clutchcargo

Have a fun time.

Just got my 2017 out today and got it dirty.

The improvement in track speed for the newer cars is believed to be mostly from the newer Conti tires (Gen 6).

If you are doing a drive in New England, hopefully they shod the car with winter tires. I have a second set of wheels with Pirelli Sotto Zero 3 and the car is wonderful on cold days.

If the car is on the Contis beware, they get very hard in the cold.

clutchcargo

A large percentage of the Acura dealers signed onto the program.

Investment was like $250K between equipment, tools, training, in store display stuff and merch.

The dealer I bought from sold 2 cars and both went out of the area so they got hosed.

An oil change is about $400 but is done at about 8000 miles (ok, that's more than the $12 I paid Herb Chambers for each oil change).

My only other maintenance costs in over 3 years and 12,000 miles are to have the wheels changed over every 6 months at about $180 a pop.

My local dealership provides great service and I can text my service guy directly.

zeroptzero

It's more about their turbo technology, I think the current generation Hondas will have far worse reliability compared to Hondas of the past 20 years when they get out of warranty. My Honda Civic turbo had terrible fuel dilution, others had so much water in the crankcase that the oil sump would freeze in winter conditions with oil pressure issues. I haven't heard of any specific issues with the NSX engine, but it can't be more reliable than past naturally aspirated generations IMO. Time will tell. But if you can afford to buy one, you should be able to afford future repairs. Any car with hybrid electric components will have more potential for expensive long term repair costs, the NSX isn't alone in this.

TheDonEffect

Well, that's sorta the thing though isn't it? The previous NSXs could happily put on 100k miles without a though. Well, if you keep up with all the hoses and such that can get expensive, but it's done and doesn't require a PHD to handle. I was always under the impression that electric motors don't fail, period, but after getting up to speed on Teslas I found resoundingly that is not the case. And forget about the battery. And these days, transmissions, axles, and diffs tend to be the weak link in drivetrains it seems.

I get that the NSX drives well, instant torque, and all that, but objectively it just isn't crushing the competition to necessarily warrant all the complication. I think most, if not all of us would've preferred Honda just make a V6TT NSX, or V8 NSX, hell I would've been ok with all electric too to beat Tesla to the punch, and skip all the hybrid stuff. All the great traits about it being very livable and all that I'm sure could've been achieved with a traditional engine setup. In the case of the LaFerrari, P1, and 918, I get it, they were at the bleeding edge and pushed the envelope, this car was just doing it for the sake of doing it.

I think in alot of ways it reminds me of Seiko's Spring Drive, it's their high end watch movement, it's actually superior in that its more reliably accurate, but can be costly to maintain/repair, but subjectively it sorta misses the point of high end horology. I'm a Spring Drive fan, but you won't see me paying Rolex money for one.

clutchcargo

I have 2 Grand Seiko watches, a mechanical GMT and a Hi Beat titanium diver

i feel like the spring drive, while being brilliant is kind of cheating as it is not purely mechanical

The Hi Beat is not questioned as a top shelf movement

mosesbotbol

Not really the same. In mechanical merit & construction they are both similar, but Rolex is a master in distribution & marketing which keeps their values artificially high.

I'll have a good idea after Saturday if an NSX would be a good move for me. Still few other cars in that price range which are hot on my list. Keeping my Rapide and buying a 4C Spider is the one that may make the most financial sense.

TheDonEffect

I love me that Hi Beat movement, and frankly I like the Spring Drive alot too, still pondering a Spring Drive Tuna...

And I think the difference between Seiko and Honda is that Seiko doesn't just have the Spring Drive, they have the Hi Beat, minute repeaters, etc etc, whereas Honda is still lacking with their production performance engines Type R nothwithstanding. Additionally, Grand Seikos have discernible craftsmanship advantages over its higher priced competitors, whereas Honda seems to be losing that.

TheDonEffect

I used Rolex as an easy reference as I figured most here wouldn't be horology nerds, but yes you are rightd. The point of the matter is that the Spring Drive, even if it does offer a marginally discernible benefit, sorta misses the mark and point of high end horology in that people sort of appreciate what engineers can do with a limited design. The shortcomings of a mechanical movement is... sorta the point. Having an accurate, reliable, cheap source of time keeping is a solved problem, what isn't a solved problem is a perfect mechanical movement. And then you add in craftsmanship, complications, and the appreciation of artisanal labor and that's where the satisfaction comes from.

I will reference the air cooled Porsches. Yes, liquid cooled is better, but there's an appreciation for the air cooled, so much so that people are paying ungodly amounts of money for it. Within the application of stirring the soul, there's no replacement for an engine wailing to its redline. Yes, an electric motor can pretty much accomplish all the objective requirements of an ICE, but it won't provide the real, visceral sensations with the vibrations, noise, etc.

To bring it back on topic, the hybrid tech in the NSX does add some marginal benefit, but not so much so that it is a game changer. Alot of the things that people applaud it for, ride quality, handling, ease of use on and off the track, can be accomplished with an ICE engine. The only benefit is the instant torque. But I ask those who drove the NSX if they would rather have like the LFA engine or VW/Audi/Lambo V10/V12, heck even a Porsche flat 6, even though it may not have the immediacy of the electric motors and they would all take it. And that's the thing, it does the job well, you can't necessarily fault it, but at that price point it needs to stir the soul beyond oo it's fast, and it just doesn't. But it's everyday usable, true, and it's a Honda so it'll only cost... and that's where it ends. I think everyone would want to lease this car, rent this car, but own it long term and drive it daily like how many NA1 and NA2 NSX owners owners did? Seems like everyone is waiting to see how it fairs long term.

mosesbotbol

NSX is everything the state of art sports car offers. The same idea as the P1 or LaFerrari, but with Honda's engineering and build quality. Do I really want that kind of state of the art ride? We'll see.

Bullwings

I've heard the NSX described as a mini-918 with similar torque vectoring capabilities, but less wow factor due to the Acura/Honda badge as opposed to being a Porsche.