Autocar: NSX vs. Cayman GT4 vs. F355. And the winner is...
- Thread starter White98LS
- Start date
Great read. Thanks for posting.
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- 25 March 2014
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The car's deceptive quickness still baffles me! I have the 3.0 and I swear it feels faster than 270HP, I still can't figure out how Honda did it!
First time I've ever heard the F1 gearbox called Robotised.
Power can always be added. The bones of the car will always remain and remain top dog...
'Subjectively' is where the NSX truly shines, it's not so much a paper tiger as a real tiger ;^D
Brian
Brian
5.5 to 60 seems awfully slow for a 2005.
The title is best sports car under 100K or for about 60K in British units. I would personally own the NSX over both cars even if the Ferrari and Cayman are faster. I've driven all three cars personally. Their assessment of the Cayman being not memorable is accurate IMO. It's a very competent car but it does not excite me like the 20+ year old NSX, largely because of personal taste and looks. The F355 sounds fantastic, but the quality is dismal for the money being spent even when compared to the "much older" NSX.
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And let me clarify, I have not driven the new GT4, just a regular Cayman.
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And let me clarify, I have not driven the new GT4, just a regular Cayman.
Great read. I need to give an NSX a try.
No mater the opinion, I'm always amazed that our 25 year old design is constantly used as a benchmark comparison to much more modern sports cars and still holds its own as an overall performance package. Most people will never understand it until they actually drive one. I'm not saying it's better than a modern Cayman. But, that it still remains part of the conversation is a testament to its engineering and design. I'm sure blessed to be able to own one. And as an added bonus, the folks on this forum and NSX owners in general are such a close knit community. More so than any car community that I've ever been around. And after NSX Fiesta in japan this year, I've discovered it to be an international trait as well. It's really amazing.
For any Cayman owner or anyone who's truly in the know about them: what are there the major milestones or dividing points for Caymans, or are they kind of considered all very similar, essentially? The NSX has several obvious dividing points, be they coupe/targa, NA1/NA2, or googly/non-googly, but how are the Caymans segregated by owners and fans? Transmissions? Engines? Styling?
Aside from power outputs that sure seemed to have morphed into near-911 territory as compared to 10 years ago, to me the current generation of Caymans seems to have plumped and gotten a little too fussy or cutesy with forced styling nips & tucks attempting to keep a basic design fresh, kind of like the Audi TT. It's hard to improve a classic sometimes. To me the ~2008 Caymans look much more unique & and classically beautiful, with more than enough power to have a lot of fun off-track, just like the NSX, and a look that is very obviously not a 911 moreso than today's.
Aside from power outputs that sure seemed to have morphed into near-911 territory as compared to 10 years ago, to me the current generation of Caymans seems to have plumped and gotten a little too fussy or cutesy with forced styling nips & tucks attempting to keep a basic design fresh, kind of like the Audi TT. It's hard to improve a classic sometimes. To me the ~2008 Caymans look much more unique & and classically beautiful, with more than enough power to have a lot of fun off-track, just like the NSX, and a look that is very obviously not a 911 moreso than today's.
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I have not driven the GT4 but I have done so a 2014 Cayman S with PDK in Sears Point. I consider my 3.2 hardtop NSX one of the quickest stock NSX around but it is no match to the Cayman S in the power and handling departments. Maybe I have not driven the NSX hard enough but judging from the experience with the Cayman S, I highly doubt the NSX would be topping the GT4 on my car list. Subjectively, the Cayman S feels more stable and the chassis stiffer. The acceleration is much quicker than my NSX. I see the Cayman as a better NSX. The GT4 would be a hands down. NSX is a great car but automotive progress waits for nobody.
Steve
Steve
A Cayman may indeed be a little better NSX in regards to the drive. I would say that's where the benefits end. Styling is ho-hum and they are a dime a dozen. Oh, I did forget the huge advantage of getting reamed at the Porsche palace whenever you need something done.
Sure, if you factor in the ridiculous price, super expensive oil changes, tune-ups, noisy exhaust, poor gas mileage, the Ferrari 458 is a POS compared to the NSX.
Steve
No arguments here.
I will bite at this.
The 458 outshines the NSX because it has THAT much more performance than a NSX. It is literally night and day to step on the gas in a 458 compared to a NSX.
The Cayman doesn't have that advantage. Sure - it is faster, more agile, stiffer all benefits from being more modern. But it isn't THAT much faster, agile, etc to make up for the other elements that got the NSX a nod from this particular magazine. I suspect this is the same reason it edged out the F355 (lack of manual gear box probably helped too
). The NSX is a "good package" car of the 90s and there is a lot to be said about that.
This discussion on the article is may be the wrong thread to say what probably gets repeated at least once a month around here in various "I heart NSX" discussions, but the NSX's being the most "anti-a**hole" exotic is probably the metric or statistic that's the most least recognized by non-owners and internet bully P-car F-car GTR-fanatics. I've met dozens and dozens of owners and I know of not one single a**hole owner or someone with a chip on their shoulder trying to prove something. If you don't own one or are never around owners, you just have no idea, but it's likely most writers of articles like this one occasionally get around owners, and I wonder if sometimes that anti-a**hole-ness is recognized and plays into their appreciation level of the "NSX package." Who knows. ...well this might open the door in all kinds of ways, but hey. First one to call me a real a**hole wins.
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really hard to compare any old cars to more modern ones when you factor in price and try to characterize the owner groups.Pretty much everyone here is too biased.The other inescapable fact is many enthusiast nsx owners bought the car used because it is the best exotic 2 seater you can buy for the money.As income and wealth rise the auto selection changes.There are many past owners who have moved on to the more expensive current exotics and don't look back.I'm pleased to see many wealthy owners who hold on to their old analogue nsx ....as do many older 911 owners.....that said the nsxca has a great base of very smart friendly members proven each year at xpo.
The thing is though is that to me, the 458 is very much sexier than the old NSX, along with having serious supercar performance. The F355 is not better looking to than the NSX IMO, nor is any Cayman.
There is a lot of the very same snobbiness that NSX fans accused the Ferrari fans of. The new kid on the block, the Cayman, is clearly a much more capable car, is being brushed off using some stupid subjective attributes. I am sure some deatbeat Ferrari snobs still insist that the 348 is better than the NSX citing prestige, pedigree, and whatever subjective BS. We just have to agree to disagree if everything is just "subjective". The NSX is a great car but not to the point that it can quantum leap 25 years to beat the current counterparts. I have had 4 NSXs over the last 17 years and I love the car to death or else I would get something else. People line up to offer me crazy money for my current NSX not because it is the most capable car out there. There are many modern performance cars that will run circles around it. I love the car and people want it for what it is, the true product of "Power of Dreams" from the great and sorely missed Soichiro Honda. One will be very disappointed if one expects the NSX capability to be on par with the Cayman GT4. A full second quicker from 0-60 and its superior handling mean the NSX will eat dust from start to finish. It must have been some inferiority complex that keeps driving SOME NSX owners to keep on drawing unrealistic capability comparisons to modern sport cars. I rolled my eyes while reading that article which was likely written by a NSX snob. If the comparison is not about performance, then simply don't do it. When the actual numbers shame the NSX, then the NSX again was picked the winner based on subjective attributes. I actually find the article embarrassing. How about just accepting the fact that the NSX was the best sport car at one point in history and that particular milestone can never be changed?
Steve
Steve
I don't think anyone in here is deluded to think the NSX will outpace the F355 or Cayman. I think as an overall ownership experience, the NSX is the winner of the 3 aforementioned cars.
Now, if you need something faster and a bit more modern, the Cayman is the way to go, but you lose the rarity and special looks of the NSX that some appreciate. It just depends on what you are looking for in sports car be it all out performance or looks or a combo of both. To be factual, the GTR or Corvette will give the Cayman a run for it's money, but why aren't they part of the comparison?
There are plenty of fast/capable cars out there, so it's never based on performance alone but also another almost intangible factor.
I highly doubt anyone can measure this without driving all 3 cars for a long term.
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