I'm doing more than just scraping the chin spoiler

[jpspringall]

Hi,

As some of you know i've always had issues with scraping the chin spoiler as i leave my drive. Unfortauntely it's a bit more serious, in the its scraping the car as well, you just cant see it normally as the chin spoiler is the way. So i need to do something....

Nitron suspension is out as it's a manual process to raise the car, and more designed for racing than my needs.

So i'm currently looking at Air bag solution a la Lambo, but have got absolutely no idea where to start, so if anyone has any ideas that would be great.

Other options are to lower the drive, but this is major project, so hoping i can do something with the first option.

Cheers

James

[britlude]

search on nsx prime as they did have a couple of threads about suspension lift setups

[AR]

Umbrella auto design was doing the in the states they are on prime.

[britlude]

this is the sort of thing you are after....

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135461

[Senninha]

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1455434&postcount=134

And here it is in action on Geoff's car ..

[jpspringall]

Many thanks,

I presume it's the same Umbrella design that is a vendor on here?

Out of interest, has anyone dealt with them before.

Its definitely worth an email though.

J

[AR]

All I be heard is that their carbon and upholstery is top quality!

[Senninha]

Yep,

As Ary says, nothing but posituve comments over on Prime. I've had a couple of email and phone calls with Kane and all been very professional.

Good luck

Paul

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

Hi, James.

As I don’t know the exact design of your driveway and how you enter/exist there, not sure how far you need to raise your rideheight.

If using the air lifter system raising the damper height, it is very important to know the suspension lever arm ratio as well.
For example, raising the damper height 30mm at the front suspension on NSX will raise the height of the wheel arch for about 45 – 50mm and front nose for about 50 - 55mm.

It may turn out to be cheaper to modify the driveway than modifying your NSX……


If you are using OEM suspension setup (damper/spring/ride height/etc) and already scraping not only the chin spoiler but also part of the body work, I’m not sure whether these air lifter systems will raise your rideheight high enough.

Most of the super sports car owners in Japan are using the Roberuta Air Lifter System http://www.roberuta.com/index.html and other products are pretty much utilising the same concept.

There are lots of patents involved in this area and already car manufactures/Roberuta/KSP Engineering/etc are holding so many patents that I don’t know how other manufactures/shops are designing their products without breaching them.

Addition to the posts from others above, bit big file (about 21MB) but you should be able to get the idea from this movie file as well;

http://ksp-eng.co.jp/tyiz/mpg/NSX_AirLifter.wmv

(Video file from KSP Engineering, Japan. Thank you for allowing me to use it.)


Kaz

[Nick Graves]

I had a problem with mine at first.

It was partly the wrong-profile tyres that meant I was catching road tits with the spoiler.

My drive is also particularly awkward. The solution was a fresh spoiler and a couple of ramps I knocked up out of an old plywood shelf. They live under the car when not in use:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u286/BlackS2K/DSC00078.jpg

[NSXGB]

I've dealt with Ravi of Umbrella Auto before, good guy. He does not do much with NSX's any more but I'm sure he will help you out.

[jpspringall]

Many thanksfor all your suggestions.

I think i'll email Umbrella Designs and see what they say. As Kaz say it may be cheaper to modify the drive rather than the car, but if i modify the car then at least i can take it with me.

I've also got a builder coming to have a look to see if there is an easy fix, but the problem is more with pavement in terms of the angle of decent, so i dont think they are going to be able to do much. I've had confirmation that doing anything to the man hole cover is a major no no.

Failing that, i'm moving!

James

[Sudesh]

Many thanksfor all your suggestions.

I think i'll email Umbrella Designs and see what they say. As Kaz say it may be cheaper to modify the drive rather than the car, but if i modify the car then at least i can take it with me.

I've also got a builder coming to have a look to see if there is an easy fix, but the problem is more with pavement in terms of the angle of decent, so i dont think they are going to be able to do much. I've had confirmation that doing anything to the man hole cover is a major no no.

Failing that, i'm moving!

James

Any photos of the driveway?

[jpspringall]

Hi Sudesh, here's the link to way back when i was buying the car:

http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?7940-Ground-Clearance/page4

It should be the photo bucket links on the first post on the page.

Cheers

J

[Sudesh]

http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/yy77/jpspringall/drive3.jpg
http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/yy77/jpspringall/drive.jpg
http://i779.photobucket.com/albums/yy77/jpspringall/drive2.jpg

[Sudesh]

Is that a public pavement?

I can see your issue, as the surface is not inclined and with the overhang of the front of the NSX, you basically aren't getting any help from the front wheels in giving you a little boost, to clear the entrance rise.

From what I can see, it doesn't look to difficult to create an incline so it levels out into your parking area. But if it's not a private pavement, then you won't get permission to do work as aim sure you already know.

[Senninha]

Looking at the photo's and your signature photo, I would have thought that you could reduce the angle of entry by by softening the angle of entry over the first 18" - 24" of your driveway. Kango out the concrete and reset a less steep angle of entry ... your builder should spot this option straight away. SUrely if the manhole cover is on your property you can drop this by one course of bricks to assist the reduction?

Good luck

Regards, Paul

[britlude]

i was reading retro magazine today, and in the June issue, on their news page, there was a bit on just this sorta thing....

http://www.stance-solutions.co.uk/1

might be worth an enquire, especially looking at the prices!


................the usual 'no connection with the firm disclaimer', just letting you know it's out there