Now that I finally got some sleep….
Was a long and great week.
Got to spend some quality time with those I see as friends, family &
Co-Hearts.
It started in Ventura for 2 days un-installing my SC and installing it on Danny Lia’s car. Great guy and a TOTALLY wonderful family. Molly is a GREAT cook !
Then the journey continued onto Las Vegas to Motorwerks, the home shop of FXMD.
Mori, all around very generous & great guy, (The Good Looking One on The Right) the owner of Motorwerks, as always, made me feel welcome, right at home & opened up his shop to me as a sponsor…Thanks Mori !
With Fes at the controls, we installed the FX500 turbo system and inter-cooler.
As this went on, Roy was busy fabricating brackets for clipping on the front bumper, making the splitter, rods and doing the welding wherever needed. What great work he did…
With the help of Billy Johnson, (took this picture for proof Billy actually works) the CCW Wheels were dis-assembled and reassembled with the correct filaments. Cleaned, resealed and mounted with Yokohama AD08’s. 245 front and 285 rears.
After 3 full 16 hour days, we called Mike and the tuning began.
Thanks Mikey for coming over !
After lots of Beers, Pizzia, Taco's Cookies and Donuts, Laughing & Test Drives, then came the BIG Grins & and High Five’s. We were done.
We continued on to Mike Burlas of Autokonexion in Rialto, CA where Mike worked his magic doing the final adjustments on the WB kit, trimmed the wheel wells and cut the first set of vents. More to vents to added along with NACTA ducts & hoses soon.
We made it home and what a new experience and ride it was…..
I think I had a grin on my face for the entire way home, still do in fact.
Things still remaining to do.
Hook up the Methanol Injection
Boost Controller
Add NACTA Ducts and Tubing
Rear Wing
Rear Quarter Panel & Bumper Vents for Air Relief
Door Side Trim
Air Box/Filter Fabrication
Block sanding & Paint.
So many people have been a part of this ongoing project that have helped me along the way. I can't say enough to thank them.
Mike & Shane at Autowave that built an extremely fine custom motor and for giving of so much of their time, knowledge and friendship.
Ken from FXMD for making the FXMD WB Kit happen for me, the one I waited for and wanted, who has also been so extremely generous by making the FX500 turbo system happen for me, the CCW wheels & Yokohama tires, suspension parts and other modifications, the food he brought to the shop
...and just for so many other things that showed nothing but love for a friend and brother that wasn’t based on how much money I had or didn’t have. You are one in a million Ken. Thank you.
Billy from FXMD for being there every step of the way with me, his guidence and for his continuing education to transform me from a SC car into a turbo driven car, how to control this new found power and be a faster and better driver, not to mention just being a true friend.
I'm proud of you, who you are and what you're acomplishing in life.
You’re a fine young man Billy !
Mike Burlas for his friendship and expertise….and our 14 hour day making sure we had everything perfect on the WB kit so it can be block sanded and painted next.
I have been involved in a lot of car communities, racers and race teams over 40 years, but I have never met or been involved with such a great group of guys as all those associated with FXMD that are so enjoyable to spend time with and work side by side with.
OK, now the review.
It’s an interesting transition for me. The last turbo I drove was in the
80’s in a Porsche 911 I owned. Didn’t care for it much back then, just couldn’t get past the lag.
Then came my NSX’s.
My first 91 NSX was a Comptech 1.7, 386 rwhp, loved it. Loved the fact is was easy to throttle steer and how the power came on. Very dependable and I put 42,000 miles on it in less that 2 years and at least 8 track events.
Then came my wife’s NA NSX. Nice, but seriously lack power. She doesn’t let me drive it much. She knows how I drive mine
Now my other 91 NSX that I have the Whipple 2.3 on that made 434 rwhp with 8 lbs of boost.
It was a step up from my previous 1.7 SC.
All and all I have been driving and tracking NSX SC’s for a little over 3 years now just having fun. Nothing really serious...
After a lot of discussions with many, I decided to give the turbo a try and get serious. With Ken’s help, it happened and continues to happen.
There’s quite a bit of difference between the SC and turbo.
The FX500 turbo is making over 500 rwhp with 91 octane and 14 lbs of boost.
We will eventually add the boost controller and tune it for 100 octane race gas and fully expect to see even more rwhp under track conditions.
The power curve takes some getting used to. But the 600 miles I’ve driven in the last 24 hours, I can only say this is a transition I am gladly going to make with no regrets.
Now, I keep asking myself why I waited so long….what was I thinking….
The SC when jumped on is a steady flow of power, where the turbo is more like being shot out of a cannon. I find it very controllable as long as you stay ahead of the power curve, as I was taught by Billy. But the huge advantage is the amount of power that is at your disposal, it’s like never ending from gear to gear. My biggest smile came when I jumped on second gear for the first time going straight and found my ass end sliding out in from the power coming on. All I could say was WOW…this is going to be fun.
My car seems to run smoother and works less to have more power and response. I can’t wait to get it on a track and see how it responds when it’s kept between 5000 and 8000 rpm’s. My oil temps are down and just over all the car seems to run better and feel freed up.
Since I was driving at 3:-00 AM in the morning out in the desert, no traffic, I played some..
What totally amazes me is how the FX500 turbo comes on and how it keeps coming on from gear to gear.
From cruising at 65, down shifing from 5th to 3rd, putting my foot to the floor, I could go from 65 to 140 in what seemed a blink of an eye. Simply amazing….
Most of my trip was just cruising along in 5th gear at 75 trying to stay awake, but it was a smooth and relaxing. Even in 5th gear, no down shifting, the car wakes up and takes off like a bullet when asked. Down shifting just makes the bullet go way faster.
All I can say at this point is it’s been a busy week and many changes have taken place all for the better…. I, We, still have some things to do to finish up my NSX, but I can say for sure we are headed in the right direction and I can't stop smiling.
I think from now on I’m going to call my NSX my Make Me Smile Machine
(Don't tell my wife)
*** Lud, should I have put this in the Build Section ?
Please move it if need be. Please don't delete it
