First off: Thank you to mark&sue for helping to organize this, to Acura for bringing the cars, to the Acura engineers for answering all my silly questions about the new NSX and tolerating my positive comments about my RLX Sport Hybrid, and to Smail Acura for being such gracious hosts. I also appreciated getting to meet new NSX owners.
I decided to drive the two hours today from my home near Cleveland to a) meet other NSX owners and b) finally get to see the interior of the new NSX.
I met up with kboose7 and his buddy in the Cleveland area. We drove most of the way together on the Ohio and PA Turnpikes, until they had to pull off for some gas.
I'm still getting to know my "new to me" 1999 NSX-T and while I've mentioned slow steering, it turns out that the slow steering is mostly at slow speeds. At 80 mph, the steering is nice and sharp. It's not S2000 sharp, but it makes the steep turns on the PA Turnpike/I-76 very easy to take at 80 mph. kboose7 designed his own exhaust by taking the muffs off and now he has straight pipes from the cats back. I could hear him from three car lengths behind, even when he wasn't getting on it. Reminds me that I need to procure an exhaust of some sort. I just have to figure out which one. In addition, I LOVE these NSX seats. So comfortable....so supportive in the turns.... I also can't say enough about the visibility in this car. I can see all the way around, almost with no blind spots. Very well designed!
These comments are relevant when comparing with the new NSX.
Acura brought their red and black NSXs. They both had carbon ceramic brakes, which the engineers told me would be standard on the new NSX. Caliper color is to be an option. The red NSX had the full carbon fiber package including the top, rear wing, engine cover, rear diffuser, steering wheel, dash pod cover, and center console. Both NSXs were wearing my favorite sport winter tires, Pirelli Sottozeros. I had the Sottozeros on my first CTS-V and they did quite well in light snow, and in dry, cold conditions.
They had just started up the black one when I arrived. I'm sorry I couldn't get a video, I hope someone did and will post it.
Suffice to say that if you've heard the original NSX, the new sound definitely pays homage to the old and it should sound familiar. The interior is already familiar to me because the steering wheel controls and shifter are almost exactly the same as in my RLX Sport Hybrid. The seats are comfy and supportive, but the original NSX are, honestly, much better. Even so, the cockpit has the same intimate feel as the original NSX. Visibility is better in NSX1 as well, but you can still see clearly behind you.
Anyway, you don't care about all the words, you want pictures, so here they are:
My son sitting in the new NSX:
The black NSX getting lots of attention:
Interior of the black NSX features a carbon fiber, flat bottomed steering wheel:
The red NSX in the Smail Acura showroom:
Carbon fiber engine cover looks SWEET in person:
Interior:
Flip-up door handle. I am manually pushing on it to open it, then you pull on the exposed handle to pull the door open. What's really cool is that if someone walks by with the key fob, the handle pops out by itself. COOOOOOOOOOL and this was demonstrated a number of times tonight.
Trunk
Front compartment
The caboose with nice carbon fiber rear diffuser and optional rear trim.
The legendary name
Optional wheel and red caliper. That wheel is teh sex in person, along with the rest of the car.
One more of the gorgeous black one.....
...and its interior.
We had a nice turnout of people, but only four cars. Up here in the North, most have already put their toys away for the winter.....
My car turned 60k miles on the way home, just after crossing the state line back into Ohio. It's already had two road trips totaling 780 miles in just my one week of ownership! I'm getting maximum use out of this car before I have to park it for five months!
The trip was well worth it simply to meet other NSX owners. I'll be back to Pittsburgh for their Cars and Coffee at least once during the summer to reconnect. However, the new NSX, the main reason for this trip, is now officially not vaporware anymore. It is a moving machine, the engine starts up, and hopefully real sales to actual customers will really start soon.
I decided to drive the two hours today from my home near Cleveland to a) meet other NSX owners and b) finally get to see the interior of the new NSX.
I met up with kboose7 and his buddy in the Cleveland area. We drove most of the way together on the Ohio and PA Turnpikes, until they had to pull off for some gas.
I'm still getting to know my "new to me" 1999 NSX-T and while I've mentioned slow steering, it turns out that the slow steering is mostly at slow speeds. At 80 mph, the steering is nice and sharp. It's not S2000 sharp, but it makes the steep turns on the PA Turnpike/I-76 very easy to take at 80 mph. kboose7 designed his own exhaust by taking the muffs off and now he has straight pipes from the cats back. I could hear him from three car lengths behind, even when he wasn't getting on it. Reminds me that I need to procure an exhaust of some sort. I just have to figure out which one. In addition, I LOVE these NSX seats. So comfortable....so supportive in the turns.... I also can't say enough about the visibility in this car. I can see all the way around, almost with no blind spots. Very well designed!
These comments are relevant when comparing with the new NSX.
Acura brought their red and black NSXs. They both had carbon ceramic brakes, which the engineers told me would be standard on the new NSX. Caliper color is to be an option. The red NSX had the full carbon fiber package including the top, rear wing, engine cover, rear diffuser, steering wheel, dash pod cover, and center console. Both NSXs were wearing my favorite sport winter tires, Pirelli Sottozeros. I had the Sottozeros on my first CTS-V and they did quite well in light snow, and in dry, cold conditions.
They had just started up the black one when I arrived. I'm sorry I couldn't get a video, I hope someone did and will post it.
Suffice to say that if you've heard the original NSX, the new sound definitely pays homage to the old and it should sound familiar. The interior is already familiar to me because the steering wheel controls and shifter are almost exactly the same as in my RLX Sport Hybrid. The seats are comfy and supportive, but the original NSX are, honestly, much better. Even so, the cockpit has the same intimate feel as the original NSX. Visibility is better in NSX1 as well, but you can still see clearly behind you.Anyway, you don't care about all the words, you want pictures, so here they are:
My son sitting in the new NSX:
The black NSX getting lots of attention:
Interior of the black NSX features a carbon fiber, flat bottomed steering wheel:
The red NSX in the Smail Acura showroom:
Carbon fiber engine cover looks SWEET in person:
Interior:
Flip-up door handle. I am manually pushing on it to open it, then you pull on the exposed handle to pull the door open. What's really cool is that if someone walks by with the key fob, the handle pops out by itself. COOOOOOOOOOL and this was demonstrated a number of times tonight.
Trunk
Front compartment
The caboose with nice carbon fiber rear diffuser and optional rear trim.
The legendary name
Optional wheel and red caliper. That wheel is teh sex in person, along with the rest of the car.
One more of the gorgeous black one.....
...and its interior.
We had a nice turnout of people, but only four cars. Up here in the North, most have already put their toys away for the winter.....
My car turned 60k miles on the way home, just after crossing the state line back into Ohio. It's already had two road trips totaling 780 miles in just my one week of ownership! I'm getting maximum use out of this car before I have to park it for five months!
The trip was well worth it simply to meet other NSX owners. I'll be back to Pittsburgh for their Cars and Coffee at least once during the summer to reconnect. However, the new NSX, the main reason for this trip, is now officially not vaporware anymore. It is a moving machine, the engine starts up, and hopefully real sales to actual customers will really start soon.
