Autoextremist overview of Acura including the new NSX

[alum04org]

Excerpt:




Autoextremist October 14, 2014, for you who may not know Peter De Lorenzo.

http://www.autoextremist.com/



"We’ve been hearing for the last few years now that Honda – and Acura – has its mojo back, that they have finally got it goin’ on in industry parlance, and that the good times are right around the corner. But is there really any evidence of that? Or is it just so much smoke-and-mirrors marketing, or what car companies specialize in when they’re juggling, for all intents and purposes, nothing?

Yes, the production version of the new Acura NSX will finally make its debut in Detroit in January, and that is supposed to be the tip of Honda’s technological spear in the market and a signal that it all goes right from that point forward.

The new, mid-engined NSX, though clearly derivative in design, is of course jammed with advanced hybrid technology, etc., and all the obligatory accoutrements that signal a serious automaker in today’s global automotive environment, but beyond that it’s a giant “we’ll see” as to whether the car is symbolic of the new Honda and Acura, or just a singular presence in the Honda-Acura product portfolio that signifies not much else.

In other words is the new NSX just a technological show pony that exists in a vacuum? Or does it mean that Honda well and truly does have the bit in its teeth once again and that it is going to start showing the world its technological prowess and its creative thinking?"



Having just attended NSXPO 2013 and 2014, and meeting/speaking with Ted Klaus and Honda/Acura team members, we hope they have "the bit in the teeth" again :smile:


Pls take the time to hit this link and read the full editorial. Then tell us what you think. Performance or shiny-happy people-movers? Can Honda/Acura do both, or why not?

 

[Juice]

I went and looked at the Acura TLX. I have no idea why people would spend money on that thing. Other than the Acura MDX, there's nothing on that lot that I would buy.

 

[BAVARIA]

Juice, I echo your sentiments. I am a Honda/Acura guy for sure. In addition to my /94 NSX I have had a series of Acura TLs -- 2000, 2003 and my current 2006 TL with 126,000 largely trouble free extremely enjoyable miles on the clock which incidentally looks and runs like a car with 26,000 miles! I really wanted to love the new TLX but after driving the V6 FWD I came away disappointed. Despite what Acura says it seems to me that it is 10% smaller inside (which to me is a big deal) and is not much better than my /06. In some ways it is not as good. I found the handling subpar (maybe it is fact that I run summer tires on my TL and the Goodyears on the TLX are all season tires and simply horrible or maybe it is the fact that when pushed the understeer is very pronounced followed by what I perceive to be handling weirdness once the PAWS kicks in -- take a look at the test in November's Road and Track which describes this much better than I can). I also was not impressed with the transmission -- IMHO a case of more is not necessarily better. Don't get me wrong -- I find the TLX to be attractive much in the same way as the 3rd generation TL is, nicely finished and pleasant to drive when not pushed. However, it just doesn't represent a big enough leap forward when compared to my /06 and I didn't walk away with the feeling that I "had to have it". For now I will stick with my /06. Maybe if a TLX w/sport package and a manual transmission materializes I'll feel differently. Eventually I'll drive the AWD version and perhaps I'll feel different about it than I feel about the V6 FWD. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Lostbuckeye]

I consider Honda and Acura the same because they are. I agree the TLX looks nice but is the forward thinking advanced performance there? I don't think it's the car Honda has produced to debut it's new advanced strategy. That spot is reserved for the NSX and other cars developed afterward. But, if Honda/Acura does what it did after the launch of the first NSX, like keeping their higher performance versions of their cars in Japan, they will be slapping the face of arguably their largest market. From my perspective, if shortly after they role out the New NSX, they decide to role out the 2015 Civic Type R and a sportier performance version TLX or the S660 or a new incarnation of the S2000, then I'll believe that they have refocused on the things that made them great in the late 80s and early 90s. Man would that be exciting. And they can still make the great luxury Acuras and the dependable family trucksters we all still love and need. I think that De Lorenzo got too hungup on the all wheel drive platform. I think it'll be the innovative way that they use it that could be what's special about it. I also think the next 18 to 24 months will be very important to Honda/Acura. We'll just have to wait and see. I hope I'm not disappointed.