Acura NSX Tuning Guide — Best S1 Setup

Class Range: A800 - S1 900 | Base Horsepower: 573 hp | Drivetrain: SH-AWD | Weight: 1725 kg | Best Class: S1 900

The NSX is a genuinely interesting car in FH6. Honestly, it's already great to drive in A class straight out of the box — that shove the hybrid motors give you on corner exit is no joke, it reacts half a beat faster than a pure combustion car. Three electric motors plus the twin-turbo V6 give you low-speed corner grip that lets you steer on the throttle with confidence, something most RWD supercars can't offer.

But the stock tune has obvious weak points — the front axle pushes on turn-in, and body roll in high-speed corners is excessive. That has everything to do with the 1725 kg weight; SH-AWD is great, but you can't ignore physics. Once you move up to S1 900, these problems can mostly be fixed through tuning — especially once you get the front suspension geometry and damper settings right, turn-in precision improves dramatically.

My personal recommendation is to push the NSX to S1 900 and build it as an all-round road racer. A class is stable but the ceiling isn't high enough; at S1 with this tune it can go toe-to-toe with plenty of pure supercars. Here are the numbers.

Best Tuning Setup for S1 900

The Road build leans toward top speed and suits high-speed tracks with long straights. The All-Round build sacrifices a bit of horsepower for better handling and corner-exit traction, and it's actually faster on technical circuits. I personally run the All-Round build for online ranked — it's so much more stable through fast corners.

Tuning Parameters — Every Setting Explained

Tire Pressure

Front 2.0 bar / Rear 1.9 bar. That's about 0.2 lower than stock, which helps the tread contact patch stay even once the tires heat up. The NSX is front-heavy, and a slightly higher front pressure reduces understeer. After more than 5 laps, tire temps settle around 88–92 degrees, and this pressure range sits right in the optimal grip window.

Transmission

Set the final drive ratio to 4.10, with gears 1–4 kept close and 5–6 stretched out. The NSX's V6 doesn't produce huge torque up top, so the close ratios keep you in the 5500–7000 rpm power band through the corners. Top speed works out to about 325 km/h, which is enough for the straights on most tracks.

Alignment

Front Toe -0.2 / Rear Toe -0.1, Front Camber -1.8 / Rear Camber -1.5, Caster 5.8 degrees. This setup specifically targets the NSX's turn-in understeer — the extra negative camber up front lets the outside tire bite into the ground mid-corner, and combined with SH-AWD's torque vectoring, the nose points exactly where you want it on exit.

Anti-Roll Bars

Front 28.5 / Rear 32.0. The rear anti-roll bar is noticeably stiffer, which a lot of people don't understand — shouldn't an AWD car be balanced front to rear? The NSX is different: its front axle is already heavy, and a stiffer front bar only makes the understeer worse. Stiffening the rear helps the tail follow more eagerly when you lift off into a corner.

Springs

Front 620 / Rear 680 (lbs/in). The stiffer rear springs paired with the stiff rear anti-roll bar create a rear-biased dynamic. The NSX is AWD, but SH-AWD sends 70% of torque to the rear axle in Sport+ mode, and this spring setup matches that behavior perfectly.

Damping

Rebound Front 8.2 / Rear 9.0, Bump Front 5.5 / Rear 6.2. The bump damping is kept soft to maintain tire contact over rough surfaces, while the stiffer rebound controls body roll through corners. This setup performs especially well on Guanajuato's cobblestone roads.

Aero

Set front downforce to maximum (the stock front lip is already enough), and set the rear wing to a middle-high angle. The NSX has a solid aero base from the factory, so it doesn't need big changes. If you want a bit more confidence in fast corners, you can add 2 more clicks to the rear wing.

Brakes

Brake balance rear-biased at 52%, pressure 115%. The NSX's hybrid regenerative braking already adds extra stopping force at the front axle, so biasing the hydraulic brakes rearward balances the overall braking and keeps the tail planted under hard braking.

Differential

Front diff Accel 70% / Decel 25%, Rear diff Accel 80% / Decel 35%, center diff 65% rearward. This setup makes the NSX drive more like a RWD car — the rear axle can step out slightly on corner exit to help rotate the car. Don't worry about losing it; SH-AWD's electronic systems step in quickly and pull things back before the slide gets out of hand.

Driving Tips

The NSX's biggest strength is corner exit, and its biggest weakness is mid-corner push in fast corners. Remember one principle: throttle on early, brake late. The hybrid motors dump torque instantly on exit, which lets you get on the throttle half a second earlier than your rivals — that's the car's real advantage. Trail-brake a little into the corner to shift weight forward and help the front tires turn in, then go full throttle the moment you pass the apex. Don't fight fast corners — ease off slightly to let the nose tuck in, which is actually faster than holding the throttle wide open. When the battery drops below 30%, the motor assist weakens and the car suddenly feels more front-wheel-drive, so manage your charge on long races.

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