What is so great about the NSX?
09-01-2005, 02:19 AM
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Originally Posted by rahula,Sep 1 2005, 09:40 AM
Perhaps it is also the same as those diehards who always lust after an air cooled 911 or those who hanker back in the days of the classic car world. Maybe and just maybe it just means that it attracts a certain type of person and not other and nothing more complicated than that. 
Honda have been lax in getting a replacement on the road, and have probably carried on with the car for a few more years than would be ideal for a 'supercar'. However Honda are not a supercar manufacturer, they are a car manufacturer and sporting brands don't sell in the numbers that ordinary everyday brands do. I don't think it really mattered to Honda that the NSX didn't sell that well, it was all about showing what they could do 15 years ago, sticking it to the supercar manufacturers. And in that they played a blinder, but they also changed the rules.
Up until the NSX, as Gad and Zero have said, your average supercar was focussed on the business of going fast, creature comforts were limited to what you could see around you in the cabin, clutches were manual (ensured only macho men could drive them, I don't think it's any coincidence that the macho Italians dictated the supercar market at the time) and steering was unassisted. The cars would bite all but the most skilled of drivers, which of course included 99% of journalists, which meant that they were seldom tested to their limits, but held in an awestruck reverence anyway.
Then along came the NSX, light controls and a brilliantly balanced chassis, all of a sudden anyone could drive supercar fast, even the journos. Problem was I think, that because of that, the Honda was seen as a bit of a wimps car, and of course the badge didn't help, nor the use of plastic in the cabin. It didn't sell because unfortunately for Honda, and contrary to what they expected I think, the whole macho thing worked against them - it lacked the character of contemporaries since it was too damn easy to drive - QED.
What the NSX did do I think was to make the traditional manufacturers of Supercars begin to see what they'd be up against if the Japanese ever decided to go into the supercar game big time, and all of a sudden, the cars developed prior to the NSX had hydraulic clutches, power steering and creature comforts - what they managed to retain though was the air of exclusivity that Honda couldn't match, coupled with the ability to still kill you if you disrespected them (mainly thanks to ever higher power outputs).
So there is a market for the NSX, but it's not for those where headline power figures and gung-ho macho stories of driving heroism are the order of the day. It's controls may be light and accessible, but it's still a supercar, albeit of it's day. It takes a finesse and a lightness of touch to drive any mid-engined car quickly and the NSX is no different, just because the clutch is easier to depress and the interior isn't as plush as some would like, doesn't make it any less of a achievement. I think it appeals to people who appreciate what it is, and don't try to make it something it never was.
Some will want it, other's wont. Personally, I have the deepest respect for the NSX, but I only want a mid-engined car if I'm racing, for track-days I want something a bit more basic and chuckable (big engine, small grip) and for day to day I want something more practical. Still wouldn't say no though, and I still regard it as a step up from the S2000s and Boxsters of this world.
09-01-2005, 02:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Nick Graves,Sep 1 2005, 11:28 AM
Simon,
That second photograph demonstrates precisely why I do not care for modern Ferraris.
And I thought the NSX was a bit bulky!
That second photograph demonstrates precisely why I do not care for modern Ferraris.
And I thought the NSX was a bit bulky!
I WILL drive round the M25 one day with my camera in tow and see how many 'exotic' and 'exclusive' cars I see !!
09-01-2005, 02:52 AM
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Quote from Top Gear when they drove my car !!
The NSX's new 3.2-litre V6 has both VTEC variable valve timing and a variable induction system, to help push up its power to 276bhp at 7,100rpm, and torque to 224lb ft at 5,500rpm. The first five ratios on the new gearbox have been shortened for improved acceleration, and sixth is longer than the old fifth for more relaxed cruising.
The result is that the engine spins up to its 5,800rpm VTEC zone faster than ever and is soon bouncing off the 8,000rpm limiter. The gearchanges click in with a short, sharp shift that's simply the best of any road car I've ever driven. And as the revs build higher there's a glorious howl of induction and exhaust roar that's bettered only by a Ferrari F355 or TVR Cerbera.
Due to a slightly slippy clutch we were unable to test Honda's performance claims (0-62mph in 5.7 seconds), but Bruntingthorpe's two-mile runway allowed 175mph to show on the speedo before hitting the bigger and more powerful vented disc brakes. Revisions to the electric power steering give a more meaty feel in hard cornering without affecting low speed ease. On a track the NSX behaves predictably and impeccably - just as long as you drive it right. Go into a corner at a suitable speed, turn in cleanly and power out and you'll see a touch of understeer before traction breaks at the rear for a nice, balanced oversteery exit.
But do what a photographer wants you to - chuck the thing into the same bend before stomping on the accelerator - and Mr Momentum takes over. The tail snaps out, and unless you correct swiftly and precisely you'll spin or set up a series of increasingly worse tank-slappers which will also end up in a spin. That's mid-engined cars I guess.
On the road, however, the NSX never feels anything other than perfectly composed. Because it's a Honda it's the least intimidating supercar to drive. You can see clearly out of it - though, oddly, the rear screen distorts every following car into the Popemobile - and it's sensibly sized, unlike just about anything else that offers similar performance. This makes the NSX brilliant on B-roads where its new gearing and increased acceleration helps open up overtaking opportunities, but it's also easy to manage in traffic.
When the rain comes down, the traction control system keeps the rear wheels from spinning and, when the roads are dry, allows just a twitch from the tail before saving the day. Even with it switched off you're not likely to be caught out on the road unless you really behave like a hooligan.
You sit comfortably in it, the air conditioning works, the stereo sounds good and it rides superbly. It's well screwed together and gives you the feeling that it'll go on forever.
The only fly in the ointment is that this latest NSX won't be on sale until next year. But it'll be worth the wait.
The NSX's new 3.2-litre V6 has both VTEC variable valve timing and a variable induction system, to help push up its power to 276bhp at 7,100rpm, and torque to 224lb ft at 5,500rpm. The first five ratios on the new gearbox have been shortened for improved acceleration, and sixth is longer than the old fifth for more relaxed cruising.
The result is that the engine spins up to its 5,800rpm VTEC zone faster than ever and is soon bouncing off the 8,000rpm limiter. The gearchanges click in with a short, sharp shift that's simply the best of any road car I've ever driven. And as the revs build higher there's a glorious howl of induction and exhaust roar that's bettered only by a Ferrari F355 or TVR Cerbera.
Due to a slightly slippy clutch we were unable to test Honda's performance claims (0-62mph in 5.7 seconds), but Bruntingthorpe's two-mile runway allowed 175mph to show on the speedo before hitting the bigger and more powerful vented disc brakes. Revisions to the electric power steering give a more meaty feel in hard cornering without affecting low speed ease. On a track the NSX behaves predictably and impeccably - just as long as you drive it right. Go into a corner at a suitable speed, turn in cleanly and power out and you'll see a touch of understeer before traction breaks at the rear for a nice, balanced oversteery exit.
But do what a photographer wants you to - chuck the thing into the same bend before stomping on the accelerator - and Mr Momentum takes over. The tail snaps out, and unless you correct swiftly and precisely you'll spin or set up a series of increasingly worse tank-slappers which will also end up in a spin. That's mid-engined cars I guess.
On the road, however, the NSX never feels anything other than perfectly composed. Because it's a Honda it's the least intimidating supercar to drive. You can see clearly out of it - though, oddly, the rear screen distorts every following car into the Popemobile - and it's sensibly sized, unlike just about anything else that offers similar performance. This makes the NSX brilliant on B-roads where its new gearing and increased acceleration helps open up overtaking opportunities, but it's also easy to manage in traffic.
When the rain comes down, the traction control system keeps the rear wheels from spinning and, when the roads are dry, allows just a twitch from the tail before saving the day. Even with it switched off you're not likely to be caught out on the road unless you really behave like a hooligan.
You sit comfortably in it, the air conditioning works, the stereo sounds good and it rides superbly. It's well screwed together and gives you the feeling that it'll go on forever.
The only fly in the ointment is that this latest NSX won't be on sale until next year. But it'll be worth the wait.
09-01-2005, 02:59 AM
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Originally Posted by simonprelude,Sep 1 2005, 11:52 AM
When the rain comes down, the traction control system keeps the rear wheels from spinning and, when the roads are dry, allows just a twitch from the tail before saving the day. Even with it switched off you're not likely to be caught out on the road unless you really behave like a hooligan.