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Thoughts on our new Huracan vs. the NSX 1st gen and 2nd gen

Joined
15 October 2003
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West coast!
Before we get into this - wanted to give some background info on why we picked up a Huracan over the new 2nd gen NSX. We've been fortunate to experience both of these cars various times both on the track and in street driving. It's not an easy decision as we love our 1st gen NSX and the original plan was to pick up a 2nd gen NSX to do parts development. After driving both cars extensively, we picked the Huracan primarily for the V10 engine and exhaust note. It's hard to argue with a modern V10 and the sounds associated with it. Since we have access to a NC1 NSX for development already we figured this is the best route for now. When the NSX-R comes out in the future we will consider this car again.

The first time we saw the new NSX was back at NSXPO 2015 - it was the black factory car that Acura brought out for display. We did not get a chance to ride in the car back then but did get to hear it rev and see it around the Thermal raceway with a few lucky people. It was a very impressive car and in following months, read many reviews and watched the videos like all of you have. Since then we've had the opportunity to work with a few new NSX owners on developing various parts including a new carbon fiber steering wheel, cup holders and other interior trim pieces. Fast forward to NSXPO 2016 and we got lucky enough to ride in the Pikes Peak 2nd gen NSX driven by James Robertson. The hot laps at Sebring in both a 2004 supercharged NSX, then a McLaren 650s and finally the Pikes Peak NSX really gave us a lot of excitement and awe for the new car.

The new NSX really proved to us this is an exciting platform that is very competitive against the best in the world. The 4" turbo back exhaust on the race car was superb and the car really drove very well. Fast forward to the present and we've been lucky to have a friend with a 2nd gen NSX let us borrow his car to develop the parts. Originally the plan to was special order a 2018 NSX in yellow or even a NSX-R but since those things won't happen for quite some time, we've decided to pick up a LP610-4 instead to do parts development.

Whereas the Acura uses a turbo 6 power plant and the McLaren employs a twin turbo V8, the Huracan is one of the last cars to use a naturally aspirated V10. The paddle gear box in this car is one of the best in our opinion right up next to the Ferrari and Porsche PDK. In Strada or Race mode the car shifts extremely aggressively in AUTO mode or in MANUAL mode it will bark and growl with every downshift. We installed the OEM Lamborghini "race" exhaust which is 2 steps above the standard one or the sport exhaust. The aural sound of this motor is the one huge aspect which made us pick this car over the McLaren or the new NSX.

One of the fun parts of the job is being able to drive these cars and here's what we've discovered after putting some miles on both cars around town (no track time on either one yet)


2017 NSX:

- Electric mode is not Tesla fast, however it's a really nice feature to cruise along in slow traffic or into neighborhoods if you want to tread lightly

- Driving the NC1 around town, it's by far the EASIEST car to drive, you almost forgot you are driving a super car which can be good or bad...

- Although small, having an actual "trunk" in the back of the car is pretty nice like the 1st gen NSX. Fits a case of water or some groceries easily!

- The car does not have the LATCH system on the front passenger seat so to put a kid in the front you need to use the seat belts. Ferrari in comparison has the LATCH system and the R8 offers it as an option. Hurican does not have it either.

- Although the car lacks the exhaust note of other exotics, it does make a very unique noise of it's own. The whine is supercharger like but more refined than say an s2000 with Paxton blower.

- Steering wheel feel is on par with how the McLaren feels, in fact the steering wheel on both cars feel almost the same in terms of shape, textile feel and diameter! It's far superior to the stock wheel on the 1st gen NSX for sure, not bulky at all!

- Interior leather fit and finish isn't bad but it just feels normal, like an Acura or Honda. Certainly not Mercedes or Audi quality and lacks the "exotic" feel for sure even with the Carbon package. We hope to fix this soon!

- When pushed hard, the car really comes alive! This is when you feel the car is really special, freeway on-ramps are so much fun, it REALLY pulls pretty hard and can hit triple digit speeds without trying.

- Driving position is really good, no blind spots except at one position on the passenger rear you have to kind of use the mirror to pay attention. Seats are extremely comfortable but could use some more side bolster support.

- Never read the owners manual and got most of the functions to work. The buttons are very intuitive and easy to use. One thing this car could use is a "Lifter assist" system on steep driveways so perhaps this will be an option in the future?


LP610-4 Huracan:

- No electric mode in this car obviously but the minute you open the doors you know you are stepping into something special. The fit and finish of the interior is top notch with great use of leather, Alcantara bits on the side console knee supports, dash inserts and 2-tone leather throughout the car!

- The Huracan has 3 modes of driving selectable on the steering wheel (Strada, Sport, and Corsa). If you select Auto and Strada, the car is actually pretty civil with no barking noises, popping or noise at low throttle. The Auto mode is super smooth and will shift into 7th gear around town. The ride quality is extremely good, no worse than say an M3 around town.

- It's hard to forget the V10 motor because even in Strada mode, once you get on the throttle there is a lot of intake noise and the motor pulls in almost any gear at any speed. Endless torque from the motor.

- For an AWD car, this car has an amazing turning radius

- The car is super wide and very low however it feels shorter as it fits in the garage easily with much more space to spare compared to our 1st gen NSX

- The driving position is very good with super supportive lumbar on the seats. We like the fact this car has virtually no blind spots. The only drawback is if you drive this thing in the rain, water gets in and fogs up the back window so that makes it hard to see out back

- Flip the switch into Sport or Corsa mode and now it's what a true exotic should be. There is no way it can be civil at this point since the race exhaust barks, backfires, pops and roars. If driven in Auto mode, the car downshifts through each gear aggressively and if driven in manual, just enjoy the exhaust note as you have precise control of the best. There is a reason why they call this a Bull!

- Compared to Lambo of the 90's era, this car has a superb audio and infotainment system with SD card, DVD player, Bluetooth, XM radio and pretty much anything else a modern car should have. Everything works as it should and the backup camera is super clear and quite handy in this car.

- The only thing this interior lacks is carbon fiber. Surprisingly there isn't much CF at all here, the steering wheel has an ugly plastic piece at the bottom just begging for an upgrade so we plan to build a very trick carbon fiber / black Alcantara wheel to replace it.

- There is no rear trunk but the "frunk" at the front is decent sized and will fit a 2-ball bowling bag or a duffel for a weekend trip. No golf bag will fit in this car!

- We like the fact the door handles pop out when un-locked similar to a Tesla almost welcoming you into the cabin space.

- Side by side, the Huracan sits a bit lower than the NC1 NSX but both cars have stunning visual - looks are subjective after all but we had equal amount of head turning for both cars. Even the soccer mom's that ignore the 1st gen NSX can't ignore this bull.

- Sadly the Huracan does not have a cup holder option nor anywhere to put a phone


We will have more day to day notes as we do more testing for both of these days.

Track times and performance 0-60 are all great facts to read about but a big part of owning these super impractical cars is how it makes the driver feel when driving the car around town. Currently we are developing parts for the new NSX using our friend's car so look forward to quite a few new parts in carbon to make the interior feel a bit more exotic.

Besides the NSX market we also do quite a few parts for the Lambo, R8 and McLaren markets. This Huracan will serve as the test bed for many of our new carbon aero parts and interior trim pieces.

Follow us on Instagram [MENTION=8868]EuroBoutique[/MENTION] to get the latest updates!


A few snap shots of the Huracan in bone stock form - mods are coming shortly along with more photos!


Interior:


Exterior:
 
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Great color and congrats .......... I hope to pick one up when they come into my price range

Thank you my friend!


We are looking to build this car with some of our partners in preparation for the Lambo Festival. Working on this car is like an Audi with well thought out layouts however everything is just that much more difficult to do!

Test fitting our Dry Carbon MAD Hydra aero kit is going to be fun!

 
That looks bad ass! The huracan definitely needs a big wing to match it's huge rear end.
 
sick, sick machine. there is nothing quite like it. as you stated, there is a 'raging bull' on the front of this car for a reason... :biggrin:
 
Beautiful. The V10...yum...
I need to make more money.
 
Beautiful. The V10...yum...
I need to make more money.

Hard to beat a huge V10 howling behind your ears but there are days where some quiet would be nice. How is your new NSX treating you? You have our favorite color by far. We've had a few of the new NSX's come through our shop for CF work so starting to get more familiar with the car.
 
Rich.
We met at nsxpo in Orlando. Not sure if you remember my wife and I (Vanessa). We spoke more about kids than cars. lol
Glad I'm on this coast or else I'd be spending way too much money at your shop.
 
Rich.
We met at nsxpo in Orlando. Not sure if you remember my wife and I (Vanessa). We spoke more about kids than cars. lol
Glad I'm on this coast or else I'd be spending way too much money at your shop.


Now that you mention it ~ yes I do remember! Orlando was nice since no kids so able to just relax a bit and enjoy all the nice cars.

We have a black 2.0 NSX here getting some carbon fiber work done right now. And we have another NSX owner who sent us some of his 2.0 NSX parts to get some work quoted. These days you don't need to be close by, there is alway FEDEX and UPS :) We ship a lot of parts to the FL owners.

Did you bring your blue car to Orlando? I don't remember seeing a blue one.
 
Told my wife that I am not interested in the new NSX...until the hot laps at nsxpo.
Connected with the Acura dealer that came during the dinner event. Ordered it a few days later. Worth every penny.
 
Good informative post - thanks!
One question that was left unanswered though is the price of each cars as compared. I haven't shopped lambos, so I don't know if they are at MSRP, over, only available optioned, etc, etc so it is tough for me to get a feel for the price relative to the NSX
 
Good informative post - thanks!
One question that was left unanswered though is the price of each cars as compared. I haven't shopped lambos, so I don't know if they are at MSRP, over, only available optioned, etc, etc so it is tough for me to get a feel for the price relative to the NSX

Good point - we left pricing out because they vary quite a bit depending on history, dealer and geography, etc.'


Typically the LP610-4 goes for about $290k MSRP, dealers do have some wiggle room to move them. Used with a few k miles run around the $230k range. Keep in mind the options on these cars can make the MSRP vary from 270-310k so there is quite a variance. Also there is a LP580-W (RWD) model that starts at a much lower MSRP. The difference between the AWD and RWD is about $40-50k. I think the Performante edition is pretty much sold out allocation wise. Our local dealer has 9 slots over 2 years and all are spoken for.

The 2017 NSX has seen discounts from $5k to $25k off MSRP in some cases. All depends on your negotiation skills and how bad the dealer wants to sell the car.

McLaren are also being sold new at discount off MSRP. Very few cars are being sold at over MSRP besides the Porsche limited edition cars and a few hyper cars.
 
Thanks, that would have been my estimation. So a typical Huracan is close to $100k over the typical NSX. That's a pretty big jump which is why I tend not to really see them as competitors
 
That's a beauty. Congrats.
 
I love the spoiler. What all did you wrap other than the stripes?
 
I love the spoiler. What all did you wrap other than the stripes?


thanks!

The CF aero kit includes the rear decklid + spoiler as one piece, front splitters, side skirts (not installed yet) and rear diffuser (not installed) yet. Besides the vinyl stripes, we had the roof, rear bumper and sections of the front lower air-dam wrapped in black to give it the jet fighter look.




 
Is this going to stay mechanically stock or are there plans??

We have Novitec suspension going in shortly. Exhaust has already been swapped out for the Race exhaust. Engine will stay stock, car is plenty fast and we have no intention of doing forced induction for a car that will render it impossible to pass SMOG here.
 
EuroBoutique,
Sorry ......But the Huracan does have a cupholder and a carbon interior available.
 

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^Yes we are well aware of the cupholder option, it's $400 we didn't want to spend and during a test drive - it really doesn't hold anything and tends to spill all over the car!

That second photo is carbon fiber alright but that is NOT an option but rather the Performante edition of the Huracan. From our knowledge that interior is only available on that specific car which is WAY more $$$$$!
 
A friend shot this video for us - (*there's some NSX content in there) but the plan to to shoot a video for the NSX in same fashion in future next to our 2.0 NSX :)


Enjoy:

https://youtu.be/u1EuC6ZqueA


Credit for video goes to DeeSquaredDrives - hit him up for more info!

Instagram [MENTION=8868]EuroBoutique[/MENTION] @deesquareddrives
 
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A lot has happened the past few weeks and we got quite a bit more seat time in the new NSX. There's quite a bit difference when you drive the car on roads you are familiar with vs. tracks and roads that you are not familiar with.

In the past weeks, we were down at Car Week in Monterey and met up with Neima who is the Acura west coast director. Acura had a very prominent display at CarWeek this year and their location was PRIME SPOT next to the famous Quail car show and directly across from the massive Porsche exhibit. We got a chance to drive the Casino white NSX as we were there pretty early and noticed an added bonus was the car was equipped with the Trofeo race tires instead of the standard tires:




here you can see all of the cars lined up prior to test drives, when we spoke with Acura they said on Thursday alone they had nearly 98 people drive the cars!



Everything from Nord Grey to both shades of white were present and the sexy Blue car was on display for scheduled test drives. We got a chance to really get the car up to speed on the twisty canyon roads. The cool thing about Car Week is that there are so many exotics on the roads it's mind boggling. When we left the golf course hotel, we followed a Bugatti out and then was being trailed by a Lamborghini Aventador that seemed eager to prove his powerful V12 motor was superior :)
 
Views like this were so common that we really got a chance to appreciate the car's road appeal as very sexy with the low slung headlights and stance:



For our test drive, we were teamed up with one of Acura's co-pilots who just happened to be a race car driver as well. As a result they told us to drive the car hard, push it to the limits and just don't crash. We were on public roads so we had to be cautious because CHP was everywhere to grab people. McLaren and Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche were all doing test drives too on the surrounding roads so it was exotic car heaven you could say.

We followed a GT3 up the canyon road and we immediately noticed the NSX has virtually no turbo lag. It's really hard to even know you are driving a turbocharged car as the car has no delay, no lay and pulls with an hard intensity that we hit the redline a few time by mistake because it comes up so quickly. We can tell the GT3 was trying to shake us but we pretty much stayed right behind him in his line matching every shift. The Acura paddles are not the same as what we have our on our Huracan. Each click produces a noticeable "click" and has a unique textile feel that is different. It's not bad but doesn't match the exotic feel of the Huracan or McLaren shifter. One thing to note is the NSX paddles are mounted on the steering wheel similar to how BMW does their setup whereas the Huracan is on the column and fixed. I guess it's more personal preference but this takes some getting used to.

Another unique thing is the turn signals on the NSX is simply the standard stalk. We were so used to the button setup we mistakenly hit that (NSX has similar buttons on the left side of the faceplate we thought it was the turn signals)

Huracan (turn signals operate like a motorcycle, slide the button left or right, press down to cancel)


McLaren 720s wheel setup:



NSX wheel:
 
We recently picked up a 2017 Noveulle Blue NSX and took her on a 1300 mile road trip. Up to this point, we've been driving this car around town so haven't noticed many of these quirks / features of the car so wanted to write a follow-up.

Pluses:

a) Car seats are extremely comfortable! We would never attempt this in any other exotic but didn't hesitate with this NSX.

b) Very good visible at high speed passing, quick lane changes in heavy traffic. There is virtually no blind spot in this car!

c) We got 18.9 mpg on the 1300 mile road trip driving pretty conservative (Wyoming has a 80mph speed limit!)

d) ELS audio system is amazing, don't see any need to upgrade

e) The CarPlay interface allows the computer to read text messages to you and you can dictate a reply all from the touchscreen on the car, never have to touch my phone, AMAZING!

f) Trunk is pretty good size with roomy front seats but car lacks some storage in the door sections

g) Car is smart, won't let you lock a key in the trunk if you try to close it, pops up automatically. It happened to us 3 times before we realized the spare key was in the backpack and had to remove it

h) The car is effortless at accelerating and cruising at triple digit speeds if needed.

i) Valentine 1 radar works well in this car, none of the electronics interfere with the V1. Saved us at least 3 times on the trip

j) We were super lucky this car is either frugal on gas or the designers thought of people like us. We were driving in the middle of the salt flats (desert) with nothing around when we noticed the gas was down to 36 miles range. We quickly looked on our NAV and nearest gas station was 56 miles away. When the gauge dropped to 0 miles range, we were nervous to say the least, dropped to 65mph and drove with a steady grip praying......those last 20 miles to the gas station was the longest 20 miles. Luckily the car made it without having to go to electric power. Not even sure if the car can cover 20 miles with electric only power and no gas?



Ok now to the bad things which can hopefully be fixed:

1) Wind leakage noise is pretty apparent and bad - it was coming from both windows near the side mirrors and started around 60mph and comes and goes. Definitely need to have dealer address this, we read about this from another owner, how was it fixed?

2) The car has a relatively short range with 280 miles. We had to fill the tank quite a few times over the 1300 mile trip. Good news is when it does read 0 miles you can still cover roughly 20 miles on empty without any issues (don't ask how we found out, along with a few white hairs and knuckles) - See line J

3) The ride quality reminded us of our F80 m3 in Track Mode. The ride was rough and and pretty stuff. Running over the lane bumps really woke you up immediately. The bad here is even in Sport mode, the ride doesn't change. So all 3 modes is same suspension feel.

4) We wish you can engage "D" by holding both paddles back (same as Huracan and McLaren) - Call it habit but we really had to get used to hitting the D button everytime

5) Paddles should be larger and prefer mounting to the steering column. The longer paddles we will address shortly with extended CF paddles!

6) Stock Conti tires are HORRIBLE grip. We had to slow down quite a bit for the snow when we felt the back slip

7) Exhaust note in all 3 modes is the same, very quiet which is quite disappointing. No comparison to the Huracan or even the Turbo McLaren which we thought was quiet too

8) Gas socket we noticed was extremely small and the lower portion of the pump handle sometimes would touch the paint, not sure why Acura made it this way but it's a bad design you have to be careful when pumping gas depending on where you go

9)



Overall take: If we had to do this trip again, we would grab the keys to the NSX EVERY TIME! The biggest gripe is the wind noise from both windows. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE for a $200k car to have this issue. For those who have not heard this, it sounds like an s2000 with a hardtop that is not properly sealed. It's quite bothersome and on a long trip sucks :(

Besides the wind noise, the car was awesome - even the cupholders worked extremely well! This car with a new set of rubber is really a capable car and can do pretty much anything whether you want to cruise around town or hit the track. Even as a sport touring car it would be fine for 2 people on a weekend trip as long as you don't pack too heavy.



 
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