Subtitle: should I change my suspension from Bilsteins on lower perch and stock springs, to the Sakebomb Öhlins?
I had the opportunity to drive a local owner’s Kaiser Silver NSX yesterday, and he drove mine. It’s mostly stock other than that he has the Sakebomb-modified FPSpëc Öhlins DFV coilovers in Grand Touring form. I am considering this setup for my own car, which is the main reason I drove Gary’s car. It’s the first opportunity I’ve really had to compare a nearly stock car to my SOS twin-turbo’ed car with SOS Sport 350 clutch and Bilstein shocks/stock springs simultaneously. I wrote down my thoughts fairly quickly so I wouldn’t forget them.
Review is split into four parts, clutch, power, suspension, exhaust, as those are the big differences.
1. Clutch. The SOS Sport 350 is advertised as having “10% more pedal effort” than stock. In fact, the only real difference I found in the feel between the two was that the clutch biting point was significantly higher with Gary’s stock clutch than mine. This led to much hilarity initially as I revved Gary’s engine as I was expecting a faster bite, and when he drove my car, he stalled a couple of times. Could install differences account for the difference in bite point? Was a quick adjustment, though.
Pedal effort was really not very different between the two. The Sport 350 was also more “on-off” in first gear.
In any case, if you are considering a Sport 350 clutch for your high-power build, don’t be concerned that you’ll need a “leg day”. I was told to expect clutch chatter with this clutch. I’ve got over 2000 miles on the clutch now, and I have had absolutely no chatter. Overall, I’m happy with the clutch.
2. Power. Not much to say here. It was enjoyable watching Gary’s response to his first acceleration onto the highway in my car, though! He’ll have to post up his own impression, but the experience of being in my car with turbos is just as fun from the driver’s seat as from the passenger’s seat. I don’t really notice much in the way of turbo lag. Bottom line is that a NSX with FI is a completely different car from a NSX without.
3. Suspension. This comparison is complicated because Gary has stock wheels (16 front, 17 rear), different tires on front and rear, I have 17-18 with Pirelli Zero Nero GTs, and because I am not a suspension expert.
Just as a note, the Swift springs that come with the Sakebomb Öhlins system are 8 kg/mm front and 6 kg/mm rear, vs my stock 97-05 springs (3.5 kg/mm front and 4 kg/mm rear). What I could tell immediately was that on expansion joints and tarmac strips in Gary’s car, the ride was noticeably more compliant. By that, I mean that the damping seems much better for small impacts and less of the resulting vibration was transmitted up the steering column. I’m not well enough trained to determine how much is from Gary’s higher-profile tires, and how much from the suspension. However, the Öhlin DFVs are known to have a high-quality long-stroke damper.
When turning, I noted much less body lean than in my car with the Bilsteins, and also much less understeer. I suspect this would translate to reduced roll, or at least better body control, in the turns on a track.
My wife would love the ride in Gary’s car for certain.
The question is, it is $2k better than KWV3s? I’ve seen many comments indicating that the quality is that much better, as well as the result, a suspension system that is great for enthusiastic street driving (99% of my car’s use) that is also good for occasional track use.
Sorry, this part of the comparison may not be the most helpful, but I hope it helped someone.
4. Exhaust, I have an old YouTube video describing the difference between stock and my current Pride Lightweight setup. Essentially, the Pride Lightweight has a much, much deeper tone and there is some drone at around 2500 rpm. Since I don’t generally run my NSX at 2500 rpm, I don’t hear the drone.
I hope this comparison helps someone who is considering a change. I am thankful to Gary for allowing me to drive his car!
My car is on the left, Gary’s is on the right.
I had the opportunity to drive a local owner’s Kaiser Silver NSX yesterday, and he drove mine. It’s mostly stock other than that he has the Sakebomb-modified FPSpëc Öhlins DFV coilovers in Grand Touring form. I am considering this setup for my own car, which is the main reason I drove Gary’s car. It’s the first opportunity I’ve really had to compare a nearly stock car to my SOS twin-turbo’ed car with SOS Sport 350 clutch and Bilstein shocks/stock springs simultaneously. I wrote down my thoughts fairly quickly so I wouldn’t forget them.
Review is split into four parts, clutch, power, suspension, exhaust, as those are the big differences.
1. Clutch. The SOS Sport 350 is advertised as having “10% more pedal effort” than stock. In fact, the only real difference I found in the feel between the two was that the clutch biting point was significantly higher with Gary’s stock clutch than mine. This led to much hilarity initially as I revved Gary’s engine as I was expecting a faster bite, and when he drove my car, he stalled a couple of times. Could install differences account for the difference in bite point? Was a quick adjustment, though.
Pedal effort was really not very different between the two. The Sport 350 was also more “on-off” in first gear.
In any case, if you are considering a Sport 350 clutch for your high-power build, don’t be concerned that you’ll need a “leg day”. I was told to expect clutch chatter with this clutch. I’ve got over 2000 miles on the clutch now, and I have had absolutely no chatter. Overall, I’m happy with the clutch.
2. Power. Not much to say here. It was enjoyable watching Gary’s response to his first acceleration onto the highway in my car, though! He’ll have to post up his own impression, but the experience of being in my car with turbos is just as fun from the driver’s seat as from the passenger’s seat. I don’t really notice much in the way of turbo lag. Bottom line is that a NSX with FI is a completely different car from a NSX without.
3. Suspension. This comparison is complicated because Gary has stock wheels (16 front, 17 rear), different tires on front and rear, I have 17-18 with Pirelli Zero Nero GTs, and because I am not a suspension expert.
Just as a note, the Swift springs that come with the Sakebomb Öhlins system are 8 kg/mm front and 6 kg/mm rear, vs my stock 97-05 springs (3.5 kg/mm front and 4 kg/mm rear). What I could tell immediately was that on expansion joints and tarmac strips in Gary’s car, the ride was noticeably more compliant. By that, I mean that the damping seems much better for small impacts and less of the resulting vibration was transmitted up the steering column. I’m not well enough trained to determine how much is from Gary’s higher-profile tires, and how much from the suspension. However, the Öhlin DFVs are known to have a high-quality long-stroke damper.
When turning, I noted much less body lean than in my car with the Bilsteins, and also much less understeer. I suspect this would translate to reduced roll, or at least better body control, in the turns on a track.
My wife would love the ride in Gary’s car for certain.
The question is, it is $2k better than KWV3s? I’ve seen many comments indicating that the quality is that much better, as well as the result, a suspension system that is great for enthusiastic street driving (99% of my car’s use) that is also good for occasional track use.
Sorry, this part of the comparison may not be the most helpful, but I hope it helped someone.
4. Exhaust, I have an old YouTube video describing the difference between stock and my current Pride Lightweight setup. Essentially, the Pride Lightweight has a much, much deeper tone and there is some drone at around 2500 rpm. Since I don’t generally run my NSX at 2500 rpm, I don’t hear the drone.
I hope this comparison helps someone who is considering a change. I am thankful to Gary for allowing me to drive his car!
My car is on the left, Gary’s is on the right.
I appreciate your opinions as you both have more experience in this realm than me. Now I’m curious to experience other suspension setups. You’ve created a monster LOLOLOL!
