Congratulations on your purchase of the Inside Line 1991 NSX! You'll be smitten, just like we were. I know you were hesitant to meet our asking price, but I'm glad to hear that Oldham offering to throw in one year of Takahashi maintenance/repair for free sealed the deal.
I would like to ask for just one thing, though: Keep it stock. Of course, as the owner it's your prerogative to do whatever you want to it. Supercharger, wide-body kit, big wheels and tires, truck antlers, etc. But think about this way: Acura only sold about 8,900 NSXs for the entire time the first-generation was on sale from 1991 to 2005. Of those, how many are left that are A) from 1991, like ours; B) Stock, like ours; and C) Silver, like ours. I don't know the exact answer other than "not very many."
This car is great as-is. Please keep it that way.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
(Detailed production numbers on NSXprime.com)
tjpark01 says:
04:21 PM, 02/17/12
this holds true to just about every car. Maybe some tasteful tint, but that's it.
csubowtie says:
04:45 PM, 02/17/12
Oh tjpark01: I would venture that almost every single car available could be further enhanced via the aftermarket to be better than stock. Stock cars are forced to be compromises. Whether it's adding upgraded speakers to a luxury cars stereo, adding power to, well, anything, maybe adding custom heated seats with nice upholstery, even things like adding an Xbox to your minivans rear seat entertainment system. I will say to the next owner that they should keep the mods tasteful.
the_bruceb says:
04:55 PM, 02/17/12
SO does that mean you're already planning on selling this beauty?
I'll give her a loving home.
slickersdrip says:
06:14 PM, 02/17/12
Nah, I'll take huyracing's very tastefully modded NSX over this one any day.
fordson1 says:
06:38 PM, 02/17/12
Keeping a newer car stock is defensible - deliberately bypassing the huge advances in brakes, tires, etc. in the past 20 years just for the sake of keeping it stock makes no sense to me.
Look at the test data they came back with - so-so braking and skidpad performance, not very agile transient behavior and a terrible push - why would you not cure it of that if you could?
You're not going to get that much more power out of it - that's not going to change without big money - but you could make some suspension, tire and brake mods that allow much more preservation of the momentum it can generate.
And changes like that you can easily reverse if you want.
nicholasrage says:
06:55 PM, 02/17/12
At least it's not as bad as '93+ Supra turbos...it's impossible to find a stock one.
bonzjr says:
08:22 PM, 02/17/12
I'll buy it as long as Takahashi is portable enough to fit in the front trunk and light enough to not upset the handling balance. And he is responsible for his own upkeep.
altimadude05 says:
09:47 PM, 02/17/12
I for one wouldn't want this car. It's barely taller than a trash barrel. My knees wouldn't stand getting in and out of a car so low.
nsxdriver1 says:
01:51 AM, 02/18/12
I own one of the 1991 bone stock Sebring Silver NSXs and I intend to maintain my car stock for future posterity. This is my fifth NSX and I have driven both mostly stock and highly modified examples. I agree that any mod is full of compromise, just as every stock choice the manafactrer made was. But my observations are that the bone stock NSX was a very good set of choices for a street sports car. If you want a track toy, you can start making mods that may improve your lap time and put a bigger smile on your face, but you are throwing away the pure spirit that this car was born with and that spirit is why this car is a future classic blue chip collectable.
evantage says:
06:12 AM, 02/18/12
+ nsxdriver. My 2000 NSX is 100% stock and it'll stay that way. If you were to drive my car you would have a big smile. It still gets all kinds of attention where ever it goes. Kudos to all those guys that enjoy modding their cars. But don't fault us "stock" guys for enjoying the original brilliance of Honda engineering.
roadburner says:
09:10 AM, 02/18/12
I still modify my cars, but not in a radical or irreversible fashion. My Mazdaspeed has the MS cold air intake and will soon get a set of Koni FSDs. The Club Sport has UUC pedal bushings as well as their adjustable clutch stop- and a Turner/Conforti chip in the ECU. But none of these mods change the basic character -or reliability- of the car. So many cars get butchered to the point that they aren't suitable fot any reasonable purpose- like the Supra turbos nicholasrage mentioned.
I like BMW tuner Steve Dinan's philosophy. His goal is to increase the performance with little to no compromise in comfort or driveability.
As for an NSX, I'd probably leave it alone.
huyracing says:
11:04 AM, 02/18/12
i like to drive and enjoy my cars... and i intend to drive and enjoy mine for as long as i live. if you like it stock, good for you... ignorance is bliss... you will save a lot of money not modifying. for the few of us who know how much better cars can be, there is no other way. before i buy a car, i check the aftermarket to see what is available... then if satisfactory, i buy the car.
evantage says:
12:44 PM, 02/18/12
Having tons of money is bliss, not ignorance. If I were ignorant I wouldn't own an awesome NSX.
huyracing says:
01:40 PM, 02/18/12
i wasn't calling you stupid, although not knowing the meaning of "ignorance" might just qualify you as that, you simply do not know how great the car can be... and the phrase "ignorance is bliss" is saying that your lack of this knowledge allows you to be content with what you have. i on the other hand have experienced and become accustomed to performance most will never experience... and as such have higher standards. if i could wipe my memory of cars, i would be in a miata having the time of my life and saving a shit load of money.
evantage says:
02:15 PM, 02/18/12
Sure
remdog says:
05:04 PM, 02/18/12
Funny that just as Brent Romans makes this plead to keep a nsx completely stock, there is a nsx in the "readers rides" that has big aftermarket wheels and performance mods. Oh irony...
wheelmccoy says:
06:05 PM, 02/18/12
I see good reasons both ways -- to leave it stock or to modify.
Leaving it stock preserves the spirit of the original design -- which includes some Ayrton Senna. Stock drivers aren't driving for maximum speed, but to be connected to a past moment in time.
Modifying is cool too. The NSX was known to eat tires and if you can adjust the toe-in, lighten the car, and make other improvements, more power to you (and to the car as well)!
huyracing says:
08:36 PM, 02/18/12
remdog: perhaps it was his way of saying indirectly he doesn't like my car. fyi, my "big wheels" are the same size that Honda decided to choose when upgrading their car for 2002... and are in fact lighter and wider than the 91's 15"/16" combo. the resulting extra rubber plays a big role in making the NSX handle better and with less of that snap oversteer.
sure my car is modded, but it is better for it... at least I didn't make it worse by cheaping out on tires...
blackdynamite1 says:
10:44 PM, 02/18/12
The only mod I would EVER make, if you can even call it that, is proper wheels and tires
Cars with 17's look incredible, and I'm improve the grip!
Back then 15's were big!
BD
simon91 says:
08:17 AM, 02/19/12
Mine is a 1991 Onyx/Ivory with two mods from the previous owner. Chipped for 2 to 3 gear and cat back exhaust. My intention is to make no other changes to the NSX, plus my wife likes the original wheels.
It would be a dream to add your NSX to my livery and keeping it stock. Then in summer raising the garage door and seeing two NSX's gleaming in the morning light would be exciting. Aah...then choosing which one to cruise through the mountains!
evantage says:
10:53 AM, 02/19/12
++noburgers.
ralphhightower says:
12:49 PM, 02/19/12
Great photograph of the NSX! Watching the commercials of the Super Bowl, I saw a renaissance of Black & White. For 2012, I am using Black & White film exclusively.
I modded my former 1984 Chevy G10 Sport Van when it got a flat camshaft lobe in 1994. Our mechanic who kept it runing past warranty said that he didn't do internal work. Two friends of mine, a nuclear procedures writer, and a crane operator convinced me that I could replace the camshaft with them acting as lead mechanics. "Tree", the crane operator, said I should put in an RV camshaft for better low-end performance.
That beat-up old van turned into a "sleeper" at stop lights. A lawyer driving a Miata convertible in the right turn only lane sized me up and thought that he zoom in front of me. The light turned green; I gunned it. I glanced down to the right and the lawyer had this "Oh Crap!" look. He had to pull in behind me.
Never, ever underestimate the power of a Chevy 305 V8.
latzke says:
01:12 PM, 02/19/12
fordson1 said: "Keeping a newer car stock is defensible - deliberately bypassing the huge advances in brakes, tires, etc. in the past 20 years just for the sake of keeping it stock makes no sense to me. Look at the test data they came back with - so-so braking and skidpad performance, not very agile transient behavior and a terrible push - why would you not cure it of that if you could?"
Heck, just decent tires would have fixed most if not all of those.
nuieve says:
10:50 PM, 02/19/12
Already thoughts of selling it. Must have been a real disappointment. From your posts it looks like you tried real hard to love it but... I guess old cars are old cars after all.
fordson1 says:
06:22 AM, 02/20/12
huyracing says:
"sure my car is modded, but it is better for it... at least I didn't make it worse by cheaping out on tires..."
Wow - is that a laugh or what? They degraded the performance of the car with those forgettable tires and then issue this sanctimonious call for the next owner not to mod the car at all, specifically calling out larger wheels and tires, because that will somehow de-virginize it.
Something that is completely and utterly reversible in about 20 minutes.