Short Gears Circa 2024 and other Hard find stuff.

[DeHaldaswerth]

I am reliving and relearning all of my NSX lore now that I'm working on my '93. This is the garage queen I bought with less than 4000 miles on it and then proceeded to drive and mod the @#$% out it. Did the same to my unicorn Zanardi and loved every minute of it, despite lots of, ahem, hand wringing from the onlookers. (I think my former handle on here was De Haldaswerth).

However, I'm finding it hard to find parts on occasion, and I can only presume it will get worse. Even the aftermarket stuff is hard to find...like a pair of front Stoptech brakes.

Anyway, I'm not super skilled at finding stuff. I know about Mita and SOS (I'm in Arizona and Chris, a great guy, has helped me on more occasions than I can count over the past umpteen years) and I always try them first. Lately I've been looking for a set of close ratio gears for my five speed, but to no avail. This isn't intended as a parts wanted post, but just asking who the other sources might be for hard to find parts in general.

 

[docjohn]

I remember your old handle, maybe the mods can merge your old posts...Parts are becoming a problem...

 

[MotorMouth93]

Mita gets short gear sets in from time to time, see if there's a waiting list you can get on. Also talk to ATR racing, they get them sometimes too. They have been hard to find for at least 5 years, I remember having a hell of a time piecing together a short gear kit myself in 2019ish. I ended up finding the last gear collecting dust on a shelf at Asteri Motorsports, and found another at some small tuning shop in CO.

I've found that maintenance parts are still fairly easily available, and Honda has stated parts availability will continue to be pretty good through 2030 before they start seriously dropping support.

 

[SWFL_NSX]

It's easier than ever to order parts from overseas from Megazip, Amayama, Nengun and others. Theoretically they are all ordering from the same warehouses, but in practice I've found large differences in price and availability between them.

If you're interested in short gears you may want to reach out to MITA asap. I think they just got in two type R final drives.

Alternatively, for the price of short gears you might be better served by a supercharger. Time moves on, and the tuning knowledge necessary to run one has gotten much more widespread.

 

[DeHaldaswerth]

Thanks for the help guys! Always appreciated

 

[RYU]

It's easier than ever to order parts from overseas from Megazip, Amayama, Nengun and others. Theoretically they are all ordering from the same warehouses, but in practice I've found large differences in price and availability between them.

If you're interested in short gears you may want to reach out to MITA asap. I think they just got in two type R final drives.

Alternatively, for the price of short gears you might be better served by a supercharger. Time moves on, and the tuning knowledge necessary to run one has gotten much more widespread.

Having been there and done that on both setups; Short Gears > Supercharger, but I can definitely see your point. Much easier to get your hands on a blower these days.

 

[SWFL_NSX]

Having been there and done that on both setups; Short Gears > Supercharger, but I can definitely see your point. Much easier to get your hands on a blower these days.

Not to derail too badly, but can you explain why?

I did the short gears last summer/fall and found they didn't really do much. I'm considering a supercharger in the next few years.

 

[Honcho]

Not to derail too badly, but can you explain why?

I did the short gears last summer/fall and found they didn't really do much. I'm considering a supercharger in the next few years.

I'll take a stab. It's not about speed, it's about driving enjoyment. The USDM NSX was geared too tall for the power of the engine (4th and 5th are essentially useless at 276 hp). This was a last-minute change to the car close to production. They did it for several reasons, but that's not important. Basically, the torque band of the engine is better accessed with the short gears, which make the 1-2-3 shifts nearly identical to the 6-speed, which is Honda's factory-implemented correction. Lower ratios mean more driven torque to the wheels, which means quicker acceleration. It's not a ton of improvement like a supercharger, but it makes the car feel more "fun"! You get a little more pickup in each gear, the car revs more and that makes it more fun to drive.

If speed rather than fun is your objective, then the supercharger wins hands down. However, consider that folks are getting supercharger-like power from cams, tuning and ITB. To me, that's the ultimate. Fun + Speed.

 

[RYU]

Not to derail too badly, but can you explain why?

I did the short gears last summer/fall and found they didn't really do much. I'm considering a supercharger in the next few years.

What @Honcho said .

If you're already tried short gears then you've been there done that. I suppose it's not for everybody. However, did you try short gears WITH the shorter final drive?

I've been there done that probably than most around here but admittedly I've never done nor wanted to do a high horsepower build. The most I've gone is my current setup; NA ~400hp ITB engine. It's been a journey to say the least... 500, 600+ horsepower... that's just not for me and certainly not for me in this chassis. I'd rather just buy a 12C for the same all-in price.

 

[DeHaldaswerth]

I'm happy to report that once again, Chris at SOS has come to my rescue. I was able to source a full set of short gears plus final drive and I'm feeling pretty lucky right now. They had just arrived after a year's wait and it seems the timing was perfect. Gone are the days when a few clicks on the web could have them delivered. Now it's like winning the lottery when one finds a rare part. Maybe that adds to the joy of the hunt, who knows?

 

[John_Wick]

My 91‘ NSX got a brand new Comptech NSX-R short gear set (4.55 ring and pinion and an NA2 upgrade LSD) - works perfect and the car accelerates/runs simply great! In other words, the Comptech 4.55 FD works exactly as described by @Zygrene in this video – skip to 8:44 for the fun bit:

Not in the table above is the gear set (4.44 etc) provided by SOS …
https://www.scienceofspeed.com/nsx-1991-05/scienceofspeed-5-spd-transmission-rebuild.html

… and the (expensive) 6-speed 02+ NSX-R gear set.

 

[The Kid]

Without MITA and SOS, owning an NSX would be pretty tough for sure.