1995 NSX - Six Month Report

Six Month Report

The NSX adventure got off to rocky start, so I was unsure of how the car was going to treat me after the somewhat eventful drive home.  After taking car of the initial round of issues, the NSX required the following things during its first six months in my care:

• Tires

Yep, that's it.  Tires.  My experience with this particular car is consistent with what other owners have said - parts are expensive, but the NSX is a reliable vehicle if maintained properly.

That being said, getting tires was somewhat of an adventure.  I ordered a set of four Michelin Pilot Sports from Discount Tire (yeah, yeah...I know).  The tires arrived after a bit of a wait & I rolled down the canyon for an early Saturday appointment.  The NSX was too low for the shop's floor  mounted lift, so they dispatched a couple guys with floor jacks.  I explained to the manager the proper procedure to jack the car.  He acknowledged me and went about his business.  Shortly after, a couple guys arrived and proceeded to align the floor jacks with the front & rear mount points on the car.

WRONG.

I didn't want to be 'That Guy', but I couldn't let it happen.  I was watching this process from the parking lot and made my way to bay, posthaste.  I explained the correct procedure to the guys jacking the car.  It's not hard - use the jack point just aft of the door to lift the car & lower the car on to jack stands placed under the front & rear mount points.  Surprisingly, the tire guys were receptive to the instructions.  The only problem was that they didn't have jack stands, so extra floor jacks would have to suffice.  With visions of some goofy movie involving a hospital patient careening down a steep hill on a gurney, I suggesting doing one side at a time to avoid the risky proposition of having the car suspended on four ROLLING floor jacks.  Fortunately, they agreed.

Finally, the tires where mounted and I was on my way.  I pulled out of the tire shop onto a busy road with traffic moving ~50 MPH.  While merging, the TCS (traction control) light started blinking like mad and the ECU cut power, limiting forward velocity to about 35 MPH.  It was at this point that I discovered two things - pushing the TCS button to disable the traction control while the system is actively doing its thing doesn't work.  Secondly, there was a motor home coming up fast behind me.  Fortunately, my next stop was just on the right, so I dropped into the turn lane early to avoid having my car mounted by a large, relatively fast moving vehicle.  After a brief stop, I jumped back in the car, fired up the motor and promptly disabled the TCS while stopped.  The car behaved nicely during the drive up the canyon, so it felt like there was some breathing room to figure out the problem.

While stopped the first time, I noticed that the sidewalls on the front tires were noticeably taller than the sidewalls of the tires that were just replaced.  After arriving home, I dug through the paperwork provided by the previous owner for the car (Thanks Ole!) and confirmed my suspicion.  The tires were the wrong size; the aspect ratio was 45 instead of 40.  Given that, it's easy to determine why the TCS freaked out.  Due to the increased rolling diameter, front wheel speed decreased enough to fool the computer into thinking the rear tires were moving too fast relative to the front.  This was likely interpreted as rear tire spin and the car cut power.

A quick call to Discount confirmed that the Pilot Sports weren't available in a 40 series tire.  Their computer showed the 45 series tire as an alternate size, so the ordered those instead.  Fortunately, the Falken RT615 was available in that size and they ordered a pair for me...which would arrive in 10 days.  Damn.

After waiting impatiently and a couple calls to the tire shop, the new front tires finally arrived.  Not wanting to go through the same jack point debacle, I jacked up the car in my garage,  removed the front wheels & tires and headed down the canyon again.

I'm pleased to report that the car drives just fine with the properly sized tires on all four corners.  I'd prefer to run the same tire on all four corners, but the Falkens have a very low treadwear rating and the NSX has a reputation for eating rear tires.  As such, I'll examine my options when it's time for another set of new shoes.