Drove the New NSX in Carmel

[SW2 Heritage Cars]

I drove the new NSX during Car Week in Carmel, here are my impressions from the short drive:

- Throttle response is incredibly sharp, you hear the turbos building and releasing boost quite loudly but never have a sense of lag. This is the result of the electric motors doing their thing, I'm assuming.

- Speaking of sound, the car sounds deep, throaty, and much more aggressive than I expected. Upon startup on the outside it makes its presence known, and on the inside the exhaust note is pretty prominent.

- At full throttle the car is fast, really, really fast. The shifts are completely seamless, passengers feel exactly zero break in power during shifts.

- The steering wheel is fantastic, it has a very complicated ergonomic shape that sort of molds around your hands. Excellent detail. The paddle shifters also feel great, big aluminum mechanical feeling paddles.

- Interior is not particularly impressive, but I don't think those willing to buy a $200k Acura will care. The trunk in the back is tiny, no storage space up front a-la original NSX.

- The car switches from full-electric to kicking the engine on very seamlessly, a passenger not paying attention might not even notice the transition.


That's about it, wasn't a long drive but it gave me a new perspective on the car. I think the reviews downplay details like the sound because of the "it's boring" rhetoric, so I was pleasantly surprised. The Acura-contracted driver who was with me in the passenger seat confirmed a lightened version is coming sans-hybrid drivetrain, for what it's worth. I would take that with a grain of salt for now!

Happy to answer any questions!

 

[Valkyrie Pilot]

What did the torque vectoring feel like? Did it impress you? Was it natural?

Also, are you surprised that many reviews have been critical of the quality and feel of the paddles?

Any time in quiet mode?

 

[chrisn]

Thanks for sharing. Especially is you have driven EV cars with aggressive "regen" braking on throttle lift, how does the NSX feel off throttle? Does it feel like "coasting" or "mild braking?"

Also can you describe the ride quality in different modes if you had a chance to try different ones. I'm hoping that the non-Sport/track modes are pretty cushy.

 

[SW2 Heritage Cars]

Keep in mind my drive was about 10 minutes long and on a straight road, so I can't really speak on handling characteristics. I should also note that the Acura guy was talking typical marketing speak the entire drive, so it was hard to really focus on the car too much.

I read in one of the reviews that the paddles most of the media used were not the production version. The production paddles (assuming these were them) are excellent, they probably overdid how solid they feel due to the media feedback. They feel somewhat similar to Porsche 991 GT3 PDK paddles.

Yes, quiet mode starts in full EV and switches the engine on as needed. Like I noted above, the transition between the two was super smooth. The Acura guy clarified to me that in EV mode the car uses the front electric motors for the majority of propulsion, and the rear electric motor is mostly used to keep the gearset spinning.

I don't really remember noticing much regen braking, so either I wasn't paying attention to it or it wasn't strong enough to notice.

The ride quality felt firm but pliant in all the modes. Even in Track mode, the ride is not jarring by any means. That being said, it is a much firmer car than the original NSX was (a very soft car for a sports car indeed). It is possible that Quiet and Sport modes are softer given the range of a magnetic damper, but we were in Sport+ by the time I really got up to speed.

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I think the "coolest" thing I got from the drive that I previously didn't think about was the fact that this is a car where you can enjoy serious turbo noises and boost without any of the turbo lag. A big turbo car with this level of throttle response is sort of unheard of, a dream until now. Pretty cool.

 

[Bricks and Bio]

Team

we have lucked out with this reviewer

if my internet searchy is correct we have the son of one of the world's top Ferrari experts (no BS at all, the major dollar guys on Ferrarichat ask him for the real scoop) here and he (our reviewer) makes a market in cool cars like the gen 1 NSX

 

[N Spec]

Thanks for the review. Interesting to hear your counter on the paddle shifters.

 

[SW2 Heritage Cars]

Team

we have lucked out with this reviewer

if my internet searchy is correct we have the son of one of the world's top Ferrari experts (no BS at all, the major dollar guys on Ferrarichat ask him for the real scoop) here and he (our reviewer) makes a market in cool cars like the gen 1 NSX

Ha! Yes, my dad is definitely an Italian car guy, I think I have started to convince him on the Japanese stuff though.

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Thanks for the review. Interesting to hear your counter on the paddle shifters.

No problem!

 

[NZNick]

"The trunk in the back is tiny, no storage space up front a-la original NSX"



"The paddle shifters also feel great, big aluminum mechanical feeling paddles"

Nice to hear that Honda have both heard and reacted in a positive way to one of the very few criticisms of the pre-production cars tested by the media.

What color combination was the car at Carmel? Which wheels did it have? Any pics?

 

[blue_myriddn]

The trunk in the back is tiny, no storage space up front a-la original NSX.

Very true. Here is a shot of the trunk in one of the pre-production cars that I took

The biggest problems seem to be the shape of the opening and the big hump in the middle from the exhaust. That and the rumors that it gets significantly hotter than our current trunk which makes things rather warm.

Here is a photo of the NSX1 trunk with dimensions for comparision:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the drive - the more normal people we hear from rather than the press the better.

Ha! Yes, my dad is definitely an Italian car guy, I think I have started to convince him on the Japanese stuff though.

There is a distinctive "feel" to 90s era Japanese cars that I think helps to lend to the appreciation. I recently purchased a well used 1999 Honda Prelude for a daily driver and even in that car you can feel that flavor that both newer cars and 90s cars of other nationalities just don't have. I think that is what will drive the market to covet some of the now aging Japanese vehicles.

 

[Hothonda]

Wow..."10 minutes on a straight road"

EDIT:

In fairness I have not even seen one in person yet & neither has our local dealer

 

[SW2 Heritage Cars]

"The trunk in the back is tiny, no storage space up front a-la original NSX"



"The paddle shifters also feel great, big aluminum mechanical feeling paddles"

Nice to hear that Honda have both heard and reacted in a positive way to one of the very few criticisms of the pre-production cars tested by the media.

What color combination was the car at Carmel? Which wheels did it have? Any pics?

To clarify, I'm saying the original NSX has no storage under the front hood, and neither does this one. The rear trunk on the new car is much smaller than the original NSX trunk as well, based on looks alone. Pretty disappointing for an everyday supercar, it would be a bit tough to do a vacation for two in this one.

I drove a Nord Gray car with the grey lightweight looking wheels. They also had the "special color" blue and red there, the paint on those was noticeably more glossy and special looking than the gray one. Those cars also had the more stylized looking wheels, excuse my ignorance on the names. The Acura guy told me the weight difference between the wheels is minimal, but the stylized ones looked pretty heavy to my eyes.

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Wow..."10 minutes on a straight road"

EDIT:

In fairness I have not even seen one in person yet & neither has our local dealer

This was an invitation-only Acura drive event, they predetermined the route. It wasn't a dead straight road, but no corners to the point that I can speak to the handling. I would have driven the car all day long if they'd let me, and would have taken it on a more interesting route. Still, I learned a lot about the car in that short amount of time.

As far as seeing one in person, the car has curves especially towards the rear end top decklid that don't really come out in pictures. The front end is also very menacing in your rear view mirror. Speaking of rear view mirror, it has one of those cool frameless mirrors they're doing these days, very trick and modern looking.

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More notes as I remember them: The physical portion of the gauges (I think water temp and fuel gauge, and maybe a ring around the tach?) looked really cheap, like they belonged in an Accord... I think Acura should have either made the screen 100% digital or put some extra care into making the gauges look different than standard Honda fare. The actual LCD portion is cool though, gives interesting information and changes depending on your drive mode.

Here's a pic of what I mean:
http://carsintrend.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2017-acura-nsx-dashboard.jpg

 

[Bricks and Bio]

Would you be able to provide any comparison points based on other modern cars you have driven?

acura calls those wheels interwoven, unfortunately they are not asymmetrical, so they go one way on the left and the other way on the right (like the 21 inch Tesla propeller wheels)

off topic, which Ferrari do you like to drive the most?

 

[NZNick]

^^ Thanks for making that perfectly clear, and for the additional information. Very jealous of your drive in the new NSX.

 

[JD Cross]

The biggest problems seem to be the shape of the opening and the big hump in the middle from the exhaust. That and the rumors that it gets significantly hotter than our current trunk which makes things rather warm.

I think the hump in the middle is from the transmission.
The exhausts appear to run along the side.
No doubt each side of the trunk over the exhausts will be toasty



The 458/488 front trunk looks to be bigger than the NSX



The R8 front truck looks about the same as the NSX but deeper.

 

[blue_myriddn]

I think the hump in the middle is from the transmission.

Yep - that does make a lot more sense now that I think about it!

 

[SW2 Heritage Cars]

Would you be able to provide any comparison points based on other modern cars you have driven?

acura calls those wheels interwoven, unfortunately they are not asymmetrical, so they go one way on the left and the other way on the right (like the 21 inch Tesla propeller wheels)

off topic, which Ferrari do you like to drive the most?

I've driven a 991 GT3. That's a more raw car than this is, and most likely a better experience on a track. However, the NSX has more going on at legal road speeds and felt more "special" than the GT3 does around town due to all of the electric & turbo tech that can be enjoyed at low speed in this car.

I don't have much seat time in modern Ferraris. I've driven an F40, but that's a completely different experience and not really comparable.

 

[powdbyrice]

What did the torque vectoring feel like? Did it impress you? Was it natural?

Also, are you surprised that many reviews have been critical of the quality and feel of the paddles?

Any time in quiet mode?

I can say that the torque vectoring feels like the car is (somewhat) artificially being rotated around a center point. The RLX sport hybrid has a similar feeling around the track. I do not have extensive seat time in other supercars or high end sports cars, so I dont have a point of reference. but to me as a "common" person, it felt artificial.

The rear trunk is fairly wide, it goes deep into the corners. the opening, however, is not that large.

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Thanks for sharing. Especially is you have driven EV cars with aggressive "regen" braking on throttle lift, how does the NSX feel off throttle? Does it feel like "coasting" or "mild braking?"

Also can you describe the ride quality in different modes if you had a chance to try different ones. I'm hoping that the non-Sport/track modes are pretty cushy.

i've ridden in a tesla and the regen/braking in that is definitely noticeable. the nsx is no where near that.

 

[Bricks and Bio]

Here's a video of the 4 at Carmel with some spacey music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFFDWT8-pMA