The NSX is making a return...
- Thread starter Brend
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CodeRedR51
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- United States
Updates for 2019, including a spicy new color.
https://www.carscoops.com/2018/08/2019-acura-nsx-comfortable-focused-ever/
https://www.carscoops.com/2018/08/2019-acura-nsx-comfortable-focused-ever/
- 11,806
- Marin County
Are these selling well in other parts of the country? I've only seen a handful up here in NorCal. I would have thought they would be popular here, but the Audi R8 and BMW i8 seem to be the go-to entry level exotics. (Granted, I would say NorCal'ites tend to have an affinity for German cars in varying shades of grey paint).
CodeRedR51
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- Finland
Sounds pretty good with this exhaust.
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/a26089127/acura-nsx-aftermarket-exhaust-sound/
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/a26089127/acura-nsx-aftermarket-exhaust-sound/
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- 27,205
- United Kingdom
Sounds a bit generic-V6-y, but I don't think the mic is helping as it's breaking up when the car gets louder. It'd probably sound a bit better out in the open.
- 11,806
- Marin County
I wonder if the NSX would sell better if it was worse and cheaper.
Like if it had 450hp instead of 570hp and was $100,000 instead of nearly $160k. Basically if it was trying to compete with the 911 Carrera S instead of the 911 Turbo. The Audi R8 is probably a way more attractive purchase at $140k.
Like if it had 450hp instead of 570hp and was $100,000 instead of nearly $160k. Basically if it was trying to compete with the 911 Carrera S instead of the 911 Turbo. The Audi R8 is probably a way more attractive purchase at $140k.
- 27,205
- United Kingdom
Possibly. But the market for a Honda supercar will always be small, just as it was with the original.
As for NSX vs R8, NSX every day for me. The R8 is a great car, but whenever I've driven one I've never really fallen for it. I know we're supposed to love that V10 but there's something very synthetic about the experience. Weirdly, for a hybrid and for a car with turbochargers, the NSX feels warmer and has more personality somehow. To me, at least.
And I can't lie, I'll always associate driving the NSX with chasing a Mk1 through tunnels in Tokyo which is gonna be hard for an R8 to beat...
Danoff
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- Mile High City
Tell me what you think, but having seen both in person, I think the NSX comes across much sexier.
- 27,205
- United Kingdom
For me also. Which kinda surprised me as I initially ignored it, given how many times it appeared at auto shows and how long its gestation was. It was driving that red car in Japan and parking it next to the original which really sold me on it - it's so much more dramatic in the metal than it looks in pictures. Really low and wide, some great details, and loads of presence.
I think the R8 has lost its impact almost through ubiquity - it's a traditional supercar shape obviously, but it's no more unique on the road than a 911. And the second generation one has always looked a bit forced compared to the first-gen car, which looked much more unique when it first debuted.
Take this with a pinch of salt though. I'm fortunate enough to be surrounded by these cars somewhat and I always forget how "normal" people react to fancy cars. People still go nuts when they see a Nissan GT-R and those have been around for a decade now. When I first drove an AMG GT I was driving around the streets outside the Nurburgring and people were pretty much tripping over each other trying to take photos.
- 50,962
- Australia
- SpacedustDaddy
Same with the TT. The 1st gen had that character with its roundness. The TT may look more butch now, but it lost the appeal compared to the first one.
- 5,676
- Paint booth
- FMecha_EXE
- 23,938
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
It's almost as if as soon as it was finally released, nobody, Honda included, could be bothered by it any more. Like HFS touched on above, it had such a long drawn-out gestation period that everything about it after it actually hit the showrooms was going to seem anti-climatic, no matter how good it actually was. It does feel like Honda hasn't made the most of it though, not least from a marketing perspective.
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Keef
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- GTP_KeefRacer
- GTP Keef
I can't believe it either, mainly because I've still never seen one on the road and news about the car basically died years ago. Carwow seems to test and mention it every now and then. I still remember when they were running disguised mules around TRC while my FSAE team was testing. It seemed like a huge deal at the time, then it debuted and looked great in Detroit...then I never heard another word.
I'm really glad they didn't do this. The man would've been offended by this car's existence.
Overall I do think it's kind of hilarious that they flip flopped for 10 years unable to decide what an NSX should be, and then they came up with this. It doesn't look like an NSX, it doesn't drive like an NSX, it isn't light or basic like an NSX, it doesn't have any of that original beloved formula except the price. That was an awful lot of engineering time and press coverage to develop a car that didn't do anything that potential buyers wanted it to do. And to think, they could've used all that development money for something to compete against the GT86 and Miata, gave it a torquey 1.5 turbo, and probably sold tens of thousands of them...
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- 286
- Barcelona
- topu999
Funny that the original NSX is one of my absolute favourite cars, and certainly the one I'd want if I could only have one car period. Yet this one is kind of just there... I just don't care about it and I don't even really know why. And it's always been like this, I remember being so excited when I saw it was in GT6 but I'd be surprised if I drove it more than 2 laps around a track while one of my most driven cars is the NSX-R.
- 40,768
In 2019 Jalopnik went on that spree where they wrote a new article every few weeks for most of the summer trying to shame people for not liking it; which I'm sure helped their cause.
And as awful as the C8 looks inside and out, I'm somewhat shocked that Honda didn't just give up entirely when it was announced.
And as awful as the C8 looks inside and out, I'm somewhat shocked that Honda didn't just give up entirely when it was announced.
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- 11,806
- Marin County
Its crazy to think that the C8's base price in 2020 dollars is $1,100 cheaper than the original NSX's base price in 1991 dollars.
I do think the NSX is a significantly better car than the standard C8, but I have a feeling even the range topping hybrid awd Corvette (can't believe that will be a thing) will still be cheaper than the NSX. At that point, the NSX wont have much of a leg to stand on (though, I think I would still prefer it to the likely 4200lbs+ Corvette).
- 10,818
- Plymouth, UK
- motorforum
I don't envy Honda trying to create a second generation NSX when they did, and therefore I don't know why they wanted to try.
In 1990 it was a Ferrari rival at a lower price and with better reliability. To release a 350hp archetypal MR car in 2016 would've placed it in a no man's land with little correlation to what the original intended to do. The Ferrari of that period was pushing 600bhp and a familiar route to go (turbocharging and electronic driver aids), so not really New Sports eXperimental either.
By making a hybrid junior supercar fits quite well, but it just wasn't inticing enough a prospect.
In 1990 it was a Ferrari rival at a lower price and with better reliability. To release a 350hp archetypal MR car in 2016 would've placed it in a no man's land with little correlation to what the original intended to do. The Ferrari of that period was pushing 600bhp and a familiar route to go (turbocharging and electronic driver aids), so not really New Sports eXperimental either.
By making a hybrid junior supercar fits quite well, but it just wasn't inticing enough a prospect.
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- 11,806
- Marin County
I agree. I personally feel like they chose the right configuration for the NSX...it's a baby 918 basically and in that way a fitting tribute to the original car in ethos. I don't think the original NSX was designed to be "analog" because what we know as analog today was the only way back then. In reality, the NSX had a very high level of technology - VTEC, aluminum unibody, etc.
The problem with the new car is that it wasn't impactful enough. I don't think they did a particularly good job marketing it. It was a little too middle-America and not enough Ayrton Senna. It takes effort to remember that the car even exists. I also don't think they did a particularly great job on the interior styling, it doesn't look like a supercar in there to me. If you compare it to the C8 (or C7 for that matter) it looks expensive. If you compare it to the 918, it looks like a bargain - I think they didn't do an adequate job of transmitting that message. All that being said, the original NSX didn't exactly fly off the shelves either - Acura's best year was under 2,000 units and most years were under 500 units, not much different from the new car. So maybe at the end of the day any NSX is going to be a niche product and we should be happy Honda decided to build it at all.
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