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- Thread starter brucewinter
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Lln
For nearly a decade the promise of a 2nd-generation Acura NSX has been dangling in front of the automotive world like a juicy carrot hanging from a stick in front of a hungry mule. And just like that mule, we never could quite get to the prize at the end of the rope. Acura started development of a front-engined NSX powered by a V10 engine in the mid-2000s, but The Great Recession put the kibosh on that plan by the end of 2008. Once the economic outlook improved Acura teased us with a new, mid-engined NSX concept in 2012, but we were forced to wait once again when the company decided that the show car's naturally-aspirated V6 wasn't really supercar worthy. But finally, the wait is over. The real question is, though, has it been worth it?
What is it? Since a lot has changed over the last few years in the world of NSX, it's probably best to start with the basics. Like the original, the 2017 NSX is a 2-door coupe with seating for 2. The latest version of the NSX also has a V6 engine in the middle, but that's where the similarities stop. Whereas the original used a transversely-mounted, naturally-aspirated V6 -- much like the NSX concept from 2012 -- the newest version of Acura's supercar relies on a longitudinally-positioned 3.5L V6 aided by a pair of turbochargers. Although Acura currently offers a 3.5L V6 under the hood of some of its other vehicles, the 75-degree 3.5L V6 in the NSX is a ground up design that is bespoke to the nameplate. To that gas powertrain Acura added a total of 3 electric motors -- a pair at the front axle and another integrated into the NSX's 9-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Those electric motors are powered by a battery pack sandwiched between the NSX's passenger cell and engine compartment. On its own, the gas engine is good for 500 horsepower and 406 lb-ft of torque. The electric motors bump the NSX's total output to 573 horsepower and 476 lb-ft of torque. The NSX doesn't have a dedicated EV mode, but it's capable of battery-only operation at low speeds for distance up to about 1.5 miles. On an interesting side note, the gas engine in the NSX is completely belt-free; everything from the power steering to the air-conditioning is electrically operated, so there isn't a need for a pulley system. The NSX doesn't have a traditionally starter motor, either; the electric motor pancaked in the car's transmission is responsible for getting the gas mill going.
Form follows function The NSX has all the typical styling hallmarks of a high-end sports car, but there is a lot more technical stuff going on than meets the eye. Rather than just channeling air around the car, engineers worked tirelessly to divert passing air through the NSX. That channeling system starts up front with 3 large inlets located in the lower portion of the NSX's front fascia. Those ducts help pass air through the NSX's front radiator and also provide cooling for the electric motors mounted in the center of the front axle. In order to ensure that incoming air doesn't create unwanted front-end lift, designers fitted functional air extractors on the NSX's hood and on the front fenders just behind the front wheels. Once air exits those ports, it's either funneled down past the rear wheels or sucked back into the large vents located just behind the NSX's doors. Hidden inside those cutouts are intercoolers for the turbocharged engine, as well as ducts that channel air to the NSX's 9-speed gearbox. Look closely and you'll spot 2 air outlets just above the NSX's taillights, which work with air coming from under the car to reduce rear turbulence that can cause excessive drag. Although it was designed with performance in mind, the NSX wasn't penned devoid of aesthetics. The front end shares a clear resemblance to the rest of the Acura lineup, including the 1st application of the brand's jeweled headlight treatment that we don't hate. In profile the NSX has some Audi R8 in it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The rear view of the NSX isn't as successful, with an overall design that comes off as a little bland for such a radical sports car. The angle of the rear fascia is also a little strange; viewed from certain angles you could almost mistake the rear of the car for it's front end.
Life aboard Acura is known as a sensible brand, so it should come as no surprise that the interior of the NSX reflects that ethos. Seats in the NSX are comfortable -- even by luxury car standards -- and there is plenty of head- and leg-room for those north of the 6-foot mark. Outward visibility -- a hallmark of the original NSX -- remains a strongpoint for the 2017 NSX thanks to an expansive windshield and a rear window that is large for a mid-engined car. Heck, even the NSX's trunk is large enough to swallow a couple of bags or even a full set of golf clubs. Unfortunately, the overall design of the NSX's interior is a little too sensible. Everything feels like it's pulled from another Honda product, and that's largely because it is. The NSX's push-button transmission is found in other Acura products and the car's main touchscreen is essentially the same unit you can get in a $20,000 Honda Fit. This interior would be just fine for something like a TLX Coupe, but feels unimaginative for a halo supercar that was developed from scratch. Some of that Acura sensibility flies out the window once you get to the NSX's ordering sheet, however. Despite a base price approaching $160,000, navigation is a $2,800 option on the NSX. Want SiriusXM satellite radio? That'll be another $500 on top of that. True, brands like Lamborghini charge extra for similar features, but that just seems out of step for Acura. Ditto for the NSX's lack of adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring.
Road and track It's nice to talk about styling and features, but people are really only interested in the NSX for 1 reason -- the way it drives. Our 1st experience with the 2017 NSX came on the private pavement of The Thermal Club just outside of Palm Springs, California. Although not a complicated circuit, Thermal's red course provided plenty of curves and long straights to properly put the NSX through its paces. With the NSX's Track mode engaged, we eased out of the pits and onto Thermal's long straight. Mash the long pedal and the NSX accelerates like a rocket. The electric motor integrated into the NSX's transmission automatically engages on takeoff, eliminating any sensation of turbo lag. And with both turbos fully spooled, the NSX can really scoot. The NSX's accelerator pedal actually has a built in "step" point for fully activating the twin electric motors at the front end. Push the pedal past that clicking point and the NSX' entire hybrid system works in tandem to shoot you to the horizon line as quickly as possible. Acura isn't releasing 0-60 figures for the NSX but, with launch mode engaged, we wouldn't be surprised to see figures in the low 3-second range. The NSX is equipped with torque vectoring systems at both ends, which really helps in the corners. At the rear axle the NSX is cable of braking the inside wheel, while the electric motors up front are cable of apply negative force to 1 wheel and positive force to the other. The end result of that electronic wizardry is a car that is extremely easy to hustle through tight turns. Since it uses an electric power steering system, the NSX doesn't offer a whole lot in terms of steering feel, but the tiller is spot on in every other regard. Any inputs are met with a proportional response from the front wheels and the "gearing" is just about as perfect as you can get -- no hand shuffling is necessary here, just put your hands at 9 and 3 and keep them there for every turn of the track. The NSX checks in at a rather portly 3,800 pounds (nearly 700 pounds more than a Lamborghini Huracan), but most of that mass is packaged extremely low in the NSX's chassis, so it carries its weight well. That heft does tend to rear its head through fast corners though, with mean Mr. Physics providing a subtle but constant tug toward the outside. If you do cross the limit, the NSX is forgiving; drifts are easily controlled and the all-wheel drive system is quick to pull you back in line.
Our test cars were fitted with the NSX's optional Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tires, which proved to be the most responsive of the 2 tires we tested, the other being NSX's standard Continental tires, but more on that later. Michelin Sport Cup 2 tires are also available for buyers that are planning to do some track driving. The NSX's optional carbon ceramic brakes had no issues with the car's big bones, hauling the nearly 2-ton supercar down from speed with ease. We were limited to about 4 laps per track session, but during that time we never experienced any signs of fade. Regenerative braking is also included in the NSX and never felt obtrusive. The NSX's 9-speed transmission works well in either its automatic or manual settings. But truth be told, we probably prefer the automatic setting to the NSX's steering wheel-mounted paddles. The NSX is so technically advanced that it's just best to leave it to its own devices. The aural experience can be just an important as the driving sensation in a supercar, and this is 1 area where the NSX could use some improvement. The V6 sounds decent in the mid-part of the rev band, but its howling can be borderline annoying once the RPMs really start to climb. Part of the problem stems from tubes that transmit intake sound from the engine compartment to the cabin, terminating just behind the head of the driver and passenger. As a result, it's almost impossible to hold a conversation while driving above 5,000rpm. And despite all that noise, you really don't hear much from the twin-turbos, which seems like a missed opportunity. We'd gladly trade some of the NSX's intake noise for the chirping of the turbochargers. So how is the NSX on track overall? Very good, but somehow lacking that emotional connection that makes it a truly moving experience. That feeling will obviously vary from person-to-person, but the NSX didn't beg us to keep pounding lap after lap. However, there is good reason for that. Although the NSX is track-capable right out of the box, it was really designed with street use in mind. And out on the roads of the real world, it really shines. Rather than thinking of the NSX as a full-on supercar, think of the NSX as a super grand touring car -- fast, but with plenty of space and comfort. When you just want to cruise around town, flip the NSX's dial to Quiet mode and it will loaf around as silently as an RLX sedan. And with its 3rd-generation magnetic ride dampers, the NSX is just about as comfortable as Acura's flagship sedan. Sport mode livens up the NSX's drivetrain, but keeps the active exhaust flaps mostly closed, so the car's cabin isn't flooded with engine noise. Sport+ prods the NSX's powertrain a little more, while also livening up the car's suspension and steering. With Sport+ mode engaged and a winding mountain road ahead, the NSX really comes into its own. The AWD system instills gobs of confidence while the NSX's torque vectoring seems to bend the laws of physics -- tight turns are no match for this car. Moreover, we didn't experience any moments of turbo lag or even transitions between the gas-electric powertrain, resulting in a linear connection between our right foot and a rush of forward movement. The NSX's standard Continental rubber provided enough grip on the road, but lacked some of the feeling offered by the Pirellis. Since there isn't a ton of road feel to begin with in the NSX, we'd probably keep the car's track tires fitted at all times. Again, our only real complaint about piloting the NSX at speed is its off-putting engine note. Unlike the Lamborghini Huracan, which only gets more soulful as its pistons spin toward redline, the NSX doesn't really compel you to hold an engine note to full crescendo. But other than that, the NSX makes for a near-perfect canyon carver.
Leftlane's bottom line In a world flush with supercar options, the NSX manages to carve out its own unique niche. Although not as impassioned as some of its European counterparts, the NSX brings to the table a (comparatively) affordable hybrid drivetrain and the the kind of space, comfort and reliability that makes for an everyday supercar. Hopefully Acura doesn't make us wait another 10 years for another bite of the carrot.
For nearly a decade the promise of a 2nd-generation Acura NSX has been dangling in front of the automotive world like a juicy carrot hanging from a stick in front of a hungry mule. And just like that mule, we never could quite get to the prize at the end of the rope. Acura started development of a front-engined NSX powered by a V10 engine in the mid-2000s, but The Great Recession put the kibosh on that plan by the end of 2008. Once the economic outlook improved Acura teased us with a new, mid-engined NSX concept in 2012, but we were forced to wait once again when the company decided that the show car's naturally-aspirated V6 wasn't really supercar worthy. But finally, the wait is over. The real question is, though, has it been worth it?
fastaussie
Suspended
decent review, but seems the things everyone hoped would get addressed haven't. no steering feel, lame exhaust note, not exciting/inspiring/emotional enough.
interesting quote - "Rather than thinking of the NSX as a full-on supercar, think of the NSX as a super grand touring car"
and what i find even more interesting is that of the two reviews posted on Prime thus far, both reviewers said they preferred to leave the car in automatic mode for track/spirited driving...
interesting quote - "Rather than thinking of the NSX as a full-on supercar, think of the NSX as a super grand touring car"
and what i find even more interesting is that of the two reviews posted on Prime thus far, both reviewers said they preferred to leave the car in automatic mode for track/spirited driving...
- Joined
- 16 November 2009
- Messages
- 145
Yahoo
Rushing down some backwoods highway in the California canyons, the feeling of rock and pine flashing by at warp speed past the window—we were moving at speeds any California Highway Patrol officer would conclude to be ‘reckless.’ I didn’t care, the Acura NSX I was piloting didn’t seem to give a damn either, it continued to push the limits of what was possible; on the corners, in the straights, and everywhere in between.
If you were looking for a lightweight supercar similar to the NSX you saw a decade ago, this wasn’t it. This was something far more advanced, seemingly from another era far beyond our time. A twin-turbocharged engine, 2 electric motors, and space-ship like design. This was a car built for the future, and here I was, in 2016, driving it quick.—dangerously quick.
For Acura, the NSX comes at a very important time. The brand is struggling to reinvent itself, because sometime between 1990 and 2016, Honda’s luxury marque strayed into the desert to do some soul-searching, eventually finding itself by creating vehicles 1 would consider far from ‘acceptable’ in the realm of luxury manufacturers.
It’s definitely a tough pill to swallow for everyone involved. But the 1st part of reinventing yourself is realizing your mistake. The 2nd part is putting that signature Honda “power of dreams” slogan to good use, proving to everyone that anything is possible. Things like the NSX are possible.
To understand this car you have to understand the entire thought process behind it. The new NSX was built in Ohio (yes, that’s the United States), at a facility designed specifically to build the new NSX. This further reassures everyone that Acura wants to continue its separation from the Japanese-built original. And that’s not a bad thing.
For 1, the technology on this car is bar none. It’s almost as if McLaren shrunk down its P1, made it look better, and slapped an Acura badge on it. The 3.5-liter V6 shares space with 2 electric motors—1 in the front, 1 in the back—to which a total of 573 horsepower and 476 lb-ft torque are produced. That’s not slow, and even without an official 0-60 mph figure to work with, I can tell you safely it’s somewhere in the 3 second range.
With an ample amount of power on hand, 1 of the things the NSX truly excels at is launch control. It’s as easy as transferring the car into Sport+ mode, mashing your left foot on the brake, right foot on the gas, and waiting for a sensor to tell you to get your ass up and go. As soon as you release the brake, a full G of force is thrust onto your chest. There’s no wheel spin, no fuss, no nothing to convince you that this isn’t 1 of the best systems money can buy.
Putting to use both the electric motors and the 3.5-liter V6, Acura’s power distribution is something of wonder. If you were looking for turbo lag—look somewhere else. Power is immediate and aggressive, just like any good supercar should be. The dual threat of electric and gas gives you gobs of power. Comparably, it’s a more efficient, though slightly convoluted approach to power than any of its segment competitors.
Hold the 9-speed gearbox to 7,500 rpm and it cycles through gears while the speedometer climbs faster than you can blink. It works flawlessly in the straights, putting down the right amount of power right when you need it. But that isn’t to say Acura’s 9-speed autobox is perfect. Far from it, in fact.
It took Acura only 18 months to develop its new gearbox, and it shows. In the corners—specifically on the track—it seemingly wanders around under the hood, searching for the right gear at the wrong time. Holding 1 for too long, not downshifting quick enough for another. By then, you’ve already clipped the apex going 2 or 3 mph slower than you should be. You can combat that by using the paddle shifters, but even then, it’s not even comparable to cars like the R8 or 911 relative to preciseness.
The steering rack follows a similar issue. Unless you’re in Sport+ or Track, which is quick and precise, it doesn’t feel a whole heluva lot like a $150,000 supercar. Depending on the type of person you are, that may ore may not be a good thing. Sport mode is comfortable, definitely, and Quiet mode is efficient, sure, but the steering is numb, and the all-wheel drive system doesn’t work well in unison with the suspension, leading to a healthy amount of understeer.
Acura’s saving grace for its senseless steering rack comes in the form of a $2,900 optional steering wheel. You get more than just a steering wheel, of course, (carbon fiber accents, etc.). But it’s the most important part. The steering wheel feels as if it was designed for you specifically. Yes, you. The way it contorts to your hand—every inch of your palm and fingertips are connected at once, giving you a better sense for the road. It’s like Acura engineers looked at a glove and said, “how can we make this into a steering wheel?” And they did.
Sure, a steering wheel might sound like a trivial thing, but this is the single best steering wheel my hands have ever touched in a road car.
There’s definitely a lot of detail in the new NSX. Arguably, too much for a single review. But when it comes down to the brass tacks, negativity aside, the NSX really is a marvel of engineering. 80% of the time it works every time. Even after tracking it, and moving at a healthy clip through the canyons, it returned 19 mpg, showed off its faultless all-wheel drive system, and looked good doing it. Really good.
For $156,000, with all the technology and over-thinking, the NSX doesn’t herald back to the original in the way you were hoping. But that’s ok. The way it does share similarity with the original product is its push for new technology. A feat of engineering—just like the original—but in a very different way.
It’s attractive and sustainable and previews a future—whether you like it or not—that’s coming right for you. Culminating performance, efficiency, and design, into a well-thought out, fun-to-drive package. That’s the true beauty of the Acura NSX.
Rushing down some backwoods highway in the California canyons, the feeling of rock and pine flashing by at warp speed past the window—we were moving at speeds any California Highway Patrol officer would conclude to be ‘reckless.’ I didn’t care, the Acura NSX I was piloting didn’t seem to give a damn either, it continued to push the limits of what was possible; on the corners, in the straights, and everywhere in between.
If you were looking for a lightweight supercar similar to the NSX you saw a decade ago, this wasn’t it. This was something far more advanced, seemingly from another era far beyond our time. A twin-turbocharged engine, 2 electric motors, and space-ship like design. This was a car built for the future, and here I was, in 2016, driving it quick.—dangerously quick.
For Acura, the NSX comes at a very important time. The brand is struggling to reinvent itself, because sometime between 1990 and 2016, Honda’s luxury marque strayed into the desert to do some soul-searching, eventually finding itself by creating vehicles 1 would consider far from ‘acceptable’ in the realm of luxury manufacturers.
It’s definitely a tough pill to swallow for everyone involved. But the 1st part of reinventing yourself is realizing your mistake. The 2nd part is putting that signature Honda “power of dreams” slogan to good use, proving to everyone that anything is possible. Things like the NSX are possible.
To understand this car you have to understand the entire thought process behind it. The new NSX was built in Ohio (yes, that’s the United States), at a facility designed specifically to build the new NSX. This further reassures everyone that Acura wants to continue its separation from the Japanese-built original. And that’s not a bad thing.
For 1, the technology on this car is bar none. It’s almost as if McLaren shrunk down its P1, made it look better, and slapped an Acura badge on it. The 3.5-liter V6 shares space with 2 electric motors—1 in the front, 1 in the back—to which a total of 573 horsepower and 476 lb-ft torque are produced. That’s not slow, and even without an official 0-60 mph figure to work with, I can tell you safely it’s somewhere in the 3 second range.
With an ample amount of power on hand, 1 of the things the NSX truly excels at is launch control. It’s as easy as transferring the car into Sport+ mode, mashing your left foot on the brake, right foot on the gas, and waiting for a sensor to tell you to get your ass up and go. As soon as you release the brake, a full G of force is thrust onto your chest. There’s no wheel spin, no fuss, no nothing to convince you that this isn’t 1 of the best systems money can buy.
Putting to use both the electric motors and the 3.5-liter V6, Acura’s power distribution is something of wonder. If you were looking for turbo lag—look somewhere else. Power is immediate and aggressive, just like any good supercar should be. The dual threat of electric and gas gives you gobs of power. Comparably, it’s a more efficient, though slightly convoluted approach to power than any of its segment competitors.
Hold the 9-speed gearbox to 7,500 rpm and it cycles through gears while the speedometer climbs faster than you can blink. It works flawlessly in the straights, putting down the right amount of power right when you need it. But that isn’t to say Acura’s 9-speed autobox is perfect. Far from it, in fact.
It took Acura only 18 months to develop its new gearbox, and it shows. In the corners—specifically on the track—it seemingly wanders around under the hood, searching for the right gear at the wrong time. Holding 1 for too long, not downshifting quick enough for another. By then, you’ve already clipped the apex going 2 or 3 mph slower than you should be. You can combat that by using the paddle shifters, but even then, it’s not even comparable to cars like the R8 or 911 relative to preciseness.
The steering rack follows a similar issue. Unless you’re in Sport+ or Track, which is quick and precise, it doesn’t feel a whole heluva lot like a $150,000 supercar. Depending on the type of person you are, that may ore may not be a good thing. Sport mode is comfortable, definitely, and Quiet mode is efficient, sure, but the steering is numb, and the all-wheel drive system doesn’t work well in unison with the suspension, leading to a healthy amount of understeer.
Acura’s saving grace for its senseless steering rack comes in the form of a $2,900 optional steering wheel. You get more than just a steering wheel, of course, (carbon fiber accents, etc.). But it’s the most important part. The steering wheel feels as if it was designed for you specifically. Yes, you. The way it contorts to your hand—every inch of your palm and fingertips are connected at once, giving you a better sense for the road. It’s like Acura engineers looked at a glove and said, “how can we make this into a steering wheel?” And they did.
Sure, a steering wheel might sound like a trivial thing, but this is the single best steering wheel my hands have ever touched in a road car.
There’s definitely a lot of detail in the new NSX. Arguably, too much for a single review. But when it comes down to the brass tacks, negativity aside, the NSX really is a marvel of engineering. 80% of the time it works every time. Even after tracking it, and moving at a healthy clip through the canyons, it returned 19 mpg, showed off its faultless all-wheel drive system, and looked good doing it. Really good.
For $156,000, with all the technology and over-thinking, the NSX doesn’t herald back to the original in the way you were hoping. But that’s ok. The way it does share similarity with the original product is its push for new technology. A feat of engineering—just like the original—but in a very different way.
It’s attractive and sustainable and previews a future—whether you like it or not—that’s coming right for you. Culminating performance, efficiency, and design, into a well-thought out, fun-to-drive package. That’s the true beauty of the Acura NSX.
Specs
Engine: 3.5L Twin-Turbo Hybrid V6
Horsepower: 573
0-60: 3.0 Seconds (est.)
Price (base): $156,000
Positives
Stunning design
Advanced technology
Track focused
Negatives
Numb steering rack
Cheap interior plastics
Engine: 3.5L Twin-Turbo Hybrid V6
Horsepower: 573
0-60: 3.0 Seconds (est.)
Price (base): $156,000
Positives
Stunning design
Advanced technology
Track focused
Negatives
Numb steering rack
Cheap interior plastics
I'm wondering if these aren't the exact same pre-production cars (perhaps software tweaks?) from the October tests at Sonoma with the same ground rules (no numbers allowed). Seems like a second test opportunity for publications that did not get a chance to test cars in Sonoma.
More reviews are great, but I still await instrumented tests with no restrictions.
More reviews are great, but I still await instrumented tests with no restrictions.
The reviewer wrote the NSX shares its gearbox with other Acura's. Says it all really. Where do they get these hacks?
Oh and by the way, the very great LJK Setright made a similar claim about the ride of the MkI NSX. It rode more like a luxury car than a sports car. So I suppose the suspension engineers got it right. Apparently in track mode it's a blast at the track. Perhaps the writer of this article wasn't aware it had a track mode?
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This guy isn't even aware there are three electric motors available. And he has the nerve to critisize the transmission. 
Probably not entirely fair in every case, but today's reviews feel like they are coming from tier-two pubs that didn't get an invite to Sonoma in October.
- Joined
- 16 November 2009
- Messages
- 145
Jalopnik
To Generation X, the letters “NSX” meant something. Maybe to the men and women of Minato, they meant “New Sports eXperimental,” but to us, they represented the dreams of our adolescence. Even in the 1990s, an elegant era of Japanese car design that brought us the best versions of the Mazda RX-7 and the Toyota Supra, the NSX stood alone as a paragon of technology and fascination. Talk about a tough act to follow for this new 2017 Acura NSX.
To those of us old enough to remember, yet young enough to wonder, the original NSX represented more than any marketing materials, any aspirational branding or any numbers on a spreadsheet ever could. The exotic from Acura, and not the offerings from the European, Paleozoic brands of Ferrari and Porsche, was the car that many people my age pictured ourselves owning someday as the sign that we had made it.
Thus, when it was announced in 2007 that Honda would be bringing the NSX nameplate back to life before the end of the decade, anticipation was palpable. So was skepticism. It had so much to live up to. 1 thing that helped was the exciting revelation that Honda would be using a new V10 engine to power its reincarnated supercar.
So we waited. And we waited.
Rarely has there been so much hype, buildup, and anticipation for a car as there was during the not quite decade of time that we’ve waited for this new NSX. Promises were made, broken, and then made again. A global recession and then a devastating Japanese earthquake sent Honda back to the drawing board more than once.
2010 came and went, and with it, the idea of the V10, making way for a twin-turbo V6 hybrid. Maybe we wouldn’t be getting a big, thumping, brute force-powered supercar after all, but rather a refined, technological, marvelous scalpel? Then when it finally seemed within our grasp, Acura completely re-engineered the entire thing.
Well, it’s now 2016, and Acura has at very long last, delivered on a new NSX. But have they possibly delivered on the promise of the NSX as well as the name?
The Specs That Matter
The new NSX is powered by a system that’s truly unlike anything we’ve ever seen in a car that stays south of the $200,000 mark. The Sport Hybrid SH-AWD power unit is made up of an all-new, NSX-exclusive, twin-turbocharged, mid-mounted 3.0-liter V6 engine paired with an all-new 9-speed dual clutch transmission and an electric Direct Drive Motor which not only provides instant torque, but also charges the hybrid batteries.
Supplementing this are 2 electric motors at the front of the car, which Acura calls a “Twin Motor Unit”, that provide power independently to the front wheels, meaning that it that is capable of providing real torque vectoring to all 4wheels whenever a driver needs it.
So what does all that techspeak really mean? I’m sure that there’s some ecologically responsible reason for all of this hybridness, but what I suspect you really care about is that the power comes on, like, now, with literal neck-snapping acceleration forces of over 1G. And it also provides a very non-supercar-like combined 21 MPG.
The complete package comes in at 3,803 pounds, which, quite frankly, sounds more Mustang than NSX. The heft does nothing to slow it down in a sprint, however, thanks to a combined 573 horsepower and 476 lb-ft of torque from the SH-AWD system.
Aided by a wickedly good launch control and, of course, all-wheel drive, the NSX will thump out a0-60 MPH jaunt in exactly 3 seconds flat.
Visually, Acura has created a captivating car. The exterior manages to be appropriately exotic while still cutting a silhouette that recalls the Japanese supercars of yesteryear—there’s no mistaking it for almost anything from the Continent.
If you want to turn heads, the NSX will undoubtedly make waves, even in a desert town like Palm Springs. Every time I parked the NSX out in public, camera phones started clicking like Beyoncé had just arrived. (For everyone who saw that I was not, in fact, Beyoncé, sorry to disappoint.)
The seats are also exquisitely designed. There’s enough lateral support for the most spirited of driving, yet comfort isn’t sacrificed at the altar of performance. Cross country drives aren’t just possible in the NSX, they’ve been done.
Acura engineers drove from the Ohio factory to Utah and back in order to do some testing at the former Miller Motorsports Park. In leather-trim, this is an interior that’s cool enough for pretending to be Johnny Tran, but sophisticated enough for listening to Johnny Mathis.
If you want your own NSX, well, it’s not just as simple as going down to the Acura dealer and picking 1 off the lot. Each NSX will be a special order, with much of the car being handmade in Ohio to its new owner’s specifications. Sticker price will start at $156,000, but to get the brakes, carbon fiber, and audio that you really want, be prepared to pony up closer to $200,000.
Track Tested
My New Sports eXperience was to begin bright and early at the Thermal Club, a private, country-club track nestled in a jarring juxtaposition between fields tilled by immigrant workers who begin their workday before the break of dawn, avoiding the sweltering heat of a town bold enough to call itself “Thermal.”
Acura arranged for Pirelli World Challenge RealTime Acura Drivers Ryan Eversley and Peter Cunningham to conduct the lead/follow session. Each of us was given 3 15-minute sessions on track, as Eversley and Cunningham took it in turn to cut a virtual set of ski tracks through the asphalt of the South Palm Circuit for 3 drivers at a time to follow.
The track is an exercise in patience, with plenty of run off in every tight, slow corner, giving very little chance for any journalist to mangle a 6-figure, pre-production car.
As is often the case at press drives, the on-track experience of those in attendance ranged from “never on track before” to “Indy 500 top-5finisher Alex Lloyd.” As such, I wasn’t able to gain much perspective about the driving performance of the NSX on track until my 3rd and final attempt, when I was situated directly behind Eversley, who was taking recently minted Acura VP and GM Jon Ikeda around in the passenger seat of his new baby.
“Game on, sucker,“ I said as I situated myself in the driver’s seat of the NSX for what would be my final track session.
“I’m sorry?” said 1 of the chief designers of the NSX, from my passenger seat.
“Um, nothing.” Damn. Kinda forgot you were sitting there, bro.
I used the large dial in the center stack of the NSX’s console to select Track Mode (the most aggressive and certainly the loudest of the 4 NSX drive modes), turned the VSA traction and stability control to “OFF,” and followed Eversley out onto the track. Game on, indeed.
Although the Thermal Club’s layout wasn’t necessarily conducive to an all-out track battle, Eversley didn’t let that stop him from going all out, daring me to stick as close to him as possible.
“Bark, I’m going to ask you to back off his bumper just a bit,” my passenger shouted over the shrieking twin-turbo V6 slung low behind us. “We’ve lost some windscreens this way.”
I saw what he meant—the massive 305 series Pirelli track tires of Eversley’s red Barchetta hurled rocks from the less-than-spotless surface of the circuit as we transitioned back through the esses into the straightaway.
My attempts to continue to carry on any sort of conversation with my passenger became hopeless as soon as the chase began. The sound of the twin-turbo V6 isn’t as awe-inspiring as the V10 of Audi’s R8 or as guttural as the Corvette Z06’s LT4, but, in Track Mode, it is assuredly as loud as you’d want it to be.
It creates a tone that reminds 1 of a car from the Jetsons-ish future that never was—well mannered, scientific, and methodical.
Better, Smarter, Faster... Than You Are
The SH-AWD system pulled me through corners with the merest application of throttle, allowing the torque vectoring to urgently direct power to the front wheel that needed it most. It’s almost never wrong to put the power down in the NSX on track. The car only gave me as much power as the traction could handle. Earlier was nearly always better.
In a few turns, our fellow NSX drivers had become mere blips in my mirror, and by the end of the 1st lap, they were gone. And Eversley, had he been so inclined, could have made me a blip, too.
What I realized in my futile attempt to chase down a World Challenge driver was this: on track the NSX does everything better than you, the driver, can.
Acura took aim squarely at Porsche’s PDK with their bespoke 9-speed transmission and it doesn’t disappoint. It downshifts and matches revs far better than any mortal. While the NSX tends toward a less hairy understeer in the turns, give it just a little trail braking into any corner and watch the oversteer come on slowly, but surely, and more importantly, predictably.
It even brakes better than you can, taking your inputs as little more than powerful suggestions as it applies the proper amount of pressure for you. It sloughs aside your sloppy throttle inputs at apex and dials in the throttle just so, positioning the car on exit exactly where it should be.
But even though I had a smile on my face as I returned to the pit road, I couldn’t help but feeling that it was all a bit Paint-By-Numbers. On track, the NSX drives like the fastest Japanese sedan you’ve ever driven—ever careful to mind its manners and provide a comfortable driving experience, even at the 140+ MPH the NSX effortlessly nosed past going into Turn 7.
The engineers told me that they had benchmarked it against the 911 Turbo S and the 458 Speciale, and it’s entirely possible that the NSX could be just as fast as those supercars on the course—maybe even faster.
But the visceral experience just wasn’t there. The sound wasn’t quite raucous enough. The grip wasn’t loose enough. The visibility was—well, I could see out of this supercar! That just isn’t right, you know?
Driving a car this fast and this expensive is supposed to be somewhat of a chore, the kind of chore that you humblebrag about to your friends (“Oh, that 1st-class flight to Milan was just murder.”)
And then I realized why I was pouting. The NSX was just too easy to drive on that track. I was genuinely pissed off by the fact that the electronic nannies were making me a better driver, that all my track time and laps behind the wheel of cars costing less than 1 10th of the NSX were rendered somewhat irrelevant by the NSX’s superior intelligence.
It’s not a 991 GT3, ready to whip its tail out at a moment’s notice to punish its driver for his sins. It’s not a Shelby GT350R, wailing at pitches previously only known to banshees. It’s a perfectly composed, neatly packaged, dare I say… luxurious track car.
And when you understand the purpose of the NSX, you begin to understand that Acura got it exactly right.
It Wins On The Street
The NSX wasn’t designed to be purely a track car. While the typical NSX owner may track his car anywhere from 3 to 4 times per year, the rest of the time, the NSX is intended to be a real, viable street car that owners can comfortably and easily daily drive, while still obtaining the feeling of maximum performance. So it was time to leave the track and test the NSX in the environment for which it was truly engineered—the road.
As I exited the Thermal Club, I was given a route through the San Jacinto Mountains to return to the hotel. Since we had left the track, I switched the NSX into “Sport Plus” mode, plugged my iPhone into the USB port, activated Apple CarPlay, and let the combined sound of the Christian McBride Big Band blasting through the 580-watt ELS Surround Sound System and the motor wash over me as the NSX and I became symbiotically 1 through the undulations of the mountain roads.
The true greatness of the NSX lies here. Not on the track, but in the real, dirty, non-antiseptic world. The magnetorheological suspension digests every bump, every divot, every patch of gravel with not only ease, but indifference.
While the 991 and the 458 might be the more organic way to make one’s way around a circuit, it’s hard to believe that the NSX couldn’t show its rather attractive hindquarters to either in the hills and canyons of southern California.
The confidence that it inspires is intoxicating. No matter the turn, no matter the camber, no matter the debris strewn across the road, the NSX simply sticks. The speeds that the Acura makes possible on public roads are not just illegal, they’re felonious. But if 1 simply must have a felony on one’s record, this would be the way to get it.
The Verdict
So is this NSX a fitting descendant of the older car that I loved so much growing up? Yes. Well, maybe.
After the road drive was completed Acura was kind enough, or perhaps foolish enough, to toss me the keys to a company-owned 2005 NSX. It was not a museum piece. It was a 47,000-mile example. The seats weren’t perfect. The steering wheel had faded over the years by the California sun.
And while the original NSX may have been a technical marvel in its day, to drive it now serves as reminder of a time when the best cars communicated in analog fashion. They reacted to your inputs. They had a dialogue with you. They became 1 with you, the driver.
This new NSX asks you to become 1 with it. To envelop yourself in its comfort, its luxury, its technology, to become as much of a hybrid as it is.
What Acura has done with this new NSX is to take a driving experience that was previously only accessible to the gifted and allow the ordinary (if rather wealthy) man to fly just close enough to the sun to revel in its power and beauty. And if, in order to fly that close, 1 has to wear a suit of technological armor, is that a price that they should be willing to pay?
That’s up to you. Me? I say it, quickly and easily, without hesitation: hell yes.
To Generation X, the letters “NSX” meant something. Maybe to the men and women of Minato, they meant “New Sports eXperimental,” but to us, they represented the dreams of our adolescence. Even in the 1990s, an elegant era of Japanese car design that brought us the best versions of the Mazda RX-7 and the Toyota Supra, the NSX stood alone as a paragon of technology and fascination. Talk about a tough act to follow for this new 2017 Acura NSX.
To those of us old enough to remember, yet young enough to wonder, the original NSX represented more than any marketing materials, any aspirational branding or any numbers on a spreadsheet ever could. The exotic from Acura, and not the offerings from the European, Paleozoic brands of Ferrari and Porsche, was the car that many people my age pictured ourselves owning someday as the sign that we had made it.
Thus, when it was announced in 2007 that Honda would be bringing the NSX nameplate back to life before the end of the decade, anticipation was palpable. So was skepticism. It had so much to live up to. 1 thing that helped was the exciting revelation that Honda would be using a new V10 engine to power its reincarnated supercar.
So we waited. And we waited.
Rarely has there been so much hype, buildup, and anticipation for a car as there was during the not quite decade of time that we’ve waited for this new NSX. Promises were made, broken, and then made again. A global recession and then a devastating Japanese earthquake sent Honda back to the drawing board more than once.
2010 came and went, and with it, the idea of the V10, making way for a twin-turbo V6 hybrid. Maybe we wouldn’t be getting a big, thumping, brute force-powered supercar after all, but rather a refined, technological, marvelous scalpel? Then when it finally seemed within our grasp, Acura completely re-engineered the entire thing.
Well, it’s now 2016, and Acura has at very long last, delivered on a new NSX. But have they possibly delivered on the promise of the NSX as well as the name?
(Full disclosure: Acura needed me to drive the new NSX so badly they provided airfare to Palm Springs, 3 nights at the Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, and enough food and wine to feed a small village, and also make said village drunk-dial neighboring small village and tell them how much it misses them.)
The Specs That Matter
The new NSX is powered by a system that’s truly unlike anything we’ve ever seen in a car that stays south of the $200,000 mark. The Sport Hybrid SH-AWD power unit is made up of an all-new, NSX-exclusive, twin-turbocharged, mid-mounted 3.0-liter V6 engine paired with an all-new 9-speed dual clutch transmission and an electric Direct Drive Motor which not only provides instant torque, but also charges the hybrid batteries.
Supplementing this are 2 electric motors at the front of the car, which Acura calls a “Twin Motor Unit”, that provide power independently to the front wheels, meaning that it that is capable of providing real torque vectoring to all 4wheels whenever a driver needs it.
So what does all that techspeak really mean? I’m sure that there’s some ecologically responsible reason for all of this hybridness, but what I suspect you really care about is that the power comes on, like, now, with literal neck-snapping acceleration forces of over 1G. And it also provides a very non-supercar-like combined 21 MPG.
The complete package comes in at 3,803 pounds, which, quite frankly, sounds more Mustang than NSX. The heft does nothing to slow it down in a sprint, however, thanks to a combined 573 horsepower and 476 lb-ft of torque from the SH-AWD system.
Aided by a wickedly good launch control and, of course, all-wheel drive, the NSX will thump out a0-60 MPH jaunt in exactly 3 seconds flat.
Visually, Acura has created a captivating car. The exterior manages to be appropriately exotic while still cutting a silhouette that recalls the Japanese supercars of yesteryear—there’s no mistaking it for almost anything from the Continent.
If you want to turn heads, the NSX will undoubtedly make waves, even in a desert town like Palm Springs. Every time I parked the NSX out in public, camera phones started clicking like Beyoncé had just arrived. (For everyone who saw that I was not, in fact, Beyoncé, sorry to disappoint.)
The seats are also exquisitely designed. There’s enough lateral support for the most spirited of driving, yet comfort isn’t sacrificed at the altar of performance. Cross country drives aren’t just possible in the NSX, they’ve been done.
Acura engineers drove from the Ohio factory to Utah and back in order to do some testing at the former Miller Motorsports Park. In leather-trim, this is an interior that’s cool enough for pretending to be Johnny Tran, but sophisticated enough for listening to Johnny Mathis.
If you want your own NSX, well, it’s not just as simple as going down to the Acura dealer and picking 1 off the lot. Each NSX will be a special order, with much of the car being handmade in Ohio to its new owner’s specifications. Sticker price will start at $156,000, but to get the brakes, carbon fiber, and audio that you really want, be prepared to pony up closer to $200,000.
Track Tested
My New Sports eXperience was to begin bright and early at the Thermal Club, a private, country-club track nestled in a jarring juxtaposition between fields tilled by immigrant workers who begin their workday before the break of dawn, avoiding the sweltering heat of a town bold enough to call itself “Thermal.”
Acura arranged for Pirelli World Challenge RealTime Acura Drivers Ryan Eversley and Peter Cunningham to conduct the lead/follow session. Each of us was given 3 15-minute sessions on track, as Eversley and Cunningham took it in turn to cut a virtual set of ski tracks through the asphalt of the South Palm Circuit for 3 drivers at a time to follow.
The track is an exercise in patience, with plenty of run off in every tight, slow corner, giving very little chance for any journalist to mangle a 6-figure, pre-production car.
As is often the case at press drives, the on-track experience of those in attendance ranged from “never on track before” to “Indy 500 top-5finisher Alex Lloyd.” As such, I wasn’t able to gain much perspective about the driving performance of the NSX on track until my 3rd and final attempt, when I was situated directly behind Eversley, who was taking recently minted Acura VP and GM Jon Ikeda around in the passenger seat of his new baby.
“Game on, sucker,“ I said as I situated myself in the driver’s seat of the NSX for what would be my final track session.
“I’m sorry?” said 1 of the chief designers of the NSX, from my passenger seat.
“Um, nothing.” Damn. Kinda forgot you were sitting there, bro.
I used the large dial in the center stack of the NSX’s console to select Track Mode (the most aggressive and certainly the loudest of the 4 NSX drive modes), turned the VSA traction and stability control to “OFF,” and followed Eversley out onto the track. Game on, indeed.
Although the Thermal Club’s layout wasn’t necessarily conducive to an all-out track battle, Eversley didn’t let that stop him from going all out, daring me to stick as close to him as possible.
“Bark, I’m going to ask you to back off his bumper just a bit,” my passenger shouted over the shrieking twin-turbo V6 slung low behind us. “We’ve lost some windscreens this way.”
I saw what he meant—the massive 305 series Pirelli track tires of Eversley’s red Barchetta hurled rocks from the less-than-spotless surface of the circuit as we transitioned back through the esses into the straightaway.
My attempts to continue to carry on any sort of conversation with my passenger became hopeless as soon as the chase began. The sound of the twin-turbo V6 isn’t as awe-inspiring as the V10 of Audi’s R8 or as guttural as the Corvette Z06’s LT4, but, in Track Mode, it is assuredly as loud as you’d want it to be.
It creates a tone that reminds 1 of a car from the Jetsons-ish future that never was—well mannered, scientific, and methodical.
Better, Smarter, Faster... Than You Are
The SH-AWD system pulled me through corners with the merest application of throttle, allowing the torque vectoring to urgently direct power to the front wheel that needed it most. It’s almost never wrong to put the power down in the NSX on track. The car only gave me as much power as the traction could handle. Earlier was nearly always better.
In a few turns, our fellow NSX drivers had become mere blips in my mirror, and by the end of the 1st lap, they were gone. And Eversley, had he been so inclined, could have made me a blip, too.
What I realized in my futile attempt to chase down a World Challenge driver was this: on track the NSX does everything better than you, the driver, can.
Acura took aim squarely at Porsche’s PDK with their bespoke 9-speed transmission and it doesn’t disappoint. It downshifts and matches revs far better than any mortal. While the NSX tends toward a less hairy understeer in the turns, give it just a little trail braking into any corner and watch the oversteer come on slowly, but surely, and more importantly, predictably.
It even brakes better than you can, taking your inputs as little more than powerful suggestions as it applies the proper amount of pressure for you. It sloughs aside your sloppy throttle inputs at apex and dials in the throttle just so, positioning the car on exit exactly where it should be.
But even though I had a smile on my face as I returned to the pit road, I couldn’t help but feeling that it was all a bit Paint-By-Numbers. On track, the NSX drives like the fastest Japanese sedan you’ve ever driven—ever careful to mind its manners and provide a comfortable driving experience, even at the 140+ MPH the NSX effortlessly nosed past going into Turn 7.
The engineers told me that they had benchmarked it against the 911 Turbo S and the 458 Speciale, and it’s entirely possible that the NSX could be just as fast as those supercars on the course—maybe even faster.
But the visceral experience just wasn’t there. The sound wasn’t quite raucous enough. The grip wasn’t loose enough. The visibility was—well, I could see out of this supercar! That just isn’t right, you know?
Driving a car this fast and this expensive is supposed to be somewhat of a chore, the kind of chore that you humblebrag about to your friends (“Oh, that 1st-class flight to Milan was just murder.”)
And then I realized why I was pouting. The NSX was just too easy to drive on that track. I was genuinely pissed off by the fact that the electronic nannies were making me a better driver, that all my track time and laps behind the wheel of cars costing less than 1 10th of the NSX were rendered somewhat irrelevant by the NSX’s superior intelligence.
It’s not a 991 GT3, ready to whip its tail out at a moment’s notice to punish its driver for his sins. It’s not a Shelby GT350R, wailing at pitches previously only known to banshees. It’s a perfectly composed, neatly packaged, dare I say… luxurious track car.
And when you understand the purpose of the NSX, you begin to understand that Acura got it exactly right.
It Wins On The Street
The NSX wasn’t designed to be purely a track car. While the typical NSX owner may track his car anywhere from 3 to 4 times per year, the rest of the time, the NSX is intended to be a real, viable street car that owners can comfortably and easily daily drive, while still obtaining the feeling of maximum performance. So it was time to leave the track and test the NSX in the environment for which it was truly engineered—the road.
As I exited the Thermal Club, I was given a route through the San Jacinto Mountains to return to the hotel. Since we had left the track, I switched the NSX into “Sport Plus” mode, plugged my iPhone into the USB port, activated Apple CarPlay, and let the combined sound of the Christian McBride Big Band blasting through the 580-watt ELS Surround Sound System and the motor wash over me as the NSX and I became symbiotically 1 through the undulations of the mountain roads.
The true greatness of the NSX lies here. Not on the track, but in the real, dirty, non-antiseptic world. The magnetorheological suspension digests every bump, every divot, every patch of gravel with not only ease, but indifference.
While the 991 and the 458 might be the more organic way to make one’s way around a circuit, it’s hard to believe that the NSX couldn’t show its rather attractive hindquarters to either in the hills and canyons of southern California.
The confidence that it inspires is intoxicating. No matter the turn, no matter the camber, no matter the debris strewn across the road, the NSX simply sticks. The speeds that the Acura makes possible on public roads are not just illegal, they’re felonious. But if 1 simply must have a felony on one’s record, this would be the way to get it.
The Verdict
So is this NSX a fitting descendant of the older car that I loved so much growing up? Yes. Well, maybe.
After the road drive was completed Acura was kind enough, or perhaps foolish enough, to toss me the keys to a company-owned 2005 NSX. It was not a museum piece. It was a 47,000-mile example. The seats weren’t perfect. The steering wheel had faded over the years by the California sun.
And while the original NSX may have been a technical marvel in its day, to drive it now serves as reminder of a time when the best cars communicated in analog fashion. They reacted to your inputs. They had a dialogue with you. They became 1 with you, the driver.
This new NSX asks you to become 1 with it. To envelop yourself in its comfort, its luxury, its technology, to become as much of a hybrid as it is.
What Acura has done with this new NSX is to take a driving experience that was previously only accessible to the gifted and allow the ordinary (if rather wealthy) man to fly just close enough to the sun to revel in its power and beauty. And if, in order to fly that close, 1 has to wear a suit of technological armor, is that a price that they should be willing to pay?
That’s up to you. Me? I say it, quickly and easily, without hesitation: hell yes.
Der Spiegel has a very favorable review (in German language) at
http://www.spiegel.de/auto/fahrberichte/honda-nsx-im-test-die-macht-erwacht-a-1081853.html .
(There is -- above all, in this price class -- no other racer that drives so intuitively and foolproof-ly around a course. One can brake later, corner more sharply, and step on the gas again sooner after the apex. The NSX plays with centrifugal force as if it were only a concept from physics class. The tail end is at no time nervous in its response, there is no understeer, the NSX follows the ideal line like on an electronic guidebeam and then stands up straight again and takes off quickly.)
The worst complaints Spiegel had about the NSX had to do with the appearance of the instruments.
They expect the price to start at €180,000.
http://www.spiegel.de/auto/fahrberichte/honda-nsx-im-test-die-macht-erwacht-a-1081853.html .
(There is -- above all, in this price class -- no other racer that drives so intuitively and foolproof-ly around a course. One can brake later, corner more sharply, and step on the gas again sooner after the apex. The NSX plays with centrifugal force as if it were only a concept from physics class. The tail end is at no time nervous in its response, there is no understeer, the NSX follows the ideal line like on an electronic guidebeam and then stands up straight again and takes off quickly.)
The worst complaints Spiegel had about the NSX had to do with the appearance of the instruments.
They expect the price to start at €180,000.
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"Der Spiegel" is Germany's equiv of USA "Time" magazine....
Not exactly the go to on car recommendations for most enthusiasts.
Not exactly the go to on car recommendations for most enthusiasts.
Have you ever read Spiegel?
It's like Time in that it's a weekly news magazine but I find it to be more substantial and thorough.
Yeah it's not a car magazine but there are a few subjects (e.g., cars and music) that Germans take rather seriously and expect to see quality reporting on.
All the reviews I've read so far are exactly what I expected.
Easy to drive fast, good ergos, refined not loud, pretty much the same as the first generation but faster.
And like the first generation fast but not the fastest in all the land.
And certainly higher limits than I'm capable of driving to.
Easy to drive fast, good ergos, refined not loud, pretty much the same as the first generation but faster.
And like the first generation fast but not the fastest in all the land.
And certainly higher limits than I'm capable of driving to.
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Politics is obviously their forte....Der Spiegel youtube channel & website pretty much shows where they spend their time....hint it's not supercars.
I'll ask again: have you read Spiegel?
By all means, take their review in context. It's a brief review in a newsweekly. But it's a newsweekly for a country where the population tends to know a bit about cars. If Time reports on the NSX, I'm guessing they won't use words like apex and understeer, and they won't be excited enough about the car to put a 13-pic slideshow of it on their web site like Spiegel did.
Tom.....I have read the English version, but never considered them for car purchase advice.
The new NSX is newsworthy in Germany and that's a good thing.
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I don't read Spiegel, but I love this...http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/sprockets.gif
Carbuzz review...
ACURA CAN BUILD THE NSX: IT STILL WON'T SAVE THE COMPANY
http://www.carbuzz.com/m/Article.aspx?Id=32449
ACURA CAN BUILD THE NSX: IT STILL WON'T SAVE THE COMPANY
http://www.carbuzz.com/m/Article.aspx?Id=32449
fastaussie
Suspended
spot on, 100%...
Gleaning from their reviews, it seems like they will have the ability to build 2080 cars per year (8 per day x 260 "workdays") - which is a lot of cars. They also state that in the first year they are planning on producing 800 cars.
My knee jerk reaction is to say that they are repeating history again (and no, I don't mean the cheap materials they are using in the interior) by anticipating a much greater demand than exists. However, I pulled the production numbers for the Audi R8 and it looks like Acura did their homework:
Audi R8 Production numbers:
2007: 4,125
2008: 5,656
2009: 2,101
2010: 3,485
So if the R8 averaged around 3500 units per year, they are anticipating around 60% comparable demand. I guess I am just used to NSX production numbers being quite a bit lower
My knee jerk reaction is to say that they are repeating history again (and no, I don't mean the cheap materials they are using in the interior) by anticipating a much greater demand than exists. However, I pulled the production numbers for the Audi R8 and it looks like Acura did their homework:
Audi R8 Production numbers:
2007: 4,125
2008: 5,656
2009: 2,101
2010: 3,485
So if the R8 averaged around 3500 units per year, they are anticipating around 60% comparable demand. I guess I am just used to NSX production numbers being quite a bit lower
fastaussie
Suspended
seems no one is caring much for the Acura brand these days...
Certainly agree with that today.
But I expect that with the NSX, F1, and what's to follow from Acura over the next few years that will change.
Time will tell.
fastaussie
Suspended
i dunno if F1 will do much to change anyone's perception of the brand, but the NSX exists solely for that very reason...
I do hope the Honda F1 drivetrain starts to show significant improvement this year.
I don't think we should sell Honda short on engines/drivetrains.
Too much skill and too much dedication to success.
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