Import racing in the late '90s is almost synonymous with the name Adam Saruwatari. His stock-chassis RX-7 heralded the advancement of the sport into the professional arena. But by the end of the decade, what he was so much a part of building began to pass him by. And in a generation of nanosecond attention spans, the RX-7 was old news. Whispers of "What's going on with Adam?" spread through the pits. These were quickly replaced with rumors of a tube-chassis NSX, putting out over 1,300 hp at the crank. And now, after a long cold winter, Adam is back with a full race-spec Acura NSX. With technical wizards Gary Hansen, John Concialdi, and Roger Hendrix behind him, he hopes this is the machine that'll take him into the big time. We spoke with Adam, Gary, and Roger about the car that will redefine import drag racing, yet again.
The Engine
Adam Saruwatari: I've got two variations I'm working with and developing right now. The first variation is the 3.0-liter original NSX block, that is what came in the first generation NSX motor. The 3.0L has been iron-sleeved and it's running low-compression 8.0:1 Wiseco pistons. And AEM has developed super light, heavy-duty rods. You know, the factory rods are titanium, but due to the increased size and strength requirements of the 3.0L motor that we're building, it's no longer a titanium rod. It's far stronger. The headwork is being done by Alan Johnson. Alan Johnson is the owner and manager of the Winston Top Fuel team.
The second motor will be a 3.2L motor. The 3.0L motor is an aluminum block you can hone it out and use a steel sleeve in it. The 3.2L block is the same configuration, but Honda uses a different technology that makes it stronger. It is still a cast-aluminum block, but the cylinder walls themselves are an aluminum silicone metal matrix. So, that's a 20-percent stronger block in the same configuration. The difficulty with the silicone metal matrix is that you can't bore it out and sleeve it.
The 3.0L is basically a test motor. The 3.2L motor is the true race motor. Alan is going to get more aggressive in the head porting on the 3.2L motor. Eibach has developed valvesprings for us. We haven't varied tremendously from the 3.0L stock-block, we're just trying to reinforce it and strengthen it-even the cams will be Honda camshafts.
Roger Hendrix: The intake manifold is a custom manifold because we didn't want a hoodscoop on the car. We wanted to keep the stock profile. We had to make a real low profile and still get enough plenum in there, so it's all completely custom with all the fuel rails. The throttle body is completely custom. It's a one-off piece for sure. It was quite a job to get it tucked down under the hood and above the motor. The NSX is not a front engine car, so when the engine goes in the front there's not much room.
The cylinder wall is made of an aluminum silicone metal matrix, then, of course, the pistons have to be coated to run in there. So, we're experimenting right now on the final version. We're not sure what coating we'll be using in the completed engine.
Adam: The motor will be running a dry-sump system. The exhaust manifolds are what DC Sports built to John Conciald's specs. Between using a dry-sump system, to get extra clearance on the bottom, and the custom intake manifold-that's how we're able to get the motor in front without actually having to build a hoodscoop to accommodate the extra height.
The Turbo
Adam: Tial took some technology that they have for wastegates for LeMans and we're using Inconel wastegates and they've got special pool-style aluminum blow-off valves. And then they assisted me with a Garret hybrid twin turbo layout.
Roger: We think [the twin turbo set-up] will build us more power. Being a V-6, we're going with one turbo on each bank. So, we think we can blow the turbos and get a more consistent boost from both sides that way. For a more accurate control of the boost, we're looking at some pretty special stuff here. Basically, there is some experience with making a lot of power with an NSX motor, but it's really a fresh sheet of paper. We're asking a lot of these motors, but we think we can pull this off. And the intake manifold, of course, we have to control pressures so we have to have the custom manifold, the custom blow-off valve.
The Chassis
Gary: Well, it's an SFI 25-1C spec car, as far as SFI certification, it's based around a Pro Stock-type car. Wheelbase is 109 inches. It's got Lamb electric shocks in the rear. It's got Lamb struts in the front. It's got Lexan all the way through the windows, of course. It's got carbon-fiber body panels. We had a body made off a stock NSX and we stretched it and moved it. We had stretched it in the back. We had to do a lot of stretching to accommodate the tire.
Parameters were making it safe and making the 25-1C so it can go faster than 7.50 because he plans on hitting low 7s and high 6s. That's why it's based around a Pro Stock-type chassis. As far as dimensions and thickness of metal, we've moved the motor back quite a ways just to get the rear weight, if we wanted. And we also want to be able to put weight up front. We've got weight tabs in quite a few areas, just to be able to move weight around to get the percentages and the biases right as far as going down the track correctly.
Adam: The car is going to weigh in at 2,000 pounds with me in it. With the ballast, it'll probably come in at around 2,100. As far as components, Hansen Race Cars tried to get as much technology that's been proven already by cars that are going extremely fast. It's running Lamb struts front and back, it's got carbon-fiber brakes in the rear, titanium bell housing. It's got a special G-Force transmission, magnesium case, titanium shifter. It's basically the same layout that's been proven by Warren Johnson. We run a full-titanium rear housing, Mark Williams third member, titanium yoke, titanium spool, gun-drilled axle. And the body is 100-percent carbon fiber.
The interior was kind of an interesting deal because traditionally built-to-spec race cars run aluminum tin work. So, they worked with me to use a combination of carbon fiber and aluminum. Gary even went so far as to replicate the NSX dash out of carbon fiber. The wheels are custom-made by Enkei. They're spun aluminum barrel, the centers are billet aluminum, and they're held together by titanium bolts. Of course, Nitto is developing its own specific slick for the car. We hope to begin testing at the end of January or the beginning of February.