All:
I purchased my '95 late last fall. So, here in Michigan I just drove it bit and up it went for winter. To be honest I'd dreamed about owning an NSX since I was a junior in high school and it really was a dream come true the day I drove it home and parked it in my garage 24 years later.
Unfortunately, I didn't fall more in love the more I drove it this spring. In fact, I was feeling a bit disappointed.
I road-raced motorcycles for years and the purest joy I got from racing was knowing I could push my machine to the very limit. When you have great bike that is set up correctly, you feel EXACTLY what the front tire is doing and every fast racer is sliding the front tire while spinning/sliding the rear through corners. That comfort level, that the bike is giving you 10/10th's and you are at the limit, but still in control, is what I lived for.
I had hoped and expected the same with my NSX, one of the best handling cars ever created, but I wasn't getting that feeling. Instead, I felt like at times minor steering inputs were not making it to the wheels, especially at higher speeds. One evening a few months ago I was out in the middle of nowhere and while doing a quick left/right at 100+ mph I had a very strange feeling that something was loose. I pulled over and checked the lugnuts as it felt like I'd make a slight change to the steering wheel and the wheels were not making that slight change. Lugnuts were fine so I just drove home slowly to investigate.
I put the car up on stands and with the ignition on I turned the steering wheel lock to lock. As the steering wheel passed "center" or "12 O'clock" it would make a popping noise which I could feel in the steering wheel AND actually see as the wheels turned.
Turns out there are some bearings within the steering rack that can be damaged, as mine were, and they catch/grab/pop each time the rack passed over the bad spot, dead center. So, each little movement past dead center (even say, changing lanes on a highway) resulted in a little catch. Of course, once you notice it you can never not notice it.
Used racks were not available on Planet Earth when I was looking. Acura only sells complete racks.....there are a few left on Planet Earth, all in the Far East, and they are $7,000+. Yikes, I know I have an exotic, but it's not a McLaren for crying out loud!
Anyway, Prime saved the day as I found a thread started by Valhalla which got me to D1 Guy.
PM'd D1 Guy. He (Matt) called me and we talked for 30+ minutes about my issue and his ability to fix it. I pulled my rack and sent it. Matt emailed me that it had arrived, emailed me when he was working on it, when it was done, and sent me tracking info when it was shipped.
Rack came back looking like new and after installing it I COULD NOT BE MORE PLEASED! Price, service, turnaround time, and most importantly the result were all first class.
I LOVE driving my NSX. I am lucky to own one, and we are lucky to have folks like Matt who can keep them running perfectly.
Thanks Matt!
Scott
I purchased my '95 late last fall. So, here in Michigan I just drove it bit and up it went for winter. To be honest I'd dreamed about owning an NSX since I was a junior in high school and it really was a dream come true the day I drove it home and parked it in my garage 24 years later.
Unfortunately, I didn't fall more in love the more I drove it this spring. In fact, I was feeling a bit disappointed.
I road-raced motorcycles for years and the purest joy I got from racing was knowing I could push my machine to the very limit. When you have great bike that is set up correctly, you feel EXACTLY what the front tire is doing and every fast racer is sliding the front tire while spinning/sliding the rear through corners. That comfort level, that the bike is giving you 10/10th's and you are at the limit, but still in control, is what I lived for.
I had hoped and expected the same with my NSX, one of the best handling cars ever created, but I wasn't getting that feeling. Instead, I felt like at times minor steering inputs were not making it to the wheels, especially at higher speeds. One evening a few months ago I was out in the middle of nowhere and while doing a quick left/right at 100+ mph I had a very strange feeling that something was loose. I pulled over and checked the lugnuts as it felt like I'd make a slight change to the steering wheel and the wheels were not making that slight change. Lugnuts were fine so I just drove home slowly to investigate.
I put the car up on stands and with the ignition on I turned the steering wheel lock to lock. As the steering wheel passed "center" or "12 O'clock" it would make a popping noise which I could feel in the steering wheel AND actually see as the wheels turned.
Turns out there are some bearings within the steering rack that can be damaged, as mine were, and they catch/grab/pop each time the rack passed over the bad spot, dead center. So, each little movement past dead center (even say, changing lanes on a highway) resulted in a little catch. Of course, once you notice it you can never not notice it.
Used racks were not available on Planet Earth when I was looking. Acura only sells complete racks.....there are a few left on Planet Earth, all in the Far East, and they are $7,000+. Yikes, I know I have an exotic, but it's not a McLaren for crying out loud!
Anyway, Prime saved the day as I found a thread started by Valhalla which got me to D1 Guy.
PM'd D1 Guy. He (Matt) called me and we talked for 30+ minutes about my issue and his ability to fix it. I pulled my rack and sent it. Matt emailed me that it had arrived, emailed me when he was working on it, when it was done, and sent me tracking info when it was shipped.
Rack came back looking like new and after installing it I COULD NOT BE MORE PLEASED! Price, service, turnaround time, and most importantly the result were all first class.
I LOVE driving my NSX. I am lucky to own one, and we are lucky to have folks like Matt who can keep them running perfectly.
Thanks Matt!
Scott
