Exhaust upgrade

[Hondaboy]

Opinions welcomed on wether I should bother upgrading exhaust and headers on my auto na1
Now I've taken care of all servicing,maintenance and detailing id like to do some small mods nothing cosmetic as you can't improve on perfection:) :)but would love a more exotic exhaust note and nicer looking tail pipes.

So bottom line is should I bother on an automatic? Will it improve performance? Or could I stress my auto box by freeing up some horses?

Any advice welcomed anyone done this to their auto?

Cheers

P.s this site has kept me going with all things nsxy over the winter havent drove her in two months:(:(

[britlude]

I put headers on my auto, better engine breathing and seems more torque! been on there the last 5 years with no issues.


as for not driving it for 2 months.... tsk tsk :upset:

[sorepaws]

drive it ! :-)

[NSXGB]

I don't think it's worth you putting them on....if you don't drive it. :)

[Hondaboy]

Ok guys I get it drive it :D in fairness I was expecting a worse winter like last year so when the tax ran out end of nov I just sorned it. As I've not seen a gritter for a while think I'll be taxing it and enjoying it.

Back to the original point I might go for headers and some new tail trims as the exhaust is mint anyway then take it from there

[Rob_Fenn]

Prime is good if you want to listen to a few. Not sure if they make them any more, but the GT Rom ones sound exceptional, like Ferraris. I believe they are deliberately restrictive as that produces the higher pitched tone.

Worth noting, investing in better induction would probably be cheaper and give you a more personal reward thanks to the induction roar! Problem with an exhaust is that you are always driving away from the noise in a mid-engined car.

[Senninha]

http://www.nsxcb.co.uk/showthread.php?8616-Zero-Drone%99-Exhaust&highlight=

Hi,

Talk to Ary here on the forum. He hs designed and sold this unique system and I believe all that own are more thn pleased with the results.

Combine this with headers and better intake to balance the system and this could be what you're looking for

Huh

Regards, Paul

[Kaz-kzukNA1]

As Paul mentioned above, Ary (user ID: AR) produced interesting exhaust for our NSX.
It is very quiet at idle rpm and up to around 2,000rpm but once you start opening the throttle (TH), you will get nice roar. Well made at very reasonable price.

Some of the owners are using the system from Tubi. You will notice the different kind of sound even at the idle rpm and once TH is opened, you will get nice sound. Depending on the driving conditions and other modification on your NSX, you may get drone at around 2,000 rpm but very unlikely to stay in that rpm so won’t be a problem.

If loud sound is the priority, then Taitec will suit you. Quite popular in Japan for its reasonable price and because of the loud sound.
If you drive a lot on the motorway for a long journey, you may feel more tireness because high level of low frequency sound will affect your body. It will go through not just your ear but also your skull, bone, etc.

There are lots of feedbacks on other models on NSX Prime website as well.


Exhaust sound will depend on one’s taste as well as one’s sensitivity to sound frequency range so best to listen to different models, possibly during a certain event such as Japfest, Silverstone Classic, etc.


For any aftermarket parts, my advice is to clarify your target and think them as a package. I don’t know the spec of your NSX but are you aiming for the top end power, acceleration, throttle (TH) response, etc?

One example is changing the final ratio if you don’t have 4.4 on your AT model.
Honda changed the final ratio on AT models when they introduced the F-matic but then later, they put it back again to the 4.0.
It will feel much faster and some people may feel like the car got more power but obviously, there is no change in the engine power. Therefore, you can make the car feel like ‘faster’ (acceleration) without doing anything on the engine power.


Changing the header and exhaust (header has larger effect) on NA1 engine will increase your top end power but depending on the combination of /flywheel/header/exhaust/cat/etc design, it will also change the TH response as well as it may shift the engine torque curve so you need to be aware of this.
Depending on your modifications and driving conditions, you may feel ‘dullness’ on AT models if the torque curve was shifted to the wrong side. If your NSX is DBW or LEV model, there will be another rpm range where you may feel ‘hanging’ rpm phenomenon.

For NA1, unless you have heavily modified the engine such as the use of high lift cam shafts, you will gain very little on the power by changing the intake design including the air box, air filter, wide TH body, etc even after you replaced the header and exhaust.
You will get nice induction sound and may feel it improved the TH response but not the power.


Honda’s AT design were very different from other manufactures using the planetary gears.
It was like submerging the MT gears with lots and lots of clutch discs inside each gear.
Because of this design, the durability will be heavily affected by how you drive your AT.

There are several AT owners in Japan who replaced their engine to C32B and added high lift cam shafts achieving over 330PS at the wheel even with the slip loss by the AT Gbox.
With the same setup, MT will produce higher figure.

They are happily driving their NSX for many years without any issues because they know how to drive heavily modified AT NSX.

With Honda AT design, whenever the gear change occurs, it is slipping the multiple clutch discs submerged in the ATF. The targeted slip rate is controlled by the AT controller and obviously, it is estimating the torque based on the OEM setup with C30A engine when controlling the gear shifting.

Therefore, if you lift your TH pedal a little just before the gear shifting occurs, it will significantly reduce the clutch disc slip inside the AT resulting in longer life for your AT box. It’s like reducing the torque and rpm by lifting the TH pedal and pressing on the CL pedal just before shifting up into the next gear on MT model.
The biggest wear on the AT multiple clutch discs would occur if you keep doing full TH acceleration especially if your power/torque curves were significantly modified from OEM setup.

Knowing the structure of the components and how it is controlled will help you in driving a car in many ways.

Hope you will enjoy your AT NSX for many years.

Kaz

[AR]

Thanks for the recommendations guys, much appreciated! :)

[nobby]

i too would recommend Ary's exhaust ... having seen and heard it on a member's car here. very subtle at low rev's
if i decide to make a change on my existing exhaust (Dali RR), I will defo look to Ary's as 1st port of call

hopefully changing headers on my NA1 this year ... so hoping to see some improvements myself ... will update progress once installation and test runs are complete. DC Sports headers have been ordered awaiting delivery etc

[markc]

Exhaust sound will depend on one’s taste as well as one’s sensitivity to sound frequency range so best to listen to different models, possibly during a certain event such as Japfest, Silverstone Classic, etc.

This is definately the case. Personally I wanted the high pitched scream (at high revs) which is quite difficult to achieve with a 90 Degree V6 and have settled on the GT-ROM design to give me that. Others prefer the louder bassier note of systems like the Taitec GTLW, Dali RR and Arys ZD.

Pretty much ANY of these designs will give you 10-15hp over the factory system and, according to numerous dyno tests carried out by the Prime guys over the years, there's not very much between them all.

You will lose some of the delicious intake noise, or rather it gets get drowned out by the louder exhaust, but as they say you can't have your cake and eat it :)

Cheers

Mark

[Hondaboy]

Thanks for all the info guys especially kaz for such in-depth analysis given me plenty to think about and thinking I will attend japfest to listen to different setups as you can't really tell online, with regards to how I drive it I guess you could say like it's made of glass lol I'm just a lowly gardener and still can't believe I own such an amazing car

Anyway thanks again and look forward to meeting lots of you at japfest

Oh p.s it snowed today so looks like she's staying wrapped up for a little longer:(