Gearheads and their girlfriends leaned forward in their bucket seats upon hearing that Jason Stratham would be back for the sequel to "The Transporter." While the ladies were keen to see the smooth UK heartthrob, the automotive aficionado's interest may have been piqued by the promise of more high-speed car chases.
Luc Besson, of "The Professional" fame, delivers those chases and more with ferocious intent in the sequel about a driver who gets paid to do four-wheel drifts around a city with precious cargo on board. While the story remains similar to the first, Besson's fingerprint on the action is a solid one that comes straight from the middle finger. Patience, this all has something to do with the fearsome NSX spread out in front of you.
Mike Chu's NSX should come with the same caveat. Not only does it result in the preceding three symptoms, it's also the second time it's been modified to do so. We won't even get into the relatively anemic stock NSX. While it was known for its superior poise and balance, you'd be lucky to get a speeding ticket with the stock 280 hp. As Mike analytically postures, "The NSX lacks the power and exotic aura of a supercar. However, these details are fixable."
Like "The Transporter," the original build was a commendable project. The Acura had sufficient attitude as a result of the 18's, custom fender flares and a Comptech supercharger pushing six psi among other upgrades. The Comptech was deemed to be the most reliable forced induction kit for the NSX and the only one that could pass California's scrupulous smog check. In its stock silver the car was N-S-Xesque enough for passerbys to throw it a second glance. But now the once-silver sled has taken on an almost ephemeral quality. In Shamanism it is believed that the spirit comes back in the form of an animal. Well if this is the case then Chu's NSX has returned as one bad-ass Bengal tiger.
One of the things that make this NSX so ferocious is the wide-as-the-Panama-Canal JGTC NSX widebody kit. Mike's friend Jay Cheng is the president of BRS Autodesign which used Mike's NSX to prototype the kit. Mike, on the other hand, is director of Sport Max wheels. He has a theory about the market in which he's involved. "The wheel market has become very competitive lately," said Mike. "I wanted to try and diversify by supplying larger rims for widebody kits as more people seem to be doing them these days."
So BRS AutoDesign basically built the bodykit around the Sport Max's rims. And, like two once forlorn lovers they grasped each other in a heated embrace exploding in a heavenly symbiosis of bronzed thighs and groaning ... oh wait where did I put that romance novel? I mean, metal and fiberglass came together for a perfect fit like raging sea and thunder for a perfect storm.
Another thing that should be mentioned about Sport Max's 20x10 rear wheel is its weight. Mike weighed the forged one-piece rim for us at his warehouse and it tipped the scales at 26 pounds. The average twenty carrying those Impalas around weighs probably twice that.
The car's 2002 headlight upgrade is actually sort of a prerequisite to the JGTC kit. On the lighter side, there is plenty of carbon fiber in the form of and APR JGTC-300 carbon fiber wing as well as canards and GT500 hood all made of the same lovely weave of carbon and epoxy.
Enough of the aesthetics though, like "The Transporter" the supercharger has a sequel and like Luc Besson's dynamic style of directing, it's even more powerful than the original filmmaker's version. Originally, the install was fairly straightforward. It requires the removal of the fuel rail, intake manifold, throttle bodies and injection pumps.