Sport Compact Car December 2003

SUSPENSION
Company founder Bill Neumann established
APS in 1975 to support V8-powered musclecars,
but the gas crunch of the mid-'70s soon
convinced him there was a viable future in
tuning smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Neumann first established the Neuspeed brand
in the early 1980s to support a new generation
of watercooled Volkswagens, like the ·
Rabbit and Sci rocco, and later expanded its
boundaries in 1989 and 1990 to include the
exploding Honda and Acura brands.
The company's latest stab at the everexpanding Honda!Acura stable is this 2002
RSX Type-S, which was built entirely by
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DECEMBER 2003 • WWW.SPORTCOMPACTCARWEB.COM
Neuspeed's upper management team of Bill
Neumann, his son and company vice president,
Aaron Neumann, chief engineer and CAD
designer, Jeff Lowell, and company general
manager, Greg Woo.
The first area to receive their attention was
the Acura's suspension. It's also the area to
receive the most comprehensive upgrades. First,
the factory springs and dampers were replaced
wilt Neuspeed sport springs, which lower the
chassis 1.75 inches in front and 1.5 in the rear,
and adjustable Koni shocks and front strut
inserts. This matched spring and damper
package is engineered to offer a much more
: Neuspeed Sport Springs,
Koni struts. Neuspeed lower
front cross brace. Neuspeed
27mm anti-roll bar
: Neuspeed Sport Springs, Koni
shocks, Neuspeed rear
subframe brace. Neuspeed
rear upper tie bar. Specialty
Products rear lower
control arms
BRAKES
Front
Rear
: StopTech 328mm slotted
rotors. four-piston calipers.
bmided stainless-steel lines.
Axxis pads
: StopTech slotted rotors
EXTERNAL
Wheels
1ires
: 18-inch Speedstar 'ftpe C
: 225/40ZR-18 BFGoodrich
g-Forte KO
. NEUBLOOD
rigid and roll-resistant demeanor, without
compromising a comfortable ride.
Other additions to the suspension include a
lower front cross-brace to eliminate flexing at
the lower control arm chassis pick-up points, a
polished rear subframe brace and a rear upper·
tie bar. The new anti-roll bars, 27mm up front
and 22mm in the rear, are fabricated from
mandrel-bent tubular steel and incorporate
polyurethane bushings. The rear bar also
incorporates an impressive 6061 T6 billetaluminum subframe support plate. According
to Neuspeed, the factory rear subframe cannot
like the 2003 Carlisle Custom Compact Power
Jam in Carlisle, Penn., it's had a complete
exterior makeover and a few interior upgrades.
The outside sports a complete Mugen body kit
consisting of an entire front end, carbon-fiber
hood, side skirts and wing, as well as an Acura
Accessories rear valance. All pieces were painted
to match the car by EPR Collision in Camarillo,
Calif., and installed by the Neuspeed crew. The
permanently support a larger rear bar unless
it's reinforced significantly.
It all rides on a set of"l8x7.5-inch Speedstar
1Ype Cwheels wrapped in BFGoodrich g-Force
KD tires measuring 225/40ZR-18. The wheel
and tire package weighs a claimed 38 pounds
at each comer.
Neuspeed also replaced the diminuitive front
brake assemblies with StopTech Big Brakes,
consisting of 328mm full-floating slotted rotors,
four-piston calipers with Axxis semi-metallic
pads and stainless-steel braided lines. In back,
the brakes were improved solely with a pair of
interior flaunts a pair of MOMO Cup racing
seats, a Neuspeed short shifter and a MOMO
Raptor shift knob.
Even with the bulk of Neuspeed's RSX
program in place, this car will continue to be
a flagship company project vehicle for some
time to come and will be going back on
the lift very soon. Among other things,
the company will be building a completely
stock-sized slotted discs.
In the engine bay, Neuspeed installed one
of its own P-Flo intakes, which incorporates
a stainless-steel air chamber and billetaluminum velocity tube, as well as a reusable
multi-layer cotton gauze air filter. And a
two-piece Neuspeed titanium cat-back system
now handles tl1e exhaust. According to
Neuspeed, the complete system weighs just 14.5
pounds, representing weight savings of close to
20 pounds relative to the stock exhaust.
Since the car's appearances at the 2002
SEMA show in Las Vegas and show-off events
new engine for it, likely a built 2.4-liter
TSX block mated with a Type-S head and
Type R valvetrain. The goal is to put together
an all-motor fire breather that will run
reliably in the face of more volatile forced
induction applications.
Our radar gun is already twitching. •
I ~j [,] iM sportcompactcarweb.com I