[FONT="]First - let me say that the first experience I had with a Gen 2 NSX was mediocre. It was at Dream Racing in Las Vegas Nevada - hot lapping at Las Vegas motor speedway. My expectations were sky high, and my impressions however, down to earth. You see, for starters, this NSX #548 had spent most of its poor life as a rental being flogged on a racetrack. The brakes were beat, it had so many warning/error lights/messages it could give an epileptic a seizure, and the tires were right on the cusp of needing replacement. While I loved the driving position, the feel of the steering wheel, the seats, the controls, and the dashboard display - the power delivery was strange, it seemed underpowered, the car was too easy to drive and I seemed to drift and slide around every hard turn from lack of grip. Frankly - it was uninspiring, and left me cold. Little did I know - it was just that tired, battered car.
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Fast forward to today. I own a 2017 #146 with only 800 miles on the odometer - but this will grow quickly as it is my primary car. While I haven't had the car long - I am so unbelievably impressed with this Acura I felt compelled to share it with the word... or at least this forum. Before I go any further, let me start by sharing a little background information since i'm new to this forum. I have logged close to 80 track days and have previously owned a Gen 1 NSX - amongst an array of different cars over the year - everything from a compound charged Lotus Elise, to an Ariel Atom, AP1 S2000, Z06, five Dodge Vipers (including a 1000HP twin turbo), a Murcielago, an Audi R8 and the list goes on. The intent of sharing the aforementioned line up is not an effort to brag, but since i'm new here and you folks don't yet know me - I felt it was important to share my prior experience with an array of high performance cars so that you know i'm not coming from a place of sheer ignorance.
Now back on topic - this Gen 2 Acura NSX - it’s really a stunning piece of engineering. Today I drove the new 911 Turbo S and an Audi R8 V10 Plus, and put about 85 miles on my NSX in the process and after the day full of test drives, I couldn’t be happier with my decision. It’s remarkable how tame, quiet and easy to drive the NSX is in the standard (sport) mode. It’s about as easy to drive as an Acura TL, and there’s zero drama, loud noises, harsh ride or other meaningful negatives - but it still has incredible responsiveness and precision steering with lightning reflexes, so you know you’re driving something special. If you want the power - there’s enough to embarrass a Ferrari 458 with a stomp of your foot, but it requires a firm and deliberate input - like pinning the throttle to the floor, which frankly I like.
Driving around town and cruising on the freeway you don’t want to give a car 30% throttle and have the thing go bonkers and drop a bunch of gears and initiate hyperspace, you want it to be gentle, low strung and elegantly fast. The entire game changes though, with a turn of a knob when, you put it in Sport + mode (second most aggressive). The car never shuts off the gas motor, the display changes into a more aggressive layout and Mr. Hyde comes out. The suspension hunkers down, the gears keep to an ideal torque band and right off the line it has tremendous power even with small inputs. The urgency level is extremely high and it just begs you to let it loose and drive aggressively with intent. The magazine articles i've read on the new NSX often mention how this car far more than any other had a complete personality change with a switch of a mode. Turning it to track mode (most aggressive) makes it almost as aggressive a driving experience as the 2015 Viper GTS it replaced and way more aggressive than a new Audi R8 V10 Plus Or 911 Turbo S - it’s frankly not something that shouldn't be engaged unless you’re actually on a track, as at least with my lack of self control it just is impossible to be in that mode and not do stupid things. On the other hand, the Audi R8 V10 Plus, regardless of mode is aggressive, loud, rough and high strung in comparison. The Porsche 911 Turbo is too gruff and torquey to be relaxed and the exhaust - regardless of mode is boomy, which I find incredibly annoying. While I could go into tremendous detail as to what I did/didn't like about these two cars - i'll stick to the topic at hand, the belle of the ball - the NSX.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]The brilliance and wonder of the NSX is not at all it’s sheer or total performance - and this is where I feel like magazines and the internet have it all wrong. While its performance capabilities are ludicrously high - there are a few cars that around its price range offer as good, or better performance and the expectation from the media (and many others) was this new NSX was going to be data sheet crushing - which is not the nature of the model. Remember, NSX = New Sports car Experience. The pull of the car isn’t it’s character - even though it’s dripping with character (in my opinion) and it has far more character than the 911 Turbo S - perhaps not as much as the Audi R8 with that 8,500 RPM revving V10 or the McLaren 570s. It’s not even the tech, of which it has more than any other car in the world sub $800K that i'm aware of. [/FONT]
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The absolute game changing and class dominating magic of the car, and to what in my eyes makes it the most spectacular engineering marvel available on wheels lies solely in one knob - Dynamic Mode. There is no other supercar (or any car) you can turn on it's just a spectacular “normal car" with absolutely zero drama, barely even drives like a sports car (unless you push it) - but if/when you need it - still leaving it in this standard "sport" mode - it has monstrous power and phenomenal handling. The standard mode (Sport) is the perfect homage to the original NSX in that way - it’s an easy to approach and live with supercar that sacrifices just a little absolute performance and feel for the sake of balance.
The Sport + and Track settings however - through the use of wild technologies (electric motors, adjustable suspension, torque vectoring, trick AWD, dozens of computers, etc), sacrifice nothing in terms of performance, feel and passion and to me actually exceed the excitement, response and performance of most cars in and above it’s class. The cars that do best it and offer more driver involvement, audible delight, straight line speed, etc - only best it marginally more (5-7%) and are always in a hyper-stressed, rough riding and aggressive state, regardless of mode - making them tiresome and impractical to drive most of the time. The prospect of performing origami on myself to get into a "track weapon" to then get beat up and audibly shouted at for a 10 minute drive to the supermarket and back is laughable, which is precisely why many of these Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, McLaren's, etc don't have many miles on them. They also usually have a lot of issues, which are a hassle to deal with. I know both from personal experience, and from the experiences of many of my friends and colleagues.
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[FONT="]The NSX offers exotic supercar looks that can rival nearly any car on the road, solid performance, and complete livability 100% of the time, but when you stumble onto a lovely road, or arrive at a race track flick a knob and access the overwhelming passion, excitement and shocking performance with ease. 95% of what you’d get in a heavily compromised track focused, unreliable specialty car you get with one or two turns of a knob! This is simply mind boggling. You see, a Ferrari or Lamborghini (or even a 911 Turbo S or Audi R8v10+) can only be that one car, that one persona all of the time, which gets old. Fast. The NSX on the other hand, offers a much more compelling value proposition. It is a car as engaging, exhilarating and visually stimulating as a Ferrari, Lamborghini, R8 V10, etc - and all that is required to initiate that experience is one or two turns of a dial, otherwise - it's something entirely different, a relaxed, laid back GT coupe that in my experience, rivals a Lexus LC500 for its touring prowess. There's a reason nearly all Gen 1 NSX's have over 100K miles on them, many with more than 200K miles on them, which is unheard of with the aforementioned brands. While it's neat to have a supercar, it's not all that neat when you don't want to use it much. Having a unique looking, exotic mid-engined supercar you can enjoy driving on a day to day basis, whether it's a 10 minute grocery run, a 1 hour bumper to bumper commute or a 3 hour freeway jaunt to a racetrack, then with the flick of a knob drive 10/10th's and attack a race track and shame many uncomfortable, impractical track-focused cars - is simply remarkable. Better put - it's a New Sports car eXperience.
Footnote: It was also interesting that when I went to the Porsche and Audi dealerships, EVERYONE was ignoring the Porsche’s and the R8’s and were literally swarming around my car taking pictures. It actually really annoyed the salesmen at Porsche, and they "offered" to let me park inside the service garage where it would be “covered and protected” in a very bratty way, which made it really clear they didn’t want their customers eyes/interest in it. I told them I was fine with it outside and the guy made a face like I had just flashed him with my wee bits - then made another attempt by saying it looked like it might rain, to which I said "Well, it probably won't melt - and it'll be a good test to see if it does, before i'd have to brave the rain to get home anyways." Much to my entertainment (and their disdain) the entire time I was there, people were posing in front of my car taking pictures. The sales folks at Audi were lovely, and took quite a positive interest in the NSX, but then again - i've bought multiple cars from them, including an R8, so they know me pretty well.
My carbon fiber fantastic Casino White Pearl NSX (#146) with Red Interior.
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View attachment 150288
Fast forward to today. I own a 2017 #146 with only 800 miles on the odometer - but this will grow quickly as it is my primary car. While I haven't had the car long - I am so unbelievably impressed with this Acura I felt compelled to share it with the word... or at least this forum. Before I go any further, let me start by sharing a little background information since i'm new to this forum. I have logged close to 80 track days and have previously owned a Gen 1 NSX - amongst an array of different cars over the year - everything from a compound charged Lotus Elise, to an Ariel Atom, AP1 S2000, Z06, five Dodge Vipers (including a 1000HP twin turbo), a Murcielago, an Audi R8 and the list goes on. The intent of sharing the aforementioned line up is not an effort to brag, but since i'm new here and you folks don't yet know me - I felt it was important to share my prior experience with an array of high performance cars so that you know i'm not coming from a place of sheer ignorance.
Now back on topic - this Gen 2 Acura NSX - it’s really a stunning piece of engineering. Today I drove the new 911 Turbo S and an Audi R8 V10 Plus, and put about 85 miles on my NSX in the process and after the day full of test drives, I couldn’t be happier with my decision. It’s remarkable how tame, quiet and easy to drive the NSX is in the standard (sport) mode. It’s about as easy to drive as an Acura TL, and there’s zero drama, loud noises, harsh ride or other meaningful negatives - but it still has incredible responsiveness and precision steering with lightning reflexes, so you know you’re driving something special. If you want the power - there’s enough to embarrass a Ferrari 458 with a stomp of your foot, but it requires a firm and deliberate input - like pinning the throttle to the floor, which frankly I like.
Driving around town and cruising on the freeway you don’t want to give a car 30% throttle and have the thing go bonkers and drop a bunch of gears and initiate hyperspace, you want it to be gentle, low strung and elegantly fast. The entire game changes though, with a turn of a knob when, you put it in Sport + mode (second most aggressive). The car never shuts off the gas motor, the display changes into a more aggressive layout and Mr. Hyde comes out. The suspension hunkers down, the gears keep to an ideal torque band and right off the line it has tremendous power even with small inputs. The urgency level is extremely high and it just begs you to let it loose and drive aggressively with intent. The magazine articles i've read on the new NSX often mention how this car far more than any other had a complete personality change with a switch of a mode. Turning it to track mode (most aggressive) makes it almost as aggressive a driving experience as the 2015 Viper GTS it replaced and way more aggressive than a new Audi R8 V10 Plus Or 911 Turbo S - it’s frankly not something that shouldn't be engaged unless you’re actually on a track, as at least with my lack of self control it just is impossible to be in that mode and not do stupid things. On the other hand, the Audi R8 V10 Plus, regardless of mode is aggressive, loud, rough and high strung in comparison. The Porsche 911 Turbo is too gruff and torquey to be relaxed and the exhaust - regardless of mode is boomy, which I find incredibly annoying. While I could go into tremendous detail as to what I did/didn't like about these two cars - i'll stick to the topic at hand, the belle of the ball - the NSX.[/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]The brilliance and wonder of the NSX is not at all it’s sheer or total performance - and this is where I feel like magazines and the internet have it all wrong. While its performance capabilities are ludicrously high - there are a few cars that around its price range offer as good, or better performance and the expectation from the media (and many others) was this new NSX was going to be data sheet crushing - which is not the nature of the model. Remember, NSX = New Sports car Experience. The pull of the car isn’t it’s character - even though it’s dripping with character (in my opinion) and it has far more character than the 911 Turbo S - perhaps not as much as the Audi R8 with that 8,500 RPM revving V10 or the McLaren 570s. It’s not even the tech, of which it has more than any other car in the world sub $800K that i'm aware of. [/FONT]
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
The absolute game changing and class dominating magic of the car, and to what in my eyes makes it the most spectacular engineering marvel available on wheels lies solely in one knob - Dynamic Mode. There is no other supercar (or any car) you can turn on it's just a spectacular “normal car" with absolutely zero drama, barely even drives like a sports car (unless you push it) - but if/when you need it - still leaving it in this standard "sport" mode - it has monstrous power and phenomenal handling. The standard mode (Sport) is the perfect homage to the original NSX in that way - it’s an easy to approach and live with supercar that sacrifices just a little absolute performance and feel for the sake of balance.
The Sport + and Track settings however - through the use of wild technologies (electric motors, adjustable suspension, torque vectoring, trick AWD, dozens of computers, etc), sacrifice nothing in terms of performance, feel and passion and to me actually exceed the excitement, response and performance of most cars in and above it’s class. The cars that do best it and offer more driver involvement, audible delight, straight line speed, etc - only best it marginally more (5-7%) and are always in a hyper-stressed, rough riding and aggressive state, regardless of mode - making them tiresome and impractical to drive most of the time. The prospect of performing origami on myself to get into a "track weapon" to then get beat up and audibly shouted at for a 10 minute drive to the supermarket and back is laughable, which is precisely why many of these Ferrari's, Lamborghini's, McLaren's, etc don't have many miles on them. They also usually have a lot of issues, which are a hassle to deal with. I know both from personal experience, and from the experiences of many of my friends and colleagues.
[FONT="]
[/FONT]
[FONT="]The NSX offers exotic supercar looks that can rival nearly any car on the road, solid performance, and complete livability 100% of the time, but when you stumble onto a lovely road, or arrive at a race track flick a knob and access the overwhelming passion, excitement and shocking performance with ease. 95% of what you’d get in a heavily compromised track focused, unreliable specialty car you get with one or two turns of a knob! This is simply mind boggling. You see, a Ferrari or Lamborghini (or even a 911 Turbo S or Audi R8v10+) can only be that one car, that one persona all of the time, which gets old. Fast. The NSX on the other hand, offers a much more compelling value proposition. It is a car as engaging, exhilarating and visually stimulating as a Ferrari, Lamborghini, R8 V10, etc - and all that is required to initiate that experience is one or two turns of a dial, otherwise - it's something entirely different, a relaxed, laid back GT coupe that in my experience, rivals a Lexus LC500 for its touring prowess. There's a reason nearly all Gen 1 NSX's have over 100K miles on them, many with more than 200K miles on them, which is unheard of with the aforementioned brands. While it's neat to have a supercar, it's not all that neat when you don't want to use it much. Having a unique looking, exotic mid-engined supercar you can enjoy driving on a day to day basis, whether it's a 10 minute grocery run, a 1 hour bumper to bumper commute or a 3 hour freeway jaunt to a racetrack, then with the flick of a knob drive 10/10th's and attack a race track and shame many uncomfortable, impractical track-focused cars - is simply remarkable. Better put - it's a New Sports car eXperience.
Footnote: It was also interesting that when I went to the Porsche and Audi dealerships, EVERYONE was ignoring the Porsche’s and the R8’s and were literally swarming around my car taking pictures. It actually really annoyed the salesmen at Porsche, and they "offered" to let me park inside the service garage where it would be “covered and protected” in a very bratty way, which made it really clear they didn’t want their customers eyes/interest in it. I told them I was fine with it outside and the guy made a face like I had just flashed him with my wee bits - then made another attempt by saying it looked like it might rain, to which I said "Well, it probably won't melt - and it'll be a good test to see if it does, before i'd have to brave the rain to get home anyways." Much to my entertainment (and their disdain) the entire time I was there, people were posing in front of my car taking pictures. The sales folks at Audi were lovely, and took quite a positive interest in the NSX, but then again - i've bought multiple cars from them, including an R8, so they know me pretty well.
My carbon fiber fantastic Casino White Pearl NSX (#146) with Red Interior.
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Thanks for sharing
