NSX Sorcery: Carbon Fiber, Titanium & Boost
Introduction

Have you ever wondered if there’s a certain pressure that comes with owning a vehicle that enthusiasts regard as iconic?

Cars celebrated by the masses inherently carry with them an expectation that owners will uphold the vehicle’s reputation through the entirety of his or her possession. Should said key holder not toe the line, they will be subject to the wrath of those who feel they could better protect the sanctity of such a revered platform.

This outward pressure could be cause for apprehension, but this is were the importance of doing what you want comes into play. Because life is simply too short to do what others expect of you all of the time.

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I’m a firm believer that the owner of the car dictates its final purpose, not the designer. If you’ve got the itch to turn a sports car into an off-road machine, then do it. And if you’ve got the coin to do the opposite, then hell, do that too. Who am I to say different just because I have a keyboard and an internet connection.

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Typically, I’d follow a lead up like this with a car that divides opinions due to some sort of controversial, defining modification. But I assure you there’s no LS swap hiding in the back. It’s also not on air, the tires fit, and the wheels have not gone awry.

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No, that free flow of thought was surprisingly brought on by an NSX that I feel very few will take any sort of offense to, because it does a damn good job of emphasizing all of the high points of the Honda/Acura icon.

A Strong Signal Within The Noise
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Keiron first discovered Vittorio Bueme and his NSX in Ocean City two years ago.

Vittorio, along with his brother Steve and father Stefano, have made traveling from Buffalo to Ocean City an annual family tradition, and on one such trip to the now infamous waterfront venue, Vittorio spotted an NSX that was done in the same quality-first style he’d applied to the 350Z he owned at the time, and it sparked an idea.

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The hunt for the perfect NSX to build upon began almost immediately. An ideal candidate was located in Arizona, and Vittorio flew out to see the car in person before pulling the trigger and having it shipped back home.

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When asked about the condition of the car upon delivery, Vittorio admitted that while it had good bones, there was definite signs of neglect throughout the vehicle.

Once the teardown began, it didn’t take long for the project to snowball.

Blue Magic
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“Fitting the body kit was one of the most challenging parts of the build,” mentioned Vittorio, describing the on, off, on, off process of affixing the Sorcery T12W V2 aero.

The Buemes are fortunate to have a family garage where they can help each other wrench on their cars comfortably all winter while waiting for the snow to thaw, and thankfully, Vittorio had his father and brother to help with the tedious job of getting the panel gaps acceptable.

Consisting of front and rear bumpers, fenders, and side skirts, the Sorcery kit is rather involved. Also added was a carbon fiber lip, and carbon fiber bumper inserts. The back end has been topped with a Sorcery W-Type dual-deck wing and trunk spoiler, both in carbon fiber of course.

All the carbon at the top of the rear end is balanced out at the bottom by a matching carbon fiber Sorcery V1 diffuser.

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During the fitment process, the front fascia was upgraded to the later NA2 spec with fixed headlights rather than pop-ups. I’ve mentioned before that while I do really love a good pop-up headlight as much as the next person, the fixed versions do give the car a much more contemporary appearance.

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“The car attracts [quite a bit of] attention, but not many people seem to really know what it is,” says Vittorio.

It seems a bit crazy to think that there are some people out there that can’t ID an NSX inside of five seconds, but remember we enthusiasts are the minority. Joe Fuel Efficiency sees Honda as a brand that is far, far removed from any sort of exotic-looking performance vehicle.

Balanced
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Those of you with eagle eyes may have already spotted the turbo hiding just rearward of the passenger tire. Given the car’s run-hard/stored-wet nature, Vittorio elected to drop the motor off at DMS Performance for a complete rebuild before power adders became part of the picture.

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DMS went much further than a standard OEM-spec rebuild. The 9:1 compression V6 now has CP pistons sunk within LA Sleeve-equipped cylinders. 36mm intake valves join Supertech exhaust valves in heads bolted to the block with ARP studs. The Variable Volume Induction System (VVIS) has been deleted, and the turbo kit is a LoveFab LF6000 Stage 2 package based around a Precision Turbo 6766 billet ball-bearing unit. Cooling is handled by an air-to-water intercooler.

The vibrant tones of heated titanium appear throughout thanks to Chasing J’s who supplied their intake manifold plate, throttle body cover, oil cap, and hood prop. Carbon fiber adornments under hood were provided by NC Auto USA.

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The sum of the parts results in a very quick car with street-friendly mannerisms and a show-ready appearance.

Handling refinements are taken care of with JRZ RS2 coilovers, and helping with steep entrances is a complete Stanceparts air cup lift kit.

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Ubiquitous Toyo Proxes R888R tires at 225/40R18 and 295/30R18 wrap double-staggered matte-on-gloss-bronze Work Meister S1 wheels. The slight contrast between the two finishes is a nice touch and complements the KPMF blue/black iridescent vinyl wrap.

Enjoying The Ride
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“It’s a rocket,” Vittorio explains as he describes what the ride is like from the NC Auto USA carbon-Kevlar NSX-R-style bucket seats. “It sounds amazing and pulls hard,” he then elaborated. Some of that sound can be attributed to the turbo, while the rest of the honors go to the custom titanium exhaust system.

Love for carbon and Kevlar-based products continues throughout the interior, and it would be easier at this point to list what NC Auto has not contributed rather than what they have.

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Perhaps my favorite piece of the several employed is the rear bulkhead. For such an unseen piece it’s incredibly well done and flows with what is ultimately a very well thought out and cohesive car.

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“I took my time, carefully piecing together the NSX I wanted,” Vittorio concluded before I asked if there were any further iterations of the car planned.

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Thankfully, simply enjoying the car is now priority. It might see a few minor improvements here and there, but Vittorio’s goal for the foreseeable future is simply the open road and the odd lapping day.

Dave Thomas
Instagram: stanceiseverythingcom

Photos by Keiron Berndt
Instagram: keiron_berndt

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1

A car enthusiast/old timer once told me "Car modification is never finished. Even though the final product is perfectly executed. Sooner or later, the modification starts again. Don't be surprised if he modification opposes the initial modifications".

Over time, people change, and their cars will change.

2

This is why you should just drive your car and not worry at all what mods or money was done/paid. There's enough icons in museums and concours being q-tipped for high-flying, autonomous androids to "get the historical picture". There's enough bad drivers and owners that eventually, even a cherry Model T or Honda CRX is a rare and valuable thing. Somewhere between these truths your situation will be clear, unless you let yourself be steered by goosestepping morons that think it's cool to "be the first/be the only/spent the most/ruined this or that". Stop clicking on that garbage and start driving, reading how your actual car works, treat it as you would a horse back when it was the best way around - give it what YOU feel it NEEDS, not what others might find alluring. It's just a car, and they come and go no matter what they're made of or how much they cost. Understand these simple things, and eventually, your car will be speedhunted, too, no matter what it is... But that was never the point, especially if you just love your car for what it actually is, to you the driver.

3
Jay Soh Tsu Chung

Crazy how close the turbo is to the ground.

Also, love that air intake scoop above the rear glass. I always prefer this over the NSX-R GT's "periscope" design.

4
@ultimatedrivingtips

“If you’ve got the itch to turn a sports car into an off-road machine, then do it. And if you’ve got the coin to do the opposite, then hell, do that too. Who am I to say different just because I have a keyboard and an internet connection“

Terrible mentality to push imo. There are a ton of reasons why this is horrible advice, especially to any new enthusiasts.

“ All the carbon at the top of the rear end is balanced out at the bottom by a matching carbon fiber Sorcery V1 diffuser”

Aero appendages at the back aren’t balanced by more aero at the back. They are balanced by adding aero pieces up front. Under body design matters more than anything and wings are more or less trim pieces.

All in all this is why I don’t bother with road cars anymore. Especially street driven road cars and the community surrounding them. When you have no goal or objective you can easily become confused that everyone is correct in how they mod their car. Go to get track and you quickly learn this isn’t the case.

The moment I see someone saying we can all mod whoever we want it is an immediate sign to me they haven’t done anything that requires their car to be built correctly lol.

Author5

Honestly mate, your 'I'm better than everyone because I track my car mantra' is getting a bit long in the tooth. If you don't like street cars then stop looking at street cars and asking why they are not modified as track cars. Or how about this comment positively on the numerous cars we've written about that do both.

You have a very narrow mindset when it comes to car culture.

6
@ultimateracingtips

I have a mindset that has been developed over 17 years of racing cars and developing street based race cars with Sennas former engineer from McLaren.

It’s not a great mantra to push turning an off road car into a race car because if you do that you’re going to end up re engineering things, spending money, and likely ending up with an inferior product since average Joe tuner is not an engineer.

This seems to be getting pushed a lot lately by journalists and it’s very misleading to someone who is new to tuning. I deal with this every day in my job where I do quality control for one of the big automotive retailers. Sorry if I offended you. It was a good article but these—and the aero comments—are definitely worth bringing up to someone reading.

Author7

I'm not offended. The aero comment is a good point, I meant visually balance because for streeet/show cars diffusers are normally done to do that. However I wasn't specific so that's fine. But I think a lot of your comments are aimed at the wrong cars/people.

Your limited mindset towards modifying cars to be specifically track skewed performance machines completely dismisses the fact that a lot of people do this for FUN. I just read about someone who put a Z34 Lumina Body on top of a Trans Am Chassis to create an LS RWD Chevy Lumina. They did that just because. Is it better than a factory Trans Am from a performance aspect? Maybe not. Is it cool, I'd like to think so.

To ground my argument a bit more I wrote about the Targa Truck Pre Covid http://www.speedhunters.com/2020/03/making-barn-door-fly-meet-targa-truck/ C10s are not race platforms, but that is most certainly going to be one hell of a race vehicle.

Also see further proof of straight up oddball/fun vehicles I've seen out and aboot (eh)
http://www.speedhunters.com/2018/09/german-body-american-heart-canadian-ingenuity/
http://www.speedhunters.com/2018/08/life-gives-rust-build-race-car/
http://www.speedhunters.com/2018/08/panel-swap-a-thames-wagon-with-a-surpise/
http://www.speedhunters.com/2018/08/cheap-fun-two-cars-three-v8s/

Cars like those are where my ethos comes from. Fun to look at, fun to see in action, and often fun to own.

8
@ultimateracingtips

When you phrase it that way it makes more sense. I do tend to be a little more performance oriented, but that was the purpose of the NSX—which is why Senna helped develop that car.

Everyone can and should enjoy cars, but it’s important to be accurate and clear imo. I like your writing and the photos and will check out the articles you linked.

Just important to remember how much time and money go in when you start engineering something for a purpose it wasn’t intended to do.

People should evaluate what is fun for them and for a lot of people getting behind the wheel is the best. For most cases you want something that is easy to work on. Reliable. Fast and inexpensive.

A lot of builds now are social media and attention driven. I don’t think we should push this narrative but I’m just one person fighting an uphill battle during the era of social media tuners. Just my thoughts.

9
@ultimateracingtips

Used my old handle there on accident. A lot more you can say about this article but I’m too lazy to type on my phone. Nice car though, good pictures. Looks fun!

10

Great looking car! Hope there are some brake upgrades planned to go with that extra oomph on track

11

Gorgeous car, the wheel color choice with that blue is incredible. When's the white tire lettering trend going to go away though...

12

Wow, it looks like the alien from Aliens banged a Tesla, and then had an abortion.

13

It's refreshing to see another heavily modified NSX. While they may seem common on speedhunters, I would say 95% of them don't go beyond wheels/coilovers/type R rear wing for the exact reason you mention in your opening. Mine included so I'm not faulting anyone. I just admire people making these cars an exhibition of self expression. Most of us are locked into mild mods only because of the nature of the car.

Keep on trucking bud! I love the build.

14

That sh1t paint job over a crap body kit makes the car look plastic and cheap.

Author15

Issa wrap.

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