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reviews are out

Road & Track "Performance Car of the Year (2017)" is out:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a31275/2017-performance-car-of-the-year/

Punchline:

Receiving eight of the available 10 votes, the Acura NSX became the most universally acclaimed automobile in PCOTY history, and justifiably so. Its predecessor merely changed the supercar game in the perpetuity by proving that anvil-like reliability and the ecstatic revelation of exotic performance could coexist in a single value-priced sports. This one promises to do much more than that.


For the first time in a hybrid automobile of any price or capability, technology has been placed firmly in the service of emotional involvement rather than in place of it. The hardware, of course, is first-rate and duly compliant with all possible requirements for environmental and social relevance, but the genius of the NSX is entirely human in nature. It was tireless development by human beings that made this very complicated and capable supercar dive for the apex with joy and bully its way to the corner exit with unfettered exuberance. Everything about the car—from the way in which the brake-by-wire pedal lengthens its travel when the brakes are hot to the manner in which the midmounted V6 permits itself a bit of the ol' barbaric yawp when it's winding out in fourth gear—is intended to enhance the driver's involvement.


Great result for the NSX......thanks!
 
Hard to be sure how future (or hypothetical) reviews will turn out. Again, I think some reviewers will award subjective points for the NSX's unique and forward-looking technology (as a cool thing, irrespective of numbers) and some will either ignore or count against it due to "purest" bias. As such, I expect the NSX to continue to be polarizing, which is fine.
 
i'd fully expect the 570S to continue to dominate these comparison tests as it has been. it is simply too exciting and too much fun to drive, and in the end, that's the most important factor for a driver's car...
 
i'd fully expect the 570S to continue to dominate these comparison tests as it has been. it is simply too exciting and too much fun to drive, and in the end, that's the most important factor for a driver's car...

The nsx winning must really make you mad considering how bad it is and how all your friends in high places think it's not a good car. Guess maybe they were wrong? ;)
 
In a UK test the NSX finished just ahead of the 570GT, though they admitted the McLaren was the more involving driver's car. So the 570S probably would be ahead.

The 570 shouldn't even be in the test as it is not "new or significantly revised for 2017". Plus it is ugly as hell to boot. If someone gave me one, I would only drive it at night.
 
C/D did a comparo between R8 V10+, 911 Turbo S, and 570S earlier this year:
http://www.caranddriver.com/compari...570s-2017-porsche-911-turbo-s-comparison-test

3rd: R8 V10+
2nd: 570S
1st: 911 Turbo S

The 570S won praises for its fun-to-drive factor - namely chassis, steering feel, brake feel, etc.

But C/D also complained about its turbo lag and droning exhaust. It also scored low for driver comfort.

For C/D, they think these are issues for the 570S and are enough to rank it 2nd behind the 911 Turbo S.

If they had the 570S in the PCOTY, I wonder how R&T would rate these issues. Would these be significant enough that they would still crown the NSX as the PCOTY winner, or if its fun-to-drive factor alone is enough to offset all these negatives.
 
From the Road and Track article:

The NSX reminds me of... something. Can't remember what. Editor-at-large Sam Smith supplies the answer: "Pedal around town isn't as nice as the 918's—more binary, with more stiction—which is only relevant because the Acura feels more evolved than the 918 in so many ways." Oh yes. The million-dollar Porsche hybrid hypercar. The NSX is like a better version of it. Not as quick, obviously, but no man would wish it quicker on these Kentucky two-lanes.

Better version of the 918? That is some seriously high praise. And at a fraction of the price....
 
Thanks for the video. It's weird, it went from 301-309 pretty quickly too, and suddenly it just stopped accelerating. It almost feels like there's a limiter or something.
 
chrisn;[URL="tel:1919136" said:
1919136[/URL]]By the "Transitive Property" of car reviews:

If NSX > 997TTS; and
If 997TTS > 570S;
Then NSX > 570S

QED

Well done/put Chrisn
You have read my mind again.
"QED" indeed!
 
Did he ease off as the road started to bend?

the speedo never moved even 1 kph. if he lifted at that speed it would have instantly dropped 20 to 30 kph in a second.

309 is the stated top speed according to Acura/Honda, so that seems like it. looks like once 8th gear dropped it hit the wall...
 
It's most likely not actually going 309kph, probably reading 5% higher than actual. Calibration error as almost all cars have built in. Need GPS or vmax box.
 
that's interesting that it hit terminal velocity in 7th gear. if that's the case, the top two gears are very overdriven...

Indeed. In terms of performance, the 9 speed gearbox is essentially a 7 speed gearbox. Having both an 8th and 9th gear presumably to keep revs down and improve fuel economy seems redundant because the 9th ratio is good for highway speeds and there are are plenty of other gears to use at slower speeds. I'd be very curious to see how the car would perform with a 4.11 ratio diff instead of the stock 3.583. That would put top speed of 191 mph around 7250 rpm in 8th gear, leave 9th as the eco-friendly cruising gear, and shorten the rest of the gears to improve acceleration. 38mph top in 1st instead of the stock 44mph, for example. The increased number of shifts wouldn't be a hindrance due to them being so quick.
 
It surprised me a bit that the NSX turns in such slow laptimes.

I cannot help but wonder if the way the SH-AWD system on the NSX somehow interferes with the driving style of drivers who are used to conventional drivetrains.

Is it possible that drivers would need to relearn the way the should take corners. I can imagine that if you would be used to a convential rear wheel drive layout that you would, at first, not be able to make the most of the active torque vectoring the NSX uses.

In some laptime videos I see drivers constantly using the gearbox flippers, even though I have read elsewhere that the DCT of the NSX is so good, drivers seldomly need to shift gears manually.
 
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