of NSX owners feel differently and that's OK.
Keep in mind that most NSX owners don't care and don't even visit this forum.
-Jim
[This message has been edited by Jimbo (edited 16 February 2003).]
Raven,
If you want an NSX with a lowered stance, the answer is easy - just lower yours, either with springs or with struts. No problem.
As for myself, I agree with Jimbo, for pretty much the same reasons. I like the stock ride height and I don't want my car to be any lower. I'm glad they made it the stock ride height they did. And I'm probably towards the "extreme performance" usage pattern of the NSX owner demographic.
If you want an NSX with a lowered stance, the answer is easy - just lower yours, either with springs or with struts. No problem.
As for myself, I agree with Jimbo, for pretty much the same reasons. I like the stock ride height and I don't want my car to be any lower. I'm glad they made it the stock ride height they did. And I'm probably towards the "extreme performance" usage pattern of the NSX owner demographic.
What "book" are you guys talking about and where can I get one?
As noted in the FAQ here, there are two different books. One is the Technical Information and Development History which was given to early buyers of the car. Scans of its contents are available here on NSXprime. Copies occasionally go on sale on eBay, but they're pretty rare and they fetch good prices (typically around $100). The other one was actually the sales brochure in '91 and looks like this:
Copies of this are much more common and you can usually find a copy or two on eBay at any given time.
Thank you very much.
I know someone who has several copies of the sales brochure pictured above, email me at [email protected] if your interested in one of them.
i disagree with some of the comments made... i think the NSX is designed to be practical; it's a daily driver and can hold 2 sets of golf clubs.
One of my NSX’s has a completely stock ride height, and If I come out of my driveway without slowing at the end of the decline my shocks compress a small amount and scrape my spoiler. If I drive slowly at that point, it doesn’t scrape… One of my track friends has an NSX that has been lowered 1-1/2” with stiffer suspension; he can drive out my driveway without scraping. I was intrigued about the ride characteristics, so I drove his car around town… It was not notably uncomfortable. I no longer would hesitate if I wanted to improve handling with better suspension or even lower the car for improved looks.
I still like the stock ride height and I don't want my car to be any lower. I'm glad they made it the stock ride height they did.
In addition to not scraping on driveways, another advantage is that I can use my small hydraulic jack and bring it with me to the track in my tire-laden car. I wouldn't be able to use it if the car were lower; I would be stuck using the stock jack.
If you want to lower yours, go ahead.
In addition to not scraping on driveways, another advantage is that I can use my small hydraulic jack and bring it with me to the track in my tire-laden car. I wouldn't be able to use it if the car were lower; I would be stuck using the stock jack.
If you want to lower yours, go ahead.
I agree with raven on the point about the lowering to take away that HUGE gap between tire and fender. The stock height would be perfect if that cosmetic issue was not there.
Question - Why do you think they went with that weird configuration for the NSX wheels? I am speaking about the need of lowering and putting spacers to make the wheel look "correct". Look at the M3 or any Ferrari for example: the wheel "fills" the wheel-space correcetly.
Question - Why do you think they went with that weird configuration for the NSX wheels? I am speaking about the need of lowering and putting spacers to make the wheel look "correct". Look at the M3 or any Ferrari for example: the wheel "fills" the wheel-space correcetly.
Originally posted by gheba_nsx:
Question - Why do you think they went with that weird configuration for the NSX wheels? I am speaking about the need of lowering and putting spacers to make the wheel look "correct". Look at the M3 or any Ferrari for example: the wheel "fills" the wheel-space correcetly.
I think my stock wheels and tires on my NSX look correct and fill the wheel space perfectly.
With respect to nsxtasy (and others with older stock NSXs), when I got my stock '91 a few years ago, I immediately started shopping for wheels. To my eye (performance notwithstanding) the stock wheels/tires look too small and don't fill the wheel well properly. The way the stock wheels were "tucked in" reminded me of late model Firebirds!
The first thing I noticed with my new wheels was how much more "right" the car looked. Then I lowered it 1 /14" and the car looked even more "right" (to me). Again I am talking about appearence, not performance. You can look at my set up in the owners gallery here.
Just my $0.02
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'91 Black/Black
Lowered 17/18 Wheels
Just my $0.02
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'91 Black/Black
Lowered 17/18 Wheels
Don't get me wrong, I love my 91'. It's undoubtably the finest car that I've ever owned. But I honest feel that at the time the NSX was developed in the late 80's that tastes in automotive styling were changing. If you look at cars from the 70's and 80's i.e. older Ferraris, Lotus, 240Z etc. They all have that smaller inset wheel with a considerable gap between the wheel and the well. That was the "oldschool" style then. Not until the 90's did the larger wheel become the norm. So I think the decision made by Honda was more aesthetic and had very little to do with performance. Again some like this look while others feel that with lowering kits or wheels they can give their car a more modern look.
I agree with you that larger wheels have become more fashionable. However, this was a steady trend that was going on well before the introduction of the NSX. At the time of its introduction in 1990, 15" and 16" wheels were generally considered large, larger than the 13" and 14" wheels on many of the performance cars of the eighties.
As for why these wheel sizes were chosen, I believe that it was for both reasons - they were consistent with how far the styling trend towards larger wheels had advanced at that time, and it was done for performance reasons as well (as were most of the decisions in the NSX design).
Michigan NSX, the Firebird analogy is perfect! ...and that is hardly a compliment to a car as nice as the nsx...
This is all about trends, I believe.
Some years back the fashion was lots of air around the wheels (chrome-spoke & lots of white letters on the side). Nowadays it is all about filling up the empty spaces.
By the way, I have 16"/17" with lots of spokes (non-chromed!)and they look just great on mine....
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Have a Honda-experience every day!
Jon
'91 NSX for summer & '97 CR-V for winter
Some years back the fashion was lots of air around the wheels (chrome-spoke & lots of white letters on the side). Nowadays it is all about filling up the empty spaces.
By the way, I have 16"/17" with lots of spokes (non-chromed!)and they look just great on mine....
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Have a Honda-experience every day!
Jon
'91 NSX for summer & '97 CR-V for winter
as an ex- adman that handled Acura/Mercedes/Jaguar advertising, please note for catalogues and most shots use for advertising/promotional purpose, cars are deliberatley lowered to show a more aggressive stance in still photos. also a lot of retouching been done to show better light angles so the cars are more appealing..aggressive. the cars that are sold in the showroom are never the same as in the catalogues or on television commericals. it is the tools of the trade.
in the case of the NSX in the ctalogue, or the units on display at the auto shows, the cars are sometime weighted down with sandbags at the studio, or in some instance, the springs removed.
in the case of the NSX in the ctalogue, or the units on display at the auto shows, the cars are sometime weighted down with sandbags at the studio, or in some instance, the springs removed.
Angles man angles. you may block traffic but its worth it. don't scrape.
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-Rich
2002 TRD Tacoma SR5 4x4 5-Speed
Maybe if you live in a sprawling new suburb, angles are an option, because the streets there tend to be wide and level. However, if you spend any time in older suburbs and especially in big cities, you will find that there are many places where the streets are narrower and not level, so that exiting a driveway, there is so much slope on the street you're entering (which was built that way to make water run off to the sides) that you WILL scrape, even at an angle. Furthermore, the entrances and exits of many parking garages and alleys in the built-up parts of the city are too narrow to allow any kind of angle at all.
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I was looking through the book which by the FAQs was publised in 1990 and saw some interesting things:
- Notice some pictures of the exhaust tips look almost like the DC sports exhaust. Was this the JDM exhaust or an option?
- Notice the diagram and promotion of the dual air bag system?
I guess the book was written pre-producion.
- Notice some pictures of the exhaust tips look almost like the DC sports exhaust. Was this the JDM exhaust or an option?
- Notice the diagram and promotion of the dual air bag system?
I guess the book was written pre-producion.
The book talks about the plant that the NSX is built at, are the new cars still built by hand at the rate of 25 a day?
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