For more than a decade, the Acura NSX has defined both performance and class in the sports car market. During that time, other supercars such as the Toyota Supra and Mazda RX-7 have come and gone, victims of poor sales and changing consumer preferences. Despite this, Acura has steadfastly continued to offer the NSX as its flagship and showcase of technical prowess. Although critics have complained about the NSX's lack of horsepower compared to its competitors and continue to cry for a V8, the NSX's performance numbers still rank among the best of the world's sports cars. With the exception of some very expensive Ferraris and Porsches, few cars can match or exceed the NSX on the track.
For 2002, Honda decided to inject some new blood into the NSX. Enter the NSX-R. Featuring a front end with a complete facelift and other styling changes, it left people wondering how much better it could be when the NSX has been an already near perfect car. Despite not having any power increase, the NSX-R still blew away its predecessors through improvements in aerodynamics, suspension tuning and weight reduction. Unfortunately, we in North America are again shortchanged as Honda has no plan to offer the NSX-R here. We do get a slightly different version of the facelift; however, it still lacks much of the elegance and effect of the NSX-R.
This feeling was shared by SR Auto Group of Vancouver, Canada. Supercar performance is no stranger to SR Auto as they cater to Mercedes, BMW and Porsche and have an impressive lineup of SLs, M3s and 911s. Samson Chan, owner of SR Auto Group, decided to recreate the image and performance of the NSX-R. His work is certainly worthy of its inspiration. The project began with a pristine condition 1991 Acura NSX. Then began the tedious process of facelifting the original 1991 body style to the current NSX-R body style. First, the car was completely stripped in preparation for painting. The original red colour would be replaced with the traditional championship white of Honda's Type R cars. As any NSX owner or bodyshop can tell you, preparing and painting the all-aluminum panels on the NSX is both difficult and costly. At the same time, work began on replacing the entire front end with that of the NSX-R. The headlights, fenders, front bumper and all required mounting pieces were all replaced with JDM NSX-R pieces. The headlights were further improved with the addition of a Bellof 6000K HID kit. For the hood, SR Auto Group custom fabricated it's own carbon-fiber hood. Unlike the production NSX-R which comes with a body-color matched carbon hood, SR Auto Group decided to leave their hood unpainted, matching the style of the original NSX-R concept car and providing a more aggressive look to their car. The rear end was also refreshed with a NSX-R conversion, the most noticeable piece being the rear taillights. To touch off the finished project, the car was given the requisite Honda badging: the front and rear JDM red H emblems and the JDM side NSX-R emblems. The car's appearance was further streamlined by replacing the stock antenna with a JDM Honda Access antenna for the NSX-R.
With the exterior finished, attention turned to the interior. A pair of red Recaro Pole Position bucket seats provides the interior theme of the NSX-R while, more importantly, holding the driver in place during cornering and improving overall driving feel. Shifter feel and appearance is improved with a Gruppe M shift knob and NSX-R carbon shift boot. In-car entertainment is provided through a Kenwood KVT-911DVD Touchscreen LCD/DVD player.
With the exterior and cockpit finished, the focus now shifted to the difficult task of improving the NSX's already excellent performance. Well aware that much of the NSX-R's superior performance comes from improved handling, SR Auto went about improving the car's footwork accordingly. The suspension was upgraded with a set of Tein Type RE coilovers. The Type RE's light-weight aluminum construction, stiffer spring rates and wider damping range provide significantly improved cornering grip, steering response, and driving feel. Contact with the ground is maintained through Bridgestone Potenza S03 tires; 215/40/17 in the front, and a whopping 265/35/18 in the rear! These tires, already considered some of the best in the market, are well matched with the NSX's cornering abilities. The tires are mounted on Enkei RP01 wheels; 17x8.5 in the front and 18x9.5 in the rear. Chassis stiffness is increased through an ARC Titanium Strut Tower Bar. To improve braking power, feel, and endurance, a set of Spoon 4 piston aluminum mono-block calipers was installed in the front. Brake pads were upgraded with Endless NA-M pads and brake lines were replaced with a Mugen Aluminum Brake Line set.
Modifications to the engine were limited to maintain the car's balance and reliability on the track. Intake is provided by an ARC Intake Box which provides improved throttle response and power. Exhaust is routed through DC Sports headers and an ARC titanium exhaust. The result is an unbelievable exhaust note that must be heard to be fully appreciated! Other additions include HKS Iridium high temperature spark plugs and a Spoon Oil Cap. To help keep the engine running cooler, an ARC thermostat and Spoon 1.3BAR radiator cap were installed.
We will probably never see the NSX-R in North America, but SR Auto Group's NSX gives a glimpse of what it might be. As for the future, SR Auto is planning to seriously up-gun this NSX with a supercharger. In any case, the careful thought, effort and attention to detail put into this car gives it performance and elegance worthy of its NSX-R inspiration.