gobble said:
I think its fair to say that we are of equal driving skills. I was faster when he had his old M3. He is faster with the new one. I'm looking to get back to a level playing field.
I've seen some other cars besides the NSX using NOS at the track, but as others have stated it takes quite a bit of NOS for an entire day's worth of tracktime, so that might not be worth it.
From the numbers it seems that your friend has an E46 M3, if that's the case your NSX with a bit of weight reduction and a bit more power should be able to keep up, unless the E46 has been seriously modified by making it lighter. Sadly the E46's engine is so maxed out that it's very hard to get any meningful gains from it.
The E46's inline six has a bit more low end torque so he might be pulling faster out of turns if you are not at optimum RPM range on your engine's powerband.
Based on your 270hp figure, I am assuming a 3.0 engine and a a coupe, your best bet might be to get some headers, that should add a good 10-15hp to your car and a bit of weight reduction, you can also run your car with 1/2 a tank of gas instead of a full tank, remove the engine cover that should also help as well. If that still does not make a difference then time for some more serious weight reductions of your car.
My 97-T is down to about 3025lbs with full fluids, so yours should easily get into the 2900's. I have not had any problems keeping up with E46's, but I'm running intake/headers/exhaust and the car is putting down 272hp at the wheels, so mine is nowhere to being stock.
Ken