New NSX? Don't Hold Your Breath

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A New Acura NSX? Don't Hold Your Breath
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Honda boss Takanobu Ito announced at the Shanghai Show that Honda is developing a successor to the NSX. Again.

We’ll see how long Honda’s enthusiasm for a new NSX lasts this time. Company insiders have been debating a replacement for the mid-engine, all-aluminum supercar that sent Ferrari back to the drawing board in the early 1990s for at least a decade now. A new NSX has been on and off more times than Sharon Stone’s underwear, so I wouldn’t bet the 401k we’ll be seeing Ito-san’s version – which he hints will be some kind of hybrid – anytime soon.

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The original NSX was a stunning piece of work; a car that was demonstrably better in every respect – better built, better handling, better to drive – than a Ferrari 348. Well, almost every respect. Though Honda’s 3.0-liter VTEC V-6 was smooth and powerful, it lacked the delicious cammy yowl of the Ferrari’s little V-8. But I could live with that. I couldn’t live with the Ferrari’s Neanderthal driving position, the fact it simply refused to allow you to select 2nd gear when the transmission was cold, and that it was an evil-handling bitch when driven fast.

The NSX caused uproar in Maranello, and in a good way. That Honda is the reason today’s Ferraris are admirably durable and driveable supercars you can use every day if you choose instead of having to tease out of the garage and pamper like pop diva. But what I liked most about the NSX was what it said about Honda: This was a company run by people who were truly passionate about cars.

I remember being deeply impressed when in the early 1990s Honda CEO Nobuhiko Kawamoto cancelled a meeting at Honda HQ, and instead drove himself across Tokyo to my hotel in his own flame-red NSX. There are industry CEOs who like to be considered “car guys”, but Kawamoto was 1 of the few I’ve met who really walked the talk.

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He helped design the Honda V-12 that powered John Surtees to a thrilling last-lap victory in the 1967 Italian GP, and oversaw the engine programs that delivered 5 world championships for Honda-powered Williams and McLaren F1 racers 20 years later. While many other car company bosses’ idea of a great drive was something that happened on the back nine of the local golf club, Kawamoto’s was hot-lapping Nelson Piquet’s turbo-powered Williams FW11 grand prix car at nearly 200mph on the giant banked oval at Honda’s Tochigi proving ground. He counted Ayrton Senna, who helped tune the NSX’s chassis at the Nurburgring, as a personal friend, and had a pristine Triumph TR3 and pre-war Lagonda Rapide in his garage at home when I interviewed him.

When I look at today’s Honda lineup, I wonder where all that passion went. With a few exceptions – notably, the hopelessly confused CRZ and the hideously deformed Acura TL – Honda makes generally decent products; efficient, reliable, well-built cars and trucks that as an automotive journalist I’d have no trouble recommending to a lot of people. But there isn’t a single Honda in the current range that gets my pulse racing like that old NSX.

And maybe that’s why I’m skeptical about a new NSX: It seems too big a philosophical stretch for today’s buttoned-down, middle-of-the-road Honda Motor Company. That’s not to say Honda isn’t working on a new NSX, and that we might even see one in an Acura showroom a few years from now. But I suspect it won’t be a car Nobuhiko Kawamoto would choose to drive across Tokyo just for the hell of it.
 
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Angus is spot on. Cant even say I blame Honda really. It just is what it is. Very few companies can survive the passing of their founder and, IMO, the excitement within Honda was purely a function of Soichiro and the folks he would surround himself with.

In their absence, Honda is a profit making engine just like most corporations. Attempting to compete with Porsche and Ferrari (or even Lotus) doesn't check a lot of "sanity" boxes for cost accountant types.
 
I just read about a Mugen CRZ and that plans for a supercharged model are being worked on right now. I will reserve all this totally negative reviewing till I actually see what Honda is up too. I'm still not ready to write them off yet. They still have a reputation to uphold. I do not think they are "dead" yet.

If they can do this with a little CRZ then what will they come out with - whatever it is will be a interesting car. It may not "replace" the NSX but it may be better in some ways. Progress moves on - our cars are old really - now even the latest of our beloved NSXs are 6 years old and what as more they are based on an old design. Things have changed guys and whatever comes next may be an improvement.

I mean everyone is coping the stance that unless it's a mid engine it will suck - I used to think that too but now I'm not so sure. Ferrari has built a lot of cars with front engine rear wheel drive that are pretty strong. So I wouldn't count them out.

My 2 cents worth....
 
Assume Honda comes with an NSX worth 150k? Do people jump on it with all the options as of now in the market?

I would not. May be because I already have NSX. Take NSX prime out of equation then how many NSX enthusiasts are really going to jump on it?
 
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Assume Honda comes with an NSX worth 150k? Do people jump on it with all the options as of now in the market?

I would not. May be because I already have NSX. Take NSX prime out of equation then how many really NSX enthusiasts are there to really jump on it?

I agree, although I love the car if I had that kind of money to burn on a toy hate to say it but it would be a Ferrari for sure
 
I don't think that the car that "replaces" the flagship sportscar will cost 150k. I bet it doesn't cost 100k. We'll see. If it sells for less than 100k - what do you say then. I think that there are a lot of people out there that like the idea of an approachable Honda sports car and more than you would think. If I could by a replacement to the NSX and even if it was a sport GT that would out dual the last NSX and it had some cool features like the Porshce Targa - I'd be damn tempted. Lot easier to afford the maintenance on a honda than any Ferrari or Porsche! If it's 150k - that's more than a new 911 Turbo - it better be some big ass performer to do battle on that level - not going to happen.

Honda is not that serious. But it could be a performance car - that new one they were testing at the Ring before they shut down the program was only besting the old NSX by not much as I recall - they never got it down to 7 1/2 min.s I don't believe and that maybe why they scraped it. Who knows. If it can't perform like a 911 Turbo - why in the hell would they charge 150k? No WAY! It would have to have a V10 or something quite powerful. Even still the GT3 has just over 400 hp naturally aspirated - thnk it can contend with that?

I'd love to see it. It sure as hell won't compete with the LFA or the 918 you can bet on that. Hell the LFA is a failure in terms of purchases. I wonder if they've even sold out production. Doubtful and it's not a Ferrari killer. Any tests out there pitting the LFA against even a 911 turbo - Lambo - Ferrari - hell no.

Japan has a lot to learn to get out there with the big boys. I agree with Mlambert - they don't have it in them. You have to be serious about racing to really come out strong in the sports car world.
 
The new sports car (I'm not calling it NSX)- if it even comes out- will be between $50,000 and $75,000. It will compete with the M3, Cayman and 370Z. It will not compete with the 458, LF-A or GT-R. It will almost certainly be a V6 Hybrid. It will not have the same level of quality and engineering as our NSX. Prepare to be underwhelmed folks.
 
Amazing how Honda has turned into a parity of itself. It's been three years since we saw the ASCC with the V10 testing in Germany but now Honda has promised and backed out so much only being in the dealership will convince most.

I agree with Honcho that prepare to be underwhelmed and if your looking for queues to the new Honda the just released Civic that was pulled back to the drawing board as Honda wanted to re-evaluate and then what we get is this no better than the last gen performance Si. Oh well they still make nice mini-vans and grocery getters for people who don't care about performance.

Seems like every year vendors come up with tons of stuff to update the NSX for as long as you want to keep it.
 
Listen guys - Honda is working - they're late - they've made a change in their thinking. They were almost ready and they scrapped the test mule they had at the ring. Now they're working on something "green" - kind of reminds you of Porsche and the 918. The bar keeps getting raised and changes keep coming. Time marches on - the new revelation from Honda is tough cause they're kind of chasing a moving target I think. Something is cooking and the CR-Z is just a sample. When it comes it'll be cool!

Why do you guys keep talking about something that is just taking time - so we maybe a little dissapointed - let's just wait and see. I think when they come out with it, it will be worth the wait! At least I think so....

Till then we're just talking to hear ourselves talk.
 
If the price range falls between $50-75k would there really be a lot of enthusiasts interested in it? There are still plenty of NSXs listed for sale right here on Prime that fall into that price range.

How could they build a car superior to the original NSX 7? 8? 9? years after the end of production and sell it for $10k less than the sticker price of the original.

All this talk of "oh the bar is moving, they are trying to keep up, it's so difficult, yada yada yada" is really just nonsense. Nissan certainly didn't have any problem slapping the big dogs in the face with the GT-R.

I think that if/when another NSX debuts that it absolutely should have a near or just above six figure price tag. Can you really see a $50K or even a $75K NSX successor being able to compete with an $85K GT-R?

The LF-A is just a ridiculous car that was more of a design exercise for Toyota/Lexus than it was a production car. For comparisons sake I don't think it should even remotely get thrown into the mix. For the $500,000 dollars it would take to acquire one I could purchase a Gallardo or a Murcielago AND send it to Heffners for their 10000WHP package and spank it all day long.

I think the real comparison between the NSX successor will be between Porsche and Nissan and both of them are creeping towards that magic six figure mark. Honestly there is no way a $50K NSX successor is going to compete against anything other than an M3, a Z06, or a 350Z/370Z.

So PLEASE HONDA, do not make a car that is just blah, give us something to get excited about. People walk up to a 20 year old NSX and drool still and that is with knowing nothing of its potential. Give us that passion again. Or else...
 
Perhaps Honda was waiting for the GTR to climb to 90K???

Just to make it viable.
 
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