Looking at new NSX (JH4NA1151PT000051) - is Turbo a concern?

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DaveRMachin

Registered Member
Joined
22 January 2011
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I'm looking to buy an NSX, vin is JH4NA1151PT000051. There's a couple other threads on this forum about this car and it has had a twin turbo kit added and other engine modifications done.

My question is: will this be a concern for ongoing maintenance? I have no local Acura dealer, only a Honda dealer and I'm concerned that if I need work done on the car related to the engine that the modifications will give me problems.

Does anyone have any experience with this they'd like to share?

Thanks,
Dave
 
It all depends on the individual setup of the car.

Honestly with modified cars there is really no way of telling. Obviously turbos are going to cause increased problems when going in for further maintenance. Whether they are wort it or not is a completely subjective matter.
 
without knowing much about your engine knowledge,and risk aversion, judging from the tone of your post I would caution against a highly modded engine,esp if you can't fix it and there is no tuning facility within a few hours.
 
Well that sounds scary :eek:

Given that there's no tuning facilities around here, maybe it's best avoided - the car's for sale in SoCal, and I'm Central Coast...
 
DaveRMachin said:
Well that sounds scary :eek:

Given that there's no tuning facilities around here, maybe it's best avoided - the car's for sale in SoCal, and I'm Central Coast...
Click to expand...

You know we all have fun goosing our cars around and if you're not a track guy - why get one all souped up like that. Where the hell you gonna make use of it anyway. I mean I've driven sports cars all my life and these cars naturally aspirated are faster than you can reasonably use on the street and that's where we all do most of our driving unless we have an NSX as a dedicated track car! Let's face it all that power in a car like the NSX is, well for me, I'll take naturally aspirated any time over some strapped on go fast stuff. Keep it stock and resale is better too!

My 2 cents... If you want super speed by a vette or some other V8 V10 V12 monster! The NSX is a sleek piece of art and finely tuned the way it is.
 
If your going to drive it as a daily driver like you would a dodge caravan. Then you should be ok. If your gona beat on it then it will be a money pit. The people that spend the money to put these systems in, usually have the money to fix if something goes wrong. I bet everyone has seen that one super old guy who drives an exotic sports car. So prepare to be that super old guy with this car, unless you got some gold bars in the bank.
 
Before everyone here tells you to run like Forrest, we need to know more about your situation. Have you spoken with the owner? Other mods? Receipts? Who did the Turbo and what is the rwhp? What are your plans with the car? Street? Track? Make your dingle appear larger? :biggrin:

What cars have you owned in the past and where does a turbo NSX fit into your life at this point?
 
Good question - I'm not really a car guy, mostly been driving BMW's and having the dealer doing service etc. Always wanted an NSX though.

The car (vin JH4NA1151PT000051) seems the right price and right color with very low miles, and it's not too far away from where I live. I'm not intending to race it or take it to the track - more a weekend driver.

There's a prior thread about this car:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141017&highlight=JH4NA1151PT000051

Reading that I realize that it's quite modified.

Also, looks like it was sold a couple months ago to someone in Wisconsin - so I was a little worried that it's now for sale in Southern Cal. so soon... made me wonder if the Wisconsin buyer had issues or something.

I talked to the dealer that's selling the car and they don't actually have it in stock yet - they say they're getting it into the showroom this week.
 
Did you consider how you'll get it to pass smog? Unless you have other means, only the Comptech supercharger will pass CA smog (visual inspection, since only the CTSC is CARB approved).

Besides finding a suitable tuner, you would also have problems with replacement parts for that particular kit since it is no longer in production (although I've read somewhere that Bell will still service the turbos, but don't quote me). At least the engine is built.

Seems like a lot of hassle for a weekend car, particularly because you admit that you're not a "car guy" and won't be working on it yourself. If I were you, I'd buy a normal NSX and boost it later if necessary. I'll bet it won't be.
 
usually when a car has been boosted they are harder to sell.

only certain people are looking for a boosted car, so smaller market,

but on the other hand lots of people are looking for a non boosted car, much larger market.

and if the boosted car was done by a well know shop I am sure it was built right, but then again you can by turbo's/ Super Chargers off e-bay.
so joe smoe in his back yard could have followed the instructions that came with the kit. but you dont know if he followed all the instructions

" ahhh skip step 3 " " ahhh I dont need to do that "

and the famous " we have left over parts I hope i didnt forget something, well the car starts oh well " LOL


you know what I mean.

but I would still love to have one on my car though LOL makes it meaner....
 
The question on smog is a really good one - looks like this car was in CO before - does that state have different smog laws?

The carfax shows it passing Colorado emission testing.
 
Gotta like that color:biggrin: I looked at it - does it still have low mileage?

If I were you I'd contact the guy that owned it and sold it to the guy in Wisconsin and find out who that was. Then I'd call him and find out what happened with the car. You know it really pays to do as much digging around about a car as you can. You can never have too much information about a purchase like that.

The guy in Wisconsin, or whereever, may not have liked it for one reason or another - he may have loved it but had to get rid of it. It may not have been fast enough -hard to believe, and you just never know why a guy sells something.

It's a nice looking car and 11,500 miles on a car like that is really low mileage and so it could be a good deal. I think anyone buying a boosted car has to be extra careful - I'm not dissing boosting cars it's just that there are issues with cars being hot footed around by some and I for one would like to know how somethings been owned and driven before I buy.

Words to the wise...:wink:
 
DaveRMachin said:
The question on smog is a really good one - looks like this car was in CO before - does that state have different smog laws?

The carfax shows it passing Colorado emission testing.
Click to expand...

If you don't know about passing smog in CA, don't bother with a turbo NSX. Like I said, only the CTSC is legal in CA. Unless you live in Blythe, CA, you'll have to find alternate means of passing an NSX with any other system, be it a supercharger or turbo.
 
DaveRMachin said:
Good question - I'm not really a car guy, mostly been driving BMW's and having the dealer doing service etc. Always wanted an NSX though.

The car (vin JH4NA1151PT000051) seems the right price and right color with very low miles, and it's not too far away from where I live. I'm not intending to race it or take it to the track - more a weekend driver.

There's a prior thread about this car:

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=141017&highlight=JH4NA1151PT000051

Reading that I realize that it's quite modified.

Also, looks like it was sold a couple months ago to someone in Wisconsin - so I was a little worried that it's now for sale in Southern Cal. so soon... made me wonder if the Wisconsin buyer had issues or something.

I talked to the dealer that's selling the car and they don't actually have it in stock yet - they say they're getting it into the showroom this week.
Click to expand...

Thread said it was sold. Is it on the market again?
 
The turbo system on the car is cat back so the catalytic converters are still in place. Wouldn't pass visual inspection but should pass a sniffer. The BEGI turbo setups also used a rising rate fuel pressure regulator like the Comptech so the tuning is really no different than the Comptech supercharger.

The only issue with the BEGI was that it used a variable nozzle dual turbo system which gave virtually instant response, better than any currently available system, but it isn't a problem since they are again available. They have a self contained oiling system.
 
I have only read bad things about that turbo system...key word being read. I can say that since my car was modified the local Acura dealership will not do any work on the car pertaining to the motor at all. At 11k it's like you are getting a brand new car...you can always remove turbo setup and sell it for a decent buck and put the car back to stock.
 
NA1MT said:
I have only read bad things about that turbo system...key word being read. I can say that since my car was modified the local Acura dealership will not do any work on the car pertaining to the motor at all. At 11k it's like you are getting a brand new car...you can always remove turbo setup and sell it for a decent buck and put the car back to stock.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, there was only 1 bad write up for the BEGI system which apparently was due to the installing mechanic. You may be getting the BEGI mixed up with the Cartech. They are completely different.
 
I know this is quite late, but probably good to get the vehicle history recorded on NSX Prime. I helped the original owner's widow list/sell the car and have info on it since then...

The advice I gave the buyer in WI was that he should have compression/leak-down test as well as have it dyno'd with A/F ratio recorded to make sure that was in safe range. That would be my standard recommendation to anyone buying a boosted NSX (and I would have those done proactively as a seller if I ever sell mine). I recommended a reputable place for the dyno to the buyer and seller. The buyer and seller tell me the local Acura mechanic that serviced this car reassured them that it was fine and neither were necessary. I insisted. The seller took it to some other dyno place (closer to her house, recommended by a friend). They found the A/F to be too lean and warned the buyer. Buyer ignored their findings, bought the car. On the drive home it threw a CEL so he dropped it off at Acura of Brookfield on the way home.

I visit the Brookfield area once or twice a year. I was there in June and stopped by the Acura dealership to get an oil change. John, the well-known/respected service manager there, related to me that it was dangerously lean under boost and they had suggested that the turbo system be pulled off and replaced with another. I think that is a bit drastic...it would probably end up quite nice if existing turbo system were tuned properly. Instead of fixing it via one of those means (or removing the turbo and putting back on the stock intake that was provided by the seller), the buyer traded it in on a Lamborghini in California. The above link fits this narrative story.

Hopefully the Lamborghini dealership or subsequent owner has taken care of getting it properly tuned or replaced the turbo or returned to stock intake...or I think it very likely the engine will end up damaged. But, my knowledge of this vehicle stops at the Lambo dealer so I don't know. The exterior/interior condition is truly unmatched in used NSXs (except maybe that one I read about which was new as an investment and essentially never driven). A little TLC by the right owner to get it tuned safely / remove doubt about the engine would transform it from a questionable vehicle to a fine one.
 

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