Got a nice big package via FedEx today from Ross at STMPO. The chassis for the NSX is going to be lighter & stiffer thx to Ross!! First & overall impression is great, careful packaging, speedy shipping & awsome communication from the guys at STMPO.
Craftsmanship, as you will see, is top notch. Quality of materials, fabrication & welds are fantastic!
Here is what we are doing to the NSX street car project:
NSX Lightweight Aluminum Rear Bumper Beam
The NSX Lightweight Aluminum Rear Bumper Beam is a direct bolt on replacement of the factory rear beam. The mounting points of the license plate and valance are kept with strong nutserts and tabs and use of OEM hardware for additional benefit.
This replacement beam weighs a total of 8.8 lbs, and is much lighter than the original factory steel beam and also the aluminum replacement Acura made in the later models.
The STMPO Race Products NSX Lightweight Aluminum Rear Bumper Beam is superior to the other replacement beams on the market. It retains the original length that keeps the foam in the rear bumper cover, retaining the factory spec 5 mph bumper benefit.
NA1/Coupe Rear Strut Tower Brace
Unlike any other RSTB’s currently offered, the STMPO NA1 RSTB connects the cars most critical mounting points (shock towers) to the front engine firewall supports. Chassis strength is exponentially increased by adding substantial support to the largest void in the aluminum uni-body design… the engine bay.
- Solid 1 piece design… easy to install
- 100% tig-welded Lightweight 14 gauge rectangular steel tubing
- Large surface areas at all 4 mounting points… shock tower mounts hits all 3 studs
- Front gussets connecting the forward bars to the front mounts
NSX Front Chassis Brace
The STMPO RACE PRODUCTS NSX Front Chassis Reinforcement Bar replaces the existing OEM steel tie down brackets with laser cut steel replica’s welded to a 1 1/2 ” chromoly tube in between for a more ridged front chassis. This set up adds a sturdy reinforcement up front without the additional weight since we replicated the OEM tie down brackets a bit thinner to make up for the light weight chromoly bar.
This bar comes welded in one piece… not a 3-6 piece “bolt on and adjust with brackets” system. This is also not aluminum or a bent aluminum piece for that matter… that advertises additional chassis support. This is the real deal in added chassis reinforcement.
Front Strut Tower Bar
STMPO’s FSTB allows all LHD NSX’s to increase suspension performance dramatically by connecting the mounting points of the two front shock towers. This is the only one piece design front strut bar that that keeps the plastic cover on the car with a working driver windshield wiper.
You have the choice to remove the passenger wiper or keep the wiper on the car. If you remove the passenger wiper… you can remove the wiper and the steel bushing for additional weight reduction. The driver side wiper will function as originally designed from the factory. 100% tig welded 6061 aluminum construction makes this FSTB lightweight and extremely durable.
The bar is then finished with a special bead blast for a brushed aluminum look.
STMPO Brake Ducts
Stmpo Race Products Oversized Front Brake Ducts mount to the exsiting bolt locations of the OEM brake deflector. Our duct is over 4 times the size of the existing deflector and will maximize air flow to the front rotors during aggressive driving.
Having more airflow to the front rotors will increase braking performance and increase the life of the pads.
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Up next is the finished turbo system… then the motor goes in and car should be done!!
STMPO Race Products have been working closely with FXMD and also CTD in phoenix to design and test NSX turbo systems.
The new FXMD turbo setup on the current unlimited FXMD NSX that was designed with AFI does well over 800 hp and has the aero as well as the tires (unlimited class) to do whatever they can to hold it to the ground
This NSX will compete in the Street tire class and will use a similar but more horsepower appropriate set up for the class it’s running.
STMPO and CTD’s came together in conjunction with FXMD’s testing and data research .. to design a truly track proven y-pipe layout. Their efforts together in redesigning and building different set-ups with characteristics from gt30r’s to 35r’s along with the v-band and divided housings.
the set-up I am getting.. The final “high performance Design” Made with CTD Fabrication. A T-3 Flange twin scroll – truly divided manifold with dual gates. Built with 316 food grade stainless steel (polished on the inside).
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The turbo will be a GT35r with a 1.06 divided hot side… a huge step up from the previous t-3 flange hot side by Garrett… now readily available.
I was really looking forward to this event. I won here in 2007 driving my streetcar & always liked the facility. Besides, I was excited to hit the big banking & see how fast we could get the car going.
The guys at Road Race Engineering had been working real hard on getting a solid 650whp out the car (low boost setting)
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Peter working his ass off all weekend, trying to keep the car alive… all hail the mighty Jamal!
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Unfortunately we had motor problems all weekend. Saturday plagued us with a popping IC hose that just wouldn’t hold boost, then on Sunday the car over heated & lifted a headgasket.
Check out the new side exhaust & fiber front fender elements.
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For the few laps the car did hold up though it was a dream to drive & it is so much fun to hit that large nascar banking. It is almost unbelievable how fast & hard you can push the car through there. Nothing like bouncing off the rev limiter in a built cosworth motor in 5th gear!
I know this is an expensive sport to stay competitive in & being a privately funded team I know it will be hard for us to keep on doing this. I do hope it works out though, with current power level & set up I feel the car would give anyone a run for their money at Buttonwillow.
Things didnt go quite as planned but I’m still really happy about the weekend.
We had to cancel practice & shakedown runs for Friday because the car was not ready yet. The guys had to work on the race NSX so time for the street car was very limited. We didnt have time to align the car correctly, it wasnt the end of the world but I know we could have gone faster with a proper alignment.
Saturday, during the morning ‘money’ session I blew a radiator hose, sprayed my whole window & engine bay, ending my session. I knew I probably wouldn’t get fast time of the day because of that, but I feel lucky I didnt blow the motor & as it turns out a valve stem broke & I had a flat rear tire… ‘luck in the unluck’ I guess.
We fixed the radiator hose & made tire pressure adjustments. Afternoon session the track slowed down by about 1-1.5 seconds but I managed to knock off another 3 seconds & get only 3 tenths of a second from the top qualifying time.
The winning time was ran in the morning session, so I felt good about the performance of the car today & know I woulda bagged it if the car was prepared properly for the morning session.. but that is racing & I am really happy with how fast & FUN the car is to drive.. even with a whacky alignment.
I also want to note that I drove my car to the track & home in one piece. This to me is a big deal as I have been striving to get reliability out of it.
Thx to all my sponsors AMS PERFORMANCE, YOKOHAMA, ROBISPEC, CL BRAKES, REESE TUNING, FXMD, MILSPEC, FORGE & FORCED PERFORMANCE without you guys & the support of evom forums the car wouldnt be running!
Special thx goes out to JE Pistons/SRP Pistons & Manley Rods pls support these manufacturers as not only are they super cool stand up guys.. but they also make one hell of a great product.. u just cant go wrong with my combo!
Next up is the RedLine Time Attack at California Speedway, but not in my personal car… in the Robispec/RRE modified class evo9, should be a fun event!
Time for a new helmet… the old Bell nugget is worn and its time for new…
Talked to my buddy Leh Keen who recommended the Arai GP5-W Racing Helmet with Peak Visor & Hans Posts.. just got it in.. here are some pics… fits real good and quality seems ALOT better than the Bell.
Did some research & I am having Cleber Designs paint my helmet… Cleber is local here in Vegas & paints alot of hot shoes helmets…. Here is a sketch for the helmet
Check out Cleber’s other designs here:
http://www.cleberdesigns.com/
and here is the finished helmet with paint & all… Im super happy with it. Cleber met & exceeded my expectations…
Im one of the featured drivers/cars for this event. May 22nd. Come out & have fun… food, car show, music & more. Below is the $5 off flyer for admission.
Friday we had alot of electrical issues, frustrating day of working out lil bugs in the car and not really getting any seat time at all. So I got my personal car out there just to get some laps down, it felt great and even though I hadn’t driven here for 3 years or so, I felt right at home on the track. With 460ft/lbs on street tires my car was fun to drive.
The guys worked on car ’till 4am friday night, turns out there was some bad wiring & a dead alternator. Mostly fixed by Saturday AM…
Saturday was good, car felt strong, even in low boost and on old tires.. i knew we had a good car. Practice sessions we were passing alot of cars going through traffic & still posting good lap times. By the end of the afternoon session we were posting the fastest Modified AWD times out of everyone.
Sunday was interesting, started out with alot of black flags, cars wrecking, motors blowing up.. lots of down time, hanging out on pre-grid texting friends and keeping up with face book… but man, it was getting hot.
We were quick, considering the old tires we were running on and sitting good in 2nd place with only 2 tenths behind leader. We had a fresh set of tires lined up and had been running low boost all along… so we felt confident we could take overall win..
First timed session we went out on the old tires, but the tires were bad, understeering real bad on the tight corners and loosing grip overall on the track… we lost a couple off tenths compared to earlier sessions.
Robi & peter hustled and got new Nitto NT01’s mounted for the 2nd and last timed session (thx to Ryan Gates for the tires.. we luv u bud)… based on our earlier times, we knew that with the added boost and new tires we could take 1st place no problem.
2nd timed session, there was a bucket of rocks at every apex on ‘every’ turn…. even in places where it was completely uncalled for…
Ended up running our fastest time through the dirt session, pulling out a 1:43.2 fast lap and only 2 tenths behind the overall modified winning time.
Because of the debris, we got a chance to run an extra session after the fact, but our tranny was shot, no 4th gear…. but thas racing I guess.
Good news are that we are competitive and we have a lot of room for improvement with the car… we are also #2 in the championship standings for the west coast…. so we’ll take take that with a smile…
I am now the official test driver for the FXMD / Cricket unlimited class NSX. Super excited about this as it is one of the fastest time attack cars in the US, if not the world. Driving this 650-850rwhp (depending on boost) 2500lbs’ish car is a complete treat and I’m honored to be part of team.
We just wrapped up our first test and the car was amazing, surprisingly neutral with awsome mechanical & areo grip… the guys have done an amazing job to get it where its at right now.
Here are some photos… a video of me going off track in top off 4th gear coming up…
