To widebody or not.... second thoughts

Exterior options

  • Paint Only

    Votes: 14 63.6%

  • Paint + Widebody

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 02 Upgrade + paint

    Votes: 8 36.4%

  • 02 upgrade + Widebody + paint

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    22
  • Poll closed .
Owali

Owali

Contributing Member
Joined
28 August 2007
Messages
173
Location
Destin, FL
So I just turned 30, and I find that my taste may be changing. When I bought my 92 five years ago, I had every intention of going widebody since the paint was faded and scratched. I am not selling, so I am not worried about resell. Now that I am ready to pull the trigger, I am having second thoughts.

I have had a kit on most of my last cars: 350z, GS400, Accord. I found that my wife and even myself were getting embarrassed to drive our customized cars through our neighborhood and jobs. I still like the look, but I don't know... Is this just a young man's game? Should I limit myself to wheels and suspension? Has this happened to anyone else?


I guess I want something that looks sporty/aggressive but still classy and not too kiddy. Just to clarify, weight savings and aero performance are not a factor in my decision. I am just after looks right now. So the way I see it I have four options:

1. Paint only
2. Widebody (Comptech, Sorcery, FXMD etc.)
3. 02 Upgrade
4. 02 upgrade + widebody (Comptech, Sorcery, FXMD etc.)

Anyway, this is where I am at right now:
 
If you think you are too old to drive a car with body kits, you probably are. I say option 1, paint only, but if you still have the itch of adding a wide body, I say go with option 4 but with a Madonna kit. That kit makes the car looks like a
stock-ish muscular 02+ and not overly aggressive like other body kits out there. Sure the side skirts look a bit wild but maybe you can replace that side skirts with something else.
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"I guess I want something that looks sporty/aggressive but still classy and not too kiddy"

That's exactly the car I'm seeing right here. I say congratulations, you have a classy and sporty grown up's NSX. Why spend $5k+ on a wide body kit only to miss this look, and I say that because if you are already doubting it, then you eventually will.

Owali said:
Click to expand...
 
In my opinion your NSX looks classy and sporty already. It is a beautiful vehicle. I realize to each there own, but sometimes the body kits make the car look like a bad japanese cartoon vehicle.
 
The more time that goes by, I'm thinking the better the stock NSX lines will look.
I suspect more and more NSX's will be converted to back to stock in the future.

If you see yourself as an original keep the stock lines of your car.

For me a 02+ update is a just a replica and not the real thing.
If you don't mind driving a replica do the update.

Also consider what it would feel like to have spent up to $10K on an 02+ widebody conversion and then being beaten at a track day by a stock NSX.
I'd be too embarrassed to drive the car.
 
JD-"The more time that goes by, I'm thinking the better the stock NSX lines will look.
I suspect more and more NSX's will be converted to back to stock in the future."

NSXchnk-"Build motor and go turbo. Done deal."

I concur^^^
It's ok to enhance the body, but to change it/widebody, takes away from it. (unless Carbon6 or KO:smile:)
Sort of like putting a fatboy in a pair of Air Jordan's. ( He still wouldn't make the cut)

The only thing the nsx lacks is speed...
 
Your car is classy the way it is. I like the stock lines of the early NSX. With those wheels and the lowered stance it doesn't look aged. I vote to upgrade the engine performance to meet your taste and pocket book. Then enjoy it.
 
Dont do it. your right when you feel shame driveing thru your hood, that means your mature LOL

keep the beast original, the money your about to spend on the widebody kit, then having the whole thing painted correctly you can save money by just having the car resprayed OEM again.

you will thank me for this. some widebody NSX are cool looking but in the end when you pull up at a nice resturaunt with your wife and valet opens her door people are staring at your car
thinking he must me driving his son's car LOL

dont so it man if anything do an 02+ conversion thats a much better idea
 
Paint and 02+... it'll feel like a brand new car. So many times I have considered a widebody but honestly the quality of fiberglass widebody kits do not compare to our factory aluminum panels. Although some love the look, eventually you will feel like a kid and regret wasting the time/$$.
 
your car looks fine..why repaint it? If the original paint is ok and you want a different look,sell it and buy another car you like.
 
I actually prefer the pre-02 cars, and yours looks great. Those rims...awesome. And the LEDs work for me as well...something I can't say about most of the ones I've seen.

Spend the wide-body money on getting the interior as close to new looking as possible (if it isn't already). After all, that's where you spend the quality time, right?

Or maybe a nice Comptech supercharger...Easy on (relatively) and easy off. I'm thinking you be "just after looks right now" once you sample an extra 60-70 HP.

- - - Updated - - -

PS...When is the Florida panhandle going to host an NSX event? Say in P'cola? (I know...it's hard to drag you folks away from that paradise in Destin.)
 
+1.

you are 100% correct re thinking its a young mans game. in my early 20s i would always lust for a comptech widebody ala rj de vera nsx as a dream car. as i got older and the nsx became financially viable i realized i just really grew out of the look and phase. the guys i know who had the funds, did the wide body route and regret it now that they are a decade older. not saying its a bad look, it just seems to have become a dated modification that screams fast & furious.

while you stated you will never sell, ive noticed that widebody nsx are extremely difficult to sell based on the ads ive seen on prime, ebay, Craigslist that get refreshed for years and years.

nothing beat beautiful exotic oem alumnium body panels in fit + refinement.

nsxot1c said:
Paint and 02+... it'll feel like a brand new car. So many times I have considered a widebody but honestly the quality of fiberglass widebody kits do not compare to our factory aluminum panels. Although some love the look, eventually you will feel like a kid and regret wasting the time/$$.
Click to expand...
 
Im 40. Bought my car when i was 30, got the widebody kit in 2005. I'm married and go out with my wife in my car, we get distracted from eating because people want a pic of it or want to ask about it. I have no complaints about be 40, and owning a widebody nsx or pulling up anywhere in it. I wouldnt go widebody again, but not for any of the reasons people in this thread state. I have no complaints about the kit, design, or the way it fits. Most people dont even acknowledge that my car is a widebodied nsx. I went with the SOS/Cantrell because it kept the lines of the car and didn't look like a spaceship. The biggest challenge is finding a kit you like and a shop that will baby it and make it look the way you want. The cantrell kit needed some finishing but it bolted right up like oem. When i bought it i knew i would never put this particular car back to stock. I love it even more with the VRH kit on it, no more worrying driveways and entrance/exits. If you think it will hurt your re-sale value then stay stock. I know most of the US widebody owners and they didnt have a problem selling theirs at all.:wink:

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Last edited:
I think all of these comments/recommendations are mostly correct but not the rule. There are options to make the car look more "sporty" without full body kits. Then there are some kits that look more stock than others. I honestly think the age thing is not an issue. It's just the older you get the more you need to do justice to the car more-so than just the flash. I think you can make a widebody car look very tasteful. Ko-nsx is a good example. The details are what is important (fit, finish). That can dramatically add to the cost also.
 
I dont think you need a poll on what you want to do with your own car. Shoot for what you want then the feedback will arise. The usual critique will come whether oem or widebody. I have done every single option in your poll.

No matter which option you go... ensure you don't skimp out on quality.

GL
 
Unmolested cars are getting very hard to find, and your car looks good the way it is in my opinion. Now that these cars are classics and gaining value, I would keep it close to stock. The wheels, and exhaust upgrades are desirable to most buyers, but an over molested car hurts the collect-ability and could actually hurt the value of your car.
 
Well I guess the polls don't lie. Thanks for the inputs. I think you all convinced me, I will just get a quality paint job and make sure my stance and wheels are dialed in. I will always have a special place in my heart for the widebody though...
 

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