Caustic and Sara, a love story

[Caustic]

So a little history first...
I bought my NSX (Sara) in 2005. It was a 2002 berlina black 6speed. The car had 6k miles and looked like it had been pampered all 3 years of its life. I was living in Dallas, Texas at the time. If you know Texas, it is mirror smooth roads, 6 - 8 lane highways and no traffic. Ever. OK maybe for a half hour between 8:30 - 9am and 5 - 5:30 pm. Anyway...

It drove... well... like an NSX. Fantastic! Was loving every minute of it. Then I took the top off. Ugh.

The car creaked in the turns. It felt mushy going over ANYthing at an different angle from flat. Omg, road dividers, awful. Storm drains, terrible. Manhole covers, the list goes on. Now mind you, none of this was extreme. It just felt and seemed extreme. But in reality, all it caused was a bit of cowl shake and that sharpened edge went away. Just a little shimmy in the front going over a bump. Still quick, still capable, but just not right.

I put the top back on, everything went back to normal. Needless to say, I rarely took the top off, if ever.

Fast forward 4 years and 16k miles later. I moved back to NYC. I drove my NSX in NYC to get to my new apartment. Ugh. If Texas was the extreme of well kept roads, NYC is hell. "This is stupid." I parked it in the garage, and there it sat, for 10 months.

Fast forward those 10 months. "This is stupid." I'm not going to NOT drive my car. It was the first warm day in spring, I took it out for a spin. I cringed every 20 feet. All those issues I had with the car with the top off, is now bleeding and creeping its way into the car with the top ON. Miserable NYC roads. Grrr, anger rising!

What I'm saying is, I'm envious of you coupe owners. No, I'm downright jealous.

Taking the top off essentially takes the spine out of the car. Who wants a spineless sportscar? Now that I'm on less than stellar roads, I notice it, even with the top on. The NSX should feel MORE solid than my old Merc E300. It should feel more solid then my current BMW X5. Hell, I want it to feel more solid than my friend's VW R32 (hot car btw). But it doesn't.

Time for mods...

 

[Caustic]

So the first mod I did was get a new Tubi exhuast. I went through a lot of research to find something I liked. I settled on two, the Taitec GTLW and the Tubi. All the other exhausts sounded tinny and raspy. Even the vaunted GT1 just didn't have a full sound. It was loud, it was high pitched, but it wasn't a full bellow.

The Taitec came close. It has a nice low grumble down low, a bit of base behind it. Then it peaks pretty well at WOT, not a scream, but a nice persistent wail. But it had something all the others had too: drone.

The Tubi on the other hand was able to sound different from every other exhaust out there. It looked great, and according to many Primers, it lacked what all the others had: drone. So the Tubi it is.

From everything I have read in Prime, the Tubi was not to be had. It was an extremely rare exhaust. Production had stopped long ago. And whoever had one, was not letting it go. Hmm. I'm not sure I necessarily believe that. But after checking around with a lot of Tubi dealers in the US, my hope was fading. None had any stock, nor could they get one. Time to start calling overseas.

So I happened across Scuderia Systems UK. Had a nice chat through email with a guy named Nik from there. He was like, "Sure! We'll get you one, no problem." He quotes me a great price too, cheaper than the american dealers before they told me, "No." What? Hrm, I do some digging on the net, Scuderia seemed legit. I take the plunge.

4 weeks later, bam, the exhaust arrives. The box was torn, the packing was terrible, but everything looked like it came from Italy with a detour to the UK. Open the box, the Tubi was immaculate. Ok, where is the serial number? There it is. Looks like I got a Tubi.

The install didn't work out so well. It didn't fit right. My rear sway banged into it. It hung twisted and tilted. One of the tips was two inches further out than the other. I'm upset.

I combed the Prime forums, this enlightens me. I order a set of new adapters. Installed them they day they showed up. Bam, everything is now right with the world. Fitting is flawless. Yay!

So I mention this to Nik at Scuderia Systems. He says, "the adapters we sent you were adjustable to solve that very problem you had. Didn't you notice?" Doh! I take a close look at the newly swapped out Tubi adapters, yup adjustable. Me, my installers, we completely missed it. I feel stupid. (I have a set of adjustable adapters from Tubi. Fits 95-05 NSX. Anyone need? :biggrin

But then I got in my car, I started it up, and a big goofy grin stretches across my face. Now THAT is what the NSX is supposed to sound like. I proceed to the nearest onramp, and enter the highway at WOT. It was all worth it.

Notes:
The Tubi just sounds amazing. While I have heard most of the other exhausts, I only heard the Tubi in a few sound clips. I really wanted to avoid drone, so I took a chance. If I didn't like it, I'm sure I would be able to sell it, it wouldn't be much of a loss. But no sound clip can do the real sound justice.

It has a nice bassline at low revs and throttle. As revs climb, it just changes into this sweet throaty roar. At WOT and peak revs it really wails. And it never loses that fullness of sound. It isn't as loud as I expected it to be, but it lets people know you are there. This is a good thing in my eyes. It also doesn't have that "F1" sound, it has it's own sound, it is distinctly Tubi and NSX.

The best way I can explain the difference to me between this sound and the NSX "F1" sound is the difference between FM and AM radio. To my ears the GT1 (and others) sounds raspy, tinny. I don't mean to take shots, it just isn't my thing. I imagine people may refer to my exhaust as a fart can. <shrug> It's the sound I'm looking for.

And yes, there IS drone. Dammit. But it is not that bad. 6th gear from 2000 - 2500, and a little bit in 5th in the same range. Most of the time I never hear it in 5th. You are probably all asking yourselves, "who cares? Who sits in that rev range with the NSX anyway?" 60mph is 2400rpm in 6th. =( I just tend to stay in 5th longer now.

The purchase from Scuderia Systems was the most pain free purchase I have ever had. Nik Sachdeva was responsive and kept me in the loop the whole way. If I had sent the adapter email to him from the beginning, that whole adventure could have been avoided. Thanks to Scuderia for making this happen.</shrug>

 

[Caustic]

Next mods were two in one day! I received both STMPO FCB, RSTB, and a Taitec FSTB. I would have LOVED to have the STMPO FSTB if it allowed the passenger side wiper to work. :frown:

The STMPO RSTB is exactly what everybody says it is. It is one beefy part, but nice and light. And gawd that red! The paint job is so nice. I knew I wanted this part, it is the best out there and there are no compromises to be had. But a few things were in the back of my head.

One is forum excitement. You know what that is, everyone says get this part, it will change your life. Then you get it, and it was ok. This is NOT that part. It did change my life. Wow, what a distinct change to my car. All that complaining I did in the first post about the targa top has somewhat vanished. My car now feels as though it has a spine.

The other thing circling around in the back of my head was fitment. This is a 1 piece part. The tolerances have to be close to perfect to get the damn thing on. Other parts come in multiple pieces with a little bit of slack to make adjustments. Not this beast. Fitment was a little close, but ended up being a breeze to install.

Notes:
Holy crap this thing changed the feel of my car. This RSTB stiffened it up so much. I never would have thought it would be that much of a change. Granted, for people who are fortunate to have better roads than I, the benefit will be less, still noticeable, but less. For where I am, its the best upgrade I've done so far. I can only imagine how this feels for people who track their cars.


The Taitec FSTB was a little disappointing. I thought it was going to be better than it was. It's not bad, but compared to the RSTB and FCB I got from STMPO, there is no comparison. But I like both my windshield wipers to work. So on it goes. (Ross, if you are reading this, you can make a solution. It may be a compromise compared to your other outrageous parts, but it can be done.)

Install was a bitch. The triangles that sit over the strut towers did not want to fit over the bolts. They had to be "gently" coerced by banging each corner of the triangle with a hammer and screwdriver, all the while hoping that you are not damaging the threads you will need to bolt down later.

Once that harrowing experience is done, and you have bolted down the triangles over the strut towers, you then have to get the bar in place across the car and thread two bolts on either side of each triangle to attach each bar end. If you have ever tried this, you will know that the front of the cowl gives you no clearance to get a bolt in, much less an allen wrench to thread the stupid thing in place. Many angles and contortions later, you have one side bolted down.

Of course the bar is off by a few millimeters on the other end, so neither bolt wants to thread in to attach the other side. You literally have to flex the bar a bit to get the holes to line up for the bolts to thread in. After much pain, it got done.

Then you have to reattach the cowl. And it has to fit under the window liner at the bottom of the windshield and above the newly installed FSTB. The cowl has to be lightly modded to do it, but that was the easy part. Its the liner at the bottom of the windshield that fits over the cowl. It has these crazy yellow clips that lock it into place. And of course they don't want to lock anything in place. They just want to break.

Hours to get this done. It was so frustrating, and tedious and fiddlesome that I wanted to stab someone by the end of it. There are no pictures because of this, but it is now in there.

Notes:
I was disappointed by the part, but not by the performance. It certainly stiffened up the front. The shimmy in the front when you hit a bump, pothole, whatever is very diminished. Not gone, but easily minimized. It was a bit anti-climactic though because the RSTB I installed first did so much. The FSTB improved things, but no where near the severity that the RSTB did. I can only imagine what the STMPO FSTB would have done.


With both parts in, the car feels new again. The targa NSX as a whole feels much stiffer, closer to where it should be. I no longer cringe every time I hit a pothole in NYC. It really helps with the overall feel of the car, and handling specifically feels much sharper now. Really, it has given me renewed confidence in what the targa NSX is capable of. I can't wait to install the STMPO FCB. I think the combination of the FCB with the Taitec FSTB will be fantastic and get the car close to coupe stiffness. Maybe I'm ahead of myself here, but one can dream.

 

[aridon99]

Very nice post. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BTL3.0]

great reviews...
man i love that triangle bar..but, can't have it on my coupe since it's, well, not a targa...plus i have the ctsc too and stmpo rstb for coupe won't clear it ..but i'd love to have one of stmpo triangle bar...

 

[Stephen@NCAutoUSA]

Ross's chassis bars seem to be the way to go. Even on my coupe when I get it back I plan to get his coupe version along with other stuff.

Keep up the good work.

Stephen

 

[TURBO2GO]

Nice mods...

bro, who cares about the passenger side wiper? you ever use rain-X? One good driver's and some rain X and you are good to go. Just looking at all the holes in that Taitec I can tell it's not going to be that stiff. Its Aluminum too? I can see that thing flexing all over the place.

 

[CL65 Captain]

I have zero drone & I mean zero with my tubi. But I have one of the original designed tubis which uses a different canister (round) than the one you have. I also cut off the dual tips and had single tips welded on.

 

[mknmoves]

I have the TUBI and LOVE it!:biggrin:

 

[Caustic]

Ross's chassis bars seem to be the way to go. Even on my coupe when I get it back I plan to get his coupe version along with other stuff.

Keep up the good work.

Stephen

Yeah, there is no question STMPO's FCB and RSTB is a necessity for the targa NSX. It is a must. Ross did an amazing job trying to eliminate what he calls "shaking NSXs." If an owner does not have these, he has no idea just how good his car can be and feel.

Nice mods...

bro, who cares about the passenger side wiper? you ever use rain-X? One good driver's and some rain X and you are good to go. Just looking at all the holes in that Taitec I can tell it's not going to be that stiff. Its Aluminum too? I can see that thing flexing all over the place.

Yeah I hear ya about the wiper, but you have a very pragmatic approach about it. It is a pet peeve of mine that a car should provide what I consider full functionality. It would irrationally irritate me to no end knowing that only 1 wiper of the provided 2 is working.

You are correct on the Taitec FSTB, there is flex in it. But it provides a pretty nice upgrade in stiffness nonetheless. It does not detract, degrade, or compromise anything else in the car in order to use it. Thats a win/win for me. Maybe in the future, if I get serious about tracking Sara, I would consider getting the STMPO FSTB.

I have zero drone & I mean zero with my tubi. But I have one of the original designed tubis which uses a different canister (round) than the one you have. I also cut off the dual tips and had single tips welded on.

You are lucky about the drone, but it isn't bad at all on mine. I wonder if going with test pipes would eradicate it? Mine did come with single tips, when you order you can have the option of either which is really nice.

On the other hand, now I'm kind of curious about the sound quality differences between the two revisions. You should be my novice instructor on a a near future track day so I can hear it in its full glory! :biggrin:

I have the TUBI and LOVE it!:biggrin:

YESSSSS.


Next up... STMPO FCB! Hopefully sometime by the end of this week.

 

[Track Addict]

great write up. i plan on getting all of Ross' parts for my coupe, because there isn't such a thing as 'too stiff' a chassis. i will hopefully be able to write up a nice review like this one, glad you love your car and are able to drive it once more. enjoy

 

[Caustic]

Tubi updates:
A couple of you asked some specifics about the exhaust.
Nope, no video or sound clips. =(

Weight: 32 lbs.
So its not light, but it is lighter than the OEM by almost 20 lbs.

I did 3 dyno runs before and another 3 after the install.
Before: 271.0 hp, 272.3 hp, 273.1 hp. Fairly consistent.
After: 277.1 hp, 275.6 hp, 278.6 hp. Fairly consistent.

I gained a bit more than 5 hp on an 02 with this exhaust.

So about the drone. Its interesting, as I put miles on the Tubi the drone seems to be going away. Completely gone from 5th gear, and now barely noticeable in 6th. Its almost like the muffler is opening up. I am going to continue to monitor it. Hopefully it will evaporate into a distant memory!

 

[Caustic]

In my quest for stiffness, ahem, I finally got the STMPO FCB installed. But I installed the NSX-R "front lower" chassis reinforcement bar as well for that extra oomph.

Just like the RSTB, the STMPO FCB is a beast. Thick, strong, reinforced, but light. The red paint job is excellent and will show through Sara's black front grill nice and bright. I picked red because I don't want to be subtle about it. I plan on getting a BBK in the near future, and that will be red too (probably Brembo red). I think it will all tie in together pretty well.

Getting the air damn out really wasn't a big deal. The cuts my installer made could have been better though. Ah well. The FCB took a bit of work to get installed. The fit was a bit tight, but some tapping with a hammer on each side helped the FCB work its way in. After being installed, I have to say the red tow hooks peeking out from the bottom of the car looked pretty hot.

Just to ramble a second... everytime I see this car on a lift it never ceases to amaze me. The underside is just so clean and well put together. It is an incredible piece of packaging and smoothness. I think the underside of the car is a very underappreciated area!

Installing the NSX-R front lower bar was a breeze. A lot of talk went back and forth about whether this bar is even needed after the FCB is installed. My take on it is, when Honda decided to stiffen the chassis of the coupe, they did it in two places for a reason. And they did this for an already solid coupe! From a targa standpoint, this bar can only help.

Notes:
After seeing the bar in the front grill, yes, red was an awesome choice! It gives the car such an aggressive look. Sweet looking piece.

Previous to the FSTB and FCB installs, I never thought the car felt sure of itself in turns over uneven ground. The little shimmy through the front end when going over a bump only reinforced that feeling of unease. But now, the shimmy when hitting a bump is gone. The front end feels really tied together and is rock solid. There is no question, the car now feels extremely surefooted. With these mods, it tracks REALLY well. Just like with the RSTB, for a targa these, or at least the FCB, are a must have.


While these two new parts really helped lock down the front end of the car, I feel like the law of diminishing returns is kicking in. With each new reinforcement part that gets installed, there is (or seems like) less and less impact to be had. The chassis is now very well reinforced as far as bolt ons go. With that said, the targa area still flexes. Short of installing a cage, or doing what that crazy man serialNSXer did (literally making a coupe out of targa, I bow to him), there is nothing else to be done. I have to deal with the minute (but noticeable to me) flex that still exists in an open top car. I love Sara with all my heart, she rides better and truer than when I first got her, but I think I may want a coupe. :frown:

 

[Pruhnke]

Thanks for sharing. My STMPO braces shipped out yesterday and I cannot wait to get them installed. Like you I went for a touch of krinkle red to contrast the yellow.

 

[Caustic]

Thanks for sharing. My STMPO braces shipped out yesterday and I cannot wait to get them installed. Like you I went for a touch of krinkle red to contrast the yellow.

I think the red is going to look great against your yellow! It should pop nicely.

 

[Caustic]

With the chassis reinforcement out of the way, I figure I would go back to i/h/e. I already have the exhaust done, and headers will be done by Larry B in the future, that leaves intake.

After doing a ton of research on Prime, it seems the way to go is the stock airbox with the Uni filter. Many past Primers had aftermarket intakes, but then went back to stock after some testing was done to show the stock airbox is equal to or more efficient than aftermarket products.

Then came this thread, and more specifically this post. Hmm, intriguing.

I continued to pay it no mind because the Uni filter still had a HUGE bang for the buck. No contest. Until I saw a used DF intake stack for sale, 40% off the new price. Hmm, intriguing.

Ok, I bought it. According to the testing in the DF post, I expected about 5 horse, cool intake sounds, pretty CF in my engine bay.

I like to know exactly what the performance changes are to the parts I am installing on my car. For me it's due diligence. 3 dyno runs before the install, 3 after:

Before: 281.4 hp, 283.8 hp, 283.0 hp
After: 283.6 hp, 284.7 hp, 282.7 hp

WTF.

1 hp gain? And in the real world, that 1 hp is just variance. No gain at all. Well hell.


Ok, I'll have cool intake sounds and pretty CF in my engine bay. I zoom around Long Island. Try different gears, different levels of throttle input. The sounds are... interesting. I actually expected it to be louder than the stock box, but its not.

At normal driving around town, its sounds like the stock box, except muffled. Muted. Every time you press on the throttle, it now starts out with a sort of light sucking/hissing noise then comes the air resonating sound. Outside of the car, that initial sucking noise sounds more like a dog snuffling. But not some little toy dog, more like a big dog. Rottweiler or Mastiff. I'm not sure what to make of it yet.

At about 5000 rpm, things change and the sound wakes up. It gets loud, quick. Again, it sounds like the stock box, but... different. Like it is an octave lower or something.

One of the first things I fell in love with the NSX was the intake noise. OMG, the first time I floored the throttle and the car took off, wow. All I heard was WAAAAAAHHHH, shift gear, wuh-WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH. Music behind my left ear.

But now, the tone has deepened. And it doesn't really happen in the lower rpm range. And the car sniffs when I press the throttle.


At least I have pretty CF in my engine bay.

 

[docjohn]

lol as you are learning honda did do some tuning/designing to get that induction honk just right, with the size and shapes of the intake system and box...but you have pretty carbon fiber....

 

[MANIACura]

I like to know exactly what the performance changes are to the parts I am installing on my car. For me it's due diligence. 3 dyno runs before the install, 3 after:

Before: 281.4 hp, 283.8 hp, 283.0 hp
After: 283.6 hp, 284.7 hp, 282.7 hp

WTF.

Holy crap I almost fell off the couch laughing at this. You have a great style of writing that really brings back some of the same emotions I've felt when modifying (or TRYING to modify) the NSX. Good stuff man.

 

[s14_tat]

I just realized, that you have a very very strong nsx caustic.

 

[StmpoRaceProducts]

Great job on this write up... Sara is gorgeous... and sexy with all her "bolt ons"

Regards

 

[PKim]

Caustic,
Your finding of the T-top is the exact reason I sold mine and got into a Coupe.:biggrin:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139488
To me this car should been made continually as a coupe and the T-top only as an option.

 

[Caustic]

lol as you are learning honda did do some tuning/designing to get that induction honk just right, with the size and shapes of the intake system and box...but you have pretty carbon fiber....

Yeah, they certainly did. I didn't know how addicted I was to that induction sound until it had changed. I don't think I could ever go turbo for fear of losing it altogether. Dilemma.

Holy crap I almost fell off the couch laughing at this. You have a great style of writing that really brings back some of the same emotions I've felt when modifying (or TRYING to modify) the NSX. Good stuff man.

Ha, good! That is what I was going for. I didn't want to just relay facts, it is the experience that is important.

I just realized, that you have a very very strong nsx caustic.

That is what the mechanics said after the last dyno. I hope that is true, but I'm skeptical. Output varies from dyno to dyno, another one may say I am 20 hp less. I try not to put too much stock in it. But it is great for documenting changes to output as you makes changes to the car.

Great job on this write up... Sara is gorgeous... and sexy with all her "bolt ons"

Thanks! Your parts are like hot red car lingerie. (Uh, too far? :biggrin More sexiness to come. Slinky black dress with CF highlights on its way...

 

[Caustic]

Caustic,
Your finding of the T-top is the exact reason I sold mine and got into a Coupe.:biggrin:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139488
To me this car should been made continually as a coupe and the T-top only as an option.

I have been debating with myself for a while now on whether I should try to get into a coupe. But every time I consider putting Sara up for sale, I can't bring myself to do it. I don't know how you have been able to go through 3 NSXs, as well as others on this site who have gone through multiples. (I guess your first one is no longer with us.) I may attempt to get a coupe an addition to my current, but it is not feasible atm.

The additions I made have had huge gains in road feel. I can't express how much happier I am with these improvements, the car feels so solid now. But I can't stop wondering how much better the coupe is. I don't blame you at all for selling your targa to buy a coupe. As a matter of fact, I'm a little jealous! :tongue: You are so right, this car should have been made continually as a coupe, with the targa as an option. I think Honda did a HUGE disservice to the NSX by making 02 - 05 targa only. Bad Honda!

 

[PKim]

Caustic,
Looks like your doing some nice mods for the car. I did not have a chance to see if the STMPO rear and front brace would make that much of a difference in my '97, but from your experience it seem that it has made a major difference in making a T-top tolerable. If that is the case, then I might of kept mine. So basically you should stick with what you got. I think the NA2 is a better car interms of being a little bit more modern. There is 2 things that I really miss, one is the 6-speed transmission and the other is the power steering. I forgot how easy it is to parallel park or just turning at dead stop. The reason that I made the switch is mainly because I'm more of a driver that love performance over comfort. I'm more likely to track my car than drive it open top at PCH(pacific coast highway). Plus, since I'm planning to CTSC the nsx, why not just deal with OB1, although it seems ppl are tuning OBII without problems. I also saved money by selling my '97 and getting in to a '93. :biggrin:

 

[Caustic]

It's been a long time coming, but after a year of having a bunch of DF-R parts sit, they have finally been installed.

Mmm, carbon fiber.