At the time -late 80s- early 90s, it was a huge deal if a car had 17" wheels. Gods Chariot (aka: supra) had 17" wheels which were considered "bling" and to some as too big. A couple years ago you could say that about 18" then 19" wheels -but many Ferraris now come standard w/ 19" wheels including Ferrari Challenge race cars.Good point about the smaller wheels. So who's fault was that? The NSX brakes do fade after several hot laps - much more so than the ones on any Porsche that I have driven. Then there is the ABS....name me one other system where the pump squeals in the morning (by design I might add) and the brakes will lock up and then fade under heavy braking? Remember it has ABS - just like my old 951. Not once has my 951 locked it's brakes under braking. Not once has the ABS pump on the 951 rattled and squealed like the newer one on my NSX.
And since when is 3000 lbs considered a light weight sports car? So why all the ranting and raving in magazines about all the lightweight materials that were used? After all 3000 lbs of aluminum is still the same weight as 3000 lbs of steel. I fail to see what is so impressive about all that.
I agree with your point about lap times and perfomance numbers you read on the web. But surely you agree that the 951 and NSX are in similar ballparks when you think in terms of performance whereas the NSX and say an F40 or Porsche 959 are nowhere near in the same vicinity. My point was that the NSX didn't really deserve all the accolades it received. In the next car I would like them to aim higher - like Nissan did with the GT-R.
-Never had this squealing problem you talk about in the ABS pump
Put some higher grade fluid in your NSX. Stock pads should be fine for more than a few laps with better fluid. Often neglecting flushing the fluid (not just bleeding after a track event) can result in the fluid breaking down and resulting in a super-low wet-boiling point.
Cause now 3,000 is considered light. Even the relatively bare-bones Ferrari F430 and Porsche GT3 are right at the 3,000lb marker, and cars are just getting heavier.
Get over the 951 and F40. Both of those cars caused their respective companies to lose money. They were also marvels of their time costing more than pretty much everything on the market. The NSX DOES deserve all those accolades prooving a supercar can be reliable and a daily driver forcing Ferrari, Porsche, the sports/supercar manufacturers to make more reliable and better cars. The NSX was the first all-aluminum production car, first production car with an altering valve timing, and a few other firsts that I dont care to remember or spout off like a fan-boy.
It is a great handling car, made a huge statement in the industry for the reliablity and ingenuity standard of cars (look at how many cars now have variable valve timing), etc...
Its late, gotta be on a plane in a few hours, get over it. The NSX was a supercar of its day, had performance figures above your favorite little Porsche and was faster than most of the cars of its time, all on 205f 225r 15/16" wheels!!!
Times change, the standard for power rises, tires become wider and larger, brakes become bigger, (trend = cars become heavier), you are all too often comparing apples to oranges.
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