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 Concialdi'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.