First drive in an NSX

To the OP: Really a shame that your first experience with an NSX was not a pleasing one. The 91-96's can be an amazing machine if they've been properly maintained. Sad that cars such as the NSX can get into hands that don't take care of the car
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I've always been a fan of your car

The NSX-R wing/painted wheels look great on the Formula Red.

 

Im glad to hear that. Just a tip but the next one you do drive, make sure all the maintenance is up to date and if the car has BPU mods and a nice wheel and tire combo your in for a treat!

 

+1

 

Yes Ferrari did respond to the NSX; in the 360 ! Look at the structures of both cars. It took Ferrari 9 years.
The NSX was that groundbreaking.

Compare it to Ferrari's model of the time. Buy a $28k 348.

Cut the model some slack. Its 18 years old. The 91's 15/16 wheel set up is fairly dated and will feel soft in comparison with today's sportscars. Once again in its day it was the bomb. Car needs just a tad of lowering. Any sports exhaust gives the car some wickedness.
And honestly; the car ,from the get-go, needed 100 more HP. The chassis/drivetrain could handle it. If it had it when introduced it would not just be a milestone, it would be Legendary. A Supercar equal to the F40.



Along with my Carbed Boxer, I think I will always have an NSX. The car is that good.

 

I just sold my 95 daily driver with 50K miles and new clutch and timing belt service for what they are asking for that poor car in the pic. In no way is a mid engine sitting 6 inches off the ground just like driving any Acura. They are great little 30K cars.

 

NSX's are great cars. I had one for a while a few years back.

Down shifting from 6 to 4 with a 5000RPM blip was just heavenly. Great cars for DD.

 

I always liked this car as well. Not unlike the S2000, you can get them cheap and they'll run 4-ever if maintained.

Bad thing is, many of these have been modded atrociously. I prefer stock - maybe an upgrade to the later rim style, but no need to do anything else.

 

+4

 

That might be going a bit far

 

"NSX's are great cars. I had one for a while a few years back.

Down shifting from 6 to 4 with a 5000RPM blip was just heavenly. Great cars for DD."
Yes and easy to drive, just get in and go...no gate shifters to worry about, no buttons to push, good visibility.....

 

I had a mint '92 NSX and a Testarossa, the NSX felt just as fast up to 100mph.

Almost everyone in the street thought it was a Ferrari and girls actually liked the lines over the 328GTS that I had.

It drove as good and entertaining as a 328 or Testarossa but it didn't have the same engine sound, too bad.

I still think that I'd rather buy me a NSX for $40k than an Audi R8 for $100k or a brand new Corvette.

 

Well....isn't price the whole point? Or at least a major factor? Otherwise it's like saying: "hey, this Accord Coupe is OK, but I don't know why you'd buy it over a Maserati!"

Very confused.

 

If your going to quote me please do it within the context of the paragraph.
Or do you practice the English Tabloid school of posting ?

 

Light Guy, is your car S/C'd? I've heard from owners that the car handles the Comptech SC VERY well. 75HP more to the wheel running low boost and it's basically a pure bolt on.

 

Shots from today.
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Thank you!! I 100% agree with you. I am on my third NSX, and have been daily driving this one for almost 10 years now, and just crossed 160,000 miles tonight. Yes, I drive...alot.

For a while back in the late 1990's we had a 1990 Ferrari 348ts with approximately 6,200 miles on it, all dealer services since new, all maintenance up to date, and it was a cherry car by all accounts in terms of owner care. Since the 348 was the car that Ferrari had out at the time of the NSXs introduction, only that (and the 328) are really fair comparisons to the NSX.

Having said that, I will tell you that my experience with the NSXs and 348ts (which we had at the same time, so we drove them back to back for quite a while) was of two cars worlds apart. The NSXs never once gave us an ounce of trouble, had comfortable and easy to use interiors that were well built, and everything worked. Always. The Ferrari cost tens of thousands more, left me stranded on the side of the road twice in two weeks, both power window motors failed to raise the windows without assistance from myself and a passenger pulling the windows up while holding the window switch looking like a couple of idiots, and the quality of the interior materials was sketchy at best. Oh, and the car leaked water like crazy in the rain (yes, we drove ours in the rain). Having to carry towels with you to drive a car like that in wet weather is just humiliating. Needless to say, the Ferrari was sold in less than a year because it was just too much of a pain. So if we compare a $28k NSX to a $28k 348.....well, lets just say that the NSX (even neglected) could probably still be driven across country. The comparably prices 348 would probably not make it across town, unless on the back of a tow truck.

Now, the Ferrari had the NSX beat in two very important 'car guy' areas. Sound and exterior styling. Ferrari seems to have the patent on engine music. That car sounded awesome when you ran it wide open. I love the NSX engine sound at VTEC, but the Ferrari is just beautiful when you compare stock to stock to keep it fair. Styling. Yep. Just park the Ferrari and stare. In my mind if Honda / Acura had gone a little more bold and had an Italian design the outside of their car, and the engine sound (with about 75 more horsepower), they would have made the worlds most perfect car.

So really I find myself where the poster above evidently is. I will always have an NSX (as long as I am alive and able to own a car), but will probably have another Ferrari somewhere down the road. Both cars are fun, and any real car guy can appreciate both for what they are.

 

Atrociously bad? No. Often overrated? Yep. Stylistically a lot better than most other Acuras (big acclaim, I know) and was certainly better looking than any other $55k car in the early 90s, but that's about it for me.

These F40 juxtapositions...Come on people! Even in 1991, a 270hp V6. Wow, how groundbreaking.

 

This looks like a "nice one": http://www.fantasyjunction.com/cars/790-Acura-NSX-3.0%20Litre%20DOHC%20V-6. Personally I think they have aged very well and will probably take a look at the "T" variant when I'm in position to get a weekend toy.

 

Congrats on the miles! The issues with the 348 are the reasons my first "toy" might be an NSX, i.e. the perception (reality?) that the NSX is far more likely to provide trouble-free miles than the comparably priced Fcar and my annual maintenance/repair budget will likely be limited. What are the these costs like on an NSX?

 

Well - compare to the competition (normally aspirated to be fair):

1991 Corvette - 5.7L V8 - 245HP
1991 Porsche - 3.6L I6 - 247HP
1991 300ZX - 3.0L V6 - 222HP
1991 Supra - 3.0L I6 - 200HP
1991 Ferrari 348 - 3.4L V8 - 300HP

So a 3.0L V6 in 1991 making 270HP is pretty darn good if you ask me. It's 25 more than a much larger V8 (Corvette) and somewhat larger boxer 6 (Porsche). It crushes the same displacement engines in the 300ZX and Supra.

Only the Ferrari beats it - and all credit to Ferrari, a 300HP 3.4L V8 is hot stuff in 1991. Shoot, but 300HP 4.0L Lexus GS400 was hot stuff when introduced in 1998, so I'd say Acura had something groundbreaking.

 

It was never about high hp numbers, but a daily driveable and max reliable car in a fun little package.

 

Well I wouldn't even qualify the 300ZX/Supra in the same category exactly. The 911 I bet could've/did give a spirited run for its engineering depsite its 23hp deficit.
The Corvette, really? 245hp? Is that true? That is kind of pathetic.
The Ferrari, wins again
What about the F40 (as others claim the NSX is worthy of?) 2.9l twin-turbo V8, 478 horsies is it?
For that matter how about the BMW 850i? Much heavier GT car, sure. But a solid, gorgeous-designed 300hp 5.0 V12 for only about 20k more than NSX sticker at that time.

No surprise there. Asians are always their own cars' biggest fans. Well...themselves and usually people that don't really know anything about cars.

 

This certainly seemed to become the mantra of NSX owners/fans toward the end of its life cycle. Kind of embarassing that it Never made horsepower hitting 300 even 14 years after its launch when they still had the audacity to charge 90k for them.

Look, what I'm saying is, it was fairly well-deserved in its popularity and praise for about its first 2-3 years, and it was showered with praise during that time. But IMO, it was a total flash in the pan because it never either improved upon/replicated that success while ALL the others starkly (Corvette/Porsche/Ferrari/Lotus) surpassed them. That's why I say they were heavily overrated. Acura had no 2nd act and after its "Gen 2" model came out with a refreshment of fascia and rear-end but essentially no engine upgrades to be found, the numbers then began to look kind of insulting.

Hope this clarifies. Early on, it earned the respect of its peers but the NSX brand has been trampled over the test of time. Flame on, ye loyalists.