New NSX thoughts/experience from those at NSXPO 2015

[jwmelvin]

+1. ^^ this is the comment on Prime that so far captures my feelings about the new NSX. I'm not in a market for a car of this expense regardless but I think you nailed it. A purist approach does not mean eschewing technology but it does mean only using technology that improves performance.

 

[Adamantium]

OK, but the NSX is meant to be New Sports Experience. What would be the new experience in producing what sounds like a heavier more powerful lotus elise. That would again be evolutionary.

I think the key point is to come up with new, which must surely be a very difficult thing to do. The only way to do was to embrace technology as much as possible.

The GT-R was new when it came out, it took everyone by surprise and was a huge sales and performance success. I guess, ironically, the only way for the new car to actually be an NSX was for it to be nothing like the old one.

 

[PHOEN$X]

the NSX is meant to be New Sports Experience.

LOL, that's just marketing talk. The new NSX could be anything its designers are capable of dreaming up, but as I mentioned they were probably working with certain constraints due to the brand's line-up (even the controversial beak couldn't be avoided, but I think they did the best job they could with it).

Perhaps you're right and this is what the new NSX needed to be. But as I said, it's not exactly what I was personally looking for.

 

[Yinzer]

Perhaps you're right and this is what the new NSX needed to be. But as I said, it's not exactly what I was personally looking for.

I'm in your camp. I've whined for years now about today's current automotive offerings & trends where it seems "less is more" has been universally replaced with "more is better" due to some apparently unavoidable urge across all automakers to push the envelope as much as possible in performance, styling, content...resulting in more extreme results but also add'l weight, complexity, cost, and further insulation of the driver from the road. If my ability to pay the mortgage & grocery bills each month depended upon being in the top 3 across the finish line as often as possible, I'd probably feel a lot different than I do about things in sports cars (not just the NSX) like flappy paddle gearboxes, 3500+ lb curb weights, and advanced technology with yet known maintenance/repair obligations over the long haul. Or maybe things have just moved on and left me far back at the dock, of which I'm becoming more and more accepting. At least I know I'm not alone!

 

[docjohn]

Well if you can fault its weight for a degradation in performance after driving it...then that could be a hurdle to sales....but if you can't ..and picking up the car off the ground is not a requirement to ownership then bring it on...

 

[gleibig]

Well if you can fault its weight for a degradation in performance after driving it...then that could be a hurdle to sales....but if you can't ..and picking up the car off the ground is not a requirement to ownership then bring it on...

We used to pick up my friends Le Car at school and block his front door with it so he would have to crawl out his window. Perhaps that is why we see increased weight in vehicles today.

 

[docjohn]

..........and you failed to mention that friend was Barack Obama....

 

[gleibig]

If BO grew up as a skinny white English kid, then yeah, I guess that could've been him. I'm sure of now that I think about it. It was him. I lurned alot in colledge.

 

[docjohn]

.well he is half white.....so maybe.....

 

[PHOEN$X]

Well if you can fault its weight for a degradation in performance after driving it...then that could be a hurdle to sales....but if you can't ..and picking up the car off the ground is not a requirement to ownership then bring it on...

You know what's the biggest factor in performance degradation? The human driver. Remove the human element (or as much of it as possible, which is what the current automotive trend appears to be "driving" towards), and you can have the fastest race car possible given the other vehicle components. Does that result in a more fun/visceral experience? Maybe, if pure speed is your thing, but I'm skeptical that having a computer pilot or co-pilot will increase my driving enjoyment.

I'm interested in eXperiencing the new NSX, I'm just not completely sold on it yet.

 

[docjohn]

my nsx is tbw.......:wink:

 

[PHOEN$X]

my nsx is tbw.......:wink:

Well...nothing is perfect Doc.

 

[docjohn]

lol.....how is your nsx menage a quatra going?

 

[PHOEN$X]

lol.....how is your nsx menage a quatra going?

Are you offering to sell me your NSX?

 

[docjohn]

.no but its you and the 3+1....I'm sure many casual primers have no idea you own 3...

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If BO grew up as a skinny white English kid, then yeah, I guess that could've been him. I'm sure of now that I think about it. It was him. I lurned alot in colledge.

you will most like have a bunch of young-ins googling Le Car.......they will be amazed at its lightnesss

 

[blue_myriddn]

You know what's the biggest factor in performance degradation? The human driver. Remove the human element (or as much of it as possible, which is what the current automotive trend appears to be "driving" towards), and you can have the fastest race car possible given the other vehicle components.

This is a great summary of the progression of sports cars over the past few decades. While a great many drivers on forums will bemoan the change, the bottom line when it comes to sales figures shows that there are plenty of people who want more and more automation to get more and more performance. Consider the Ferrari 430 - forum enthusiasts are scrambling to pick up the few 6spd models that are out there. Why are there so few? Most people bought it new with paddles.

The money spoke and the automotive industry listened. Acura would have been foolish to ignore that voice and Ted Klauss is no fool. The new NSX may not be what we want, but what we want is becoming irrelevant in the consumer marketplace as a new group of drivers steps up to the plate with the dollars in hand.

 

[Zoom]

I'm in your camp. I've whined for years now about today's current automotive offerings & trends where it seems "less is more" has been universally replaced with "more is better" due to some apparently unavoidable urge across all automakers to push the envelope as much as possible in performance, styling, content...resulting in more extreme results but also add'l weight, complexity, cost, and further insulation of the driver from the road.

That's very true generally speaking, but there are some exceptions. The most interesting of late being the new Miata, i know it's not a supercar but it's a drivers car and *fun to drive* (and they got the design perfect in and out). The Alfa 4C ticks a lot of boxes on my list too and it's drop dead gorgeous.. see what i mean, some manufacturers still "get it" and provide enthusiast rides. It's a shame that Honda wont export their S660...

 

[BB]

This is a great summary of the progression of sports cars over the past few decades. While a great many drivers on forums will bemoan the change, the bottom line when it comes to sales figures shows that there are plenty of people who want more and more automation to get more and more performance. Consider the Ferrari 430 - forum enthusiasts are scrambling to pick up the few 6spd models that are out there. Why are there so few? Most people bought it new with paddles.

The money spoke and the automotive industry listened. Acura would have been foolish to ignore that voice and Ted Klauss is no fool. The new NSX may not be what we want, but what we want is becoming irrelevant in the consumer marketplace as a new group of drivers steps up to the plate with the dollars in hand.

They worship technology as if it were the savior of all things, even cars and driving. It's like those "CNet on Cars" videos on youtube where they enthusiastically say "Let's check the tech!" before each review. I was floored with laughter the first time I heard that. It's an attempt by a lame IT centric publication to branch out into cars by pushing the idea that their readers should care about cars due to the "high technology" it represents. Another example of this phenomena is the nearly surreal hype surrounding Tesla-- e.g. "Just look what Elon has given us. A computer on wheels with a giant iPad in the dash! And it's faster than a McLaren F1."

 

[Yinzer]

Well if you can fault its weight for a degradation in performance after driving it...then that could be a hurdle to sales....but if you can't ..and picking up the car off the ground is not a requirement to ownership then bring it on...

IMHO the Gen 2 hides its weight pretty well but generally with more weight comes more girth & height. Your mother may have taught you that looks don't matter and your girlfriend may have said size doesn't matter (hopefully not vice versa) but performance talk aside, a girthy sports car just doesn't do it for me personally no matter how fast. For every GTR, Challenger or Camaro I see fly by on the highway, any thought bubbles of "well that's cool to see" are instantly popped when noticing how they pretty much dwarf nearby Ford Explorers, Jeep Wranglers, and F-150's.

That's very true generally speaking, but there are some exceptions. The most interesting of late being the new Miata, i know it's not a supercar but it's a drivers car and *fun to drive* (and they got the design perfect in and out). The Alfa 4C ticks a lot of boxes on my list too and it's drop dead gorgeous.. see what i mean, some manufacturers still "get it" and provide enthusiast rides. It's a shame that Honda wont export their S660...

Agreed. I put the Miata & 4C in the "less is more" camp, maybe even Caymans too. Attractive styling that's not too trendy/extreme (or girthy), ample/fun usability and driver involvement, and a very justifiable price point with a general perception (or hope) of good reliability, three big things. There are just far too exceptions nowadays.

The money spoke and the automotive industry listened. Acura would have been foolish to ignore that voice and Ted Klauss is no fool. The new NSX may not be what we want, but what we want is becoming irrelevant in the consumer marketplace as a new group of drivers steps up to the plate with the dollars in hand.

To me the huge chicken/egg in automotive offerings since ~2005 is whether that new group of drivers with dollars in hand really wants things like polarizing styling cues and increasingly less driver involvement thru expensive tech or if it's more that they're simply forced to choose from whatever marketing/finance/designers/management think is needed to differentiate the brand so it will sell adequately. Who can ever say whether sales increased or slid directly from Banglized BMWs, gawky spindle grille Toyotas, and over-inflated-balloon Infiniti styling... Not to pile onto the beak-hate but I thought I read that generally, Acura marketing surveys found that consumers disliked the beak but that crazy talk was waved off...and just try to find 5 friends who chose Nissan solely for their CVT trannies....or who would buy an all-electric vehicle if and only if it came packaged in all that hey-look-at-me styling.

I'm not a likely Gen2 buyer off the showroom floor or pre-owned anytime soon but I have yet to even daydream about owning one like I did for 20 years for the Gen 1 and like I did for the Ford GT the moment I saw it hanging on the wall at the Detroit auto show around 2001. That sentiment has gotta count for something to Honda marketing/finance regarding sales potential and I know I'm not the only one with that First-world problem. On the upside, nonetheless thank God Honda is creating the 2.0. It's not finished yet and they did put out that survey with interesting leading questions, so there's room for surprises in a good way during this ride.

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(edit: pardon that my diatribe is in the NSXPO 2016 thread, which I didn't attend, lol)

 

[NsXMas]

Car looks great yes, but is it true they wouldn't even let people sit inside the damn car at nsxpo? That's jacked up. Or at least that's what I heard from a reputable source today.

Yes that's true. I REALLY appreciate Honda / Acura making the car available to us... but, it made no sense to not allow current NSX owners to sit in the thing.

I mean... we are some of the most obsessive car people around, we treat our cars with the utmost respect and care and attention to detail. It's not like you're inviting 250 homeless people off the street to slobber all over the car. I couldn't think of a better group of people who could sit in the car respectfully and get their opinion and thoughts on the car.

Instead, it pains me to see Honda rolling the NSX out a few weeks later and letting the press take it for a beating of drives. It seems disrespectful to current NSX owners, that at our premier NSX event we weren't even allowed to sit in it.

Besides, during the NSX tour around the country the months prior, when the NSXs showed up at local Acura dealerships, they allowed people to sit in it and take pictures at will.

Oh well, I won't cry over spoiled milk, but I'm a bit resentful of how this happened.

Personally, the new NSX is not low or wide enough, bold enough (styling wise), or iconic enough, to represent the new NSX.

Is it a marvelous car? HELL yes. Is it a marvel of technology? Absolutely. Is it a NSX? Those of us who are true NSX 1.0 purists at heart will say no.

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OK, but the NSX is meant to be New Sports Experience. What would be the new experience in producing what sounds like a heavier more powerful lotus elise. That would again be evolutionary.

I think the key point is to come up with new, which must surely be a very difficult thing to do. The only way to do was to embrace technology as much as possible.

The GT-R was new when it came out, it took everyone by surprise and was a huge sales and performance success. I guess, ironically, the only way for the new car to actually be an NSX was for it to be nothing like the old one.

Funny, at NSXPO 2010 a GTR driver tried to race me on the freeway, and almost slammed into a wall... My 25 year old NSX... still inspires people to do crazy things, like follow me on the road, shout excited screams of joy at the car, and ask to take pictures with it. I don't think NSX 2.0 will have the same effect.

 

[PHOEN$X]

Funny, at NSXPO 2010 a GTR driver tried to race me on the freeway, and almost slammed into a wall...

I remember that! Good times :biggrin:

 

[Jinks]

Yes that's true. I REALLY appreciate Honda / Acura making the car available to us... but, it made no sense to not allow current NSX owners to sit in the thing.

I mean... we are some of the most obsessive car people around, we treat our cars with the utmost respect and care and attention to detail. It's not like you're inviting 250 homeless people off the street to slobber all over the car. I couldn't think of a better group of people who could sit in the car respectfully and get their opinion and thoughts on the car.

Instead, it pains me to see Honda rolling the NSX out a few weeks later and letting the press take it for a beating of drives. It seems disrespectful to current NSX owners, that at our premier NSX event we weren't even allowed to sit in it.

Besides, during the NSX tour around the country the months prior, when the NSXs showed up at local Acura dealerships, they allowed people to sit in it and take pictures at will.

Oh well, I won't cry over spoiled milk, but I'm a bit resentful of how this happened.

Personally, the new NSX is not low or wide enough, bold enough (styling wise), or iconic enough, to represent the new NSX.

Is it a marvelous car? HELL yes. Is it a marvel of technology? Absolutely. Is it a NSX? Those of us who are true NSX 1.0 purists at heart will say no.

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Funny, at NSXPO 2010 a GTR driver tried to race me on the freeway, and almost slammed into a wall... My 25 year old NSX... still inspires people to do crazy things, like follow me on the road, shout excited screams of joy at the car, and ask to take pictures with it. I don't think NSX 2.0 will have the same effect.

Yeah, it reminded me of the auto show I went to early this year in San Francisco. All of the Porsche cars, yes even the freaking boxster, the high dollar Audi's, and the bmw I8 which is hideously ugly, we're all locked up. Couldn't even barely touch the damn things. Yet, the 100,000 dollar Cadillac Escalade was open to the public. Why would someone showcase a car, that you cannot even freaking experience. Another reason why I would buy a Mclaren oven the nsx any damn day.
Honda is obviously trying to make this car so exclusive, that previous owners who spend a mint amount of cash on replacement parts, cannot even freaking touch the car with their butt. What a huge middle finger to anyone who owns a nsx gen 1.
Not cool Honda, not cool at all.

 

[PHOEN$X]

Yeah, I got chided by the brunette media relations (or whatever her job was) chick when I accidentally put my hand on the driver seat too (at the Thermal Club), but to be fair it was probably her being paranoid more than anything else, and it was her job to keep an eye on the car after all. I'm willing to give Honda a pass on this one, and I sincerely believe that had Ted Klaus been there, he probably wouldn't have batted an eye--heck he may even have invited me to sit in it. Ted was all smiles when he signed my NSX poster, especially when I told him that between my brother and myself we had 5 NSXs (although he did shake his head a little like I was crazy...).

 

[akira3d]

(although he did shake his head a little like I was crazy...).

You are crazy! But in a good way.

 

[liftcontrol]

Personally, the new NSX is not low or wide enough, bold enough (styling wise), or iconic enough, to represent the new NSX.

Is it a marvelous car? HELL yes. Is it a marvel of technology? Absolutely. Is it a NSX? Those of us who are true NSX 1.0 purists at heart will say no.

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.

One of the biggest problems with the NSX2 is the inevitable comparisons with the original masterpiece.