Graham Rahal Test Drive

Nice, thanks. Bobby Rahal owns a few dealerships near me and I keep hoping I'll run into him when I stop by for annual inspections. The speeding up of the drone shots and that host Javier - same guy who rode with Ted in another video - what contest did he win to get to play an automotive journalist for a day? :)
 
That is not a fair comparison. The ACR driver was in full race mode -- driving solo, with helmet and suit, going all out without distraction. In contrast, Rahal had a passenger and was chatting it up throughout the lap -- moreover, he was not wearing a helmet. I suspect Rahal could have put down a faster lap time in the NSX if he was driving solo and did not have any distractions. Therefore, the 1:21 lap time, while no doubt impressive, is merely a floor -- the NSX is capable of a faster time.
 
Wow. Just wow. I don't really care if the NSX is faster than the ACR or C7Z06 or 991GT3 around the track, but I really wanted it to be in the same league, and this video seems to confirm that it is. Awesome.

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That is not a fair comparison. The ACR driver was in full race mode -- driving solo, with helmet and suit, going all out without distraction. In contrast, Rahal had a passenger and was chatting it up throughout the lap -- moreover, he was not wearing a helmet. I suspect Rahal could have put down a faster lap time in the NSX if he was driving solo and did not have any distractions. Therefore, the 1:21 lap time, while no doubt impressive, is merely a floor -- the NSX is capable of a faster time.

I wish I could agree, but I assume the edited video does not show the cockpit footage from his fastest lap.
 
I wish I could agree, but I assume the edited video does not show the cockpit footage from his fastest lap.

I think I'm right. At 11:22, the NSX passes the start line with the timer in place. Thereafter, Rahal is shown driving hard, but chatting it up. At 11:53, Rahal passes the start line again, with the timer waiving the checkered flag, and Rahal comments to his passenger that they just "finished our lap." He is referring to his timed lap.
 
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Rahal is a factory driver and, AFAIK, this is the first lap time released publicly. This was no accident and I'm sure the decision was made at a senior corporate level. No way they would report a lap time that left anything significant on the table.

Honestly, I think the time might be a high-water mark relative to competition since Rahal is presumably more comfortable in the NSX than the others drivers were in the other cars. Can we get Randy Pobst to lap Laguna on Cup2s, please?

Even still, how cool would it be if the NSX is, as of now, the fastest lapping showroom stock car under $1M?
 
That is not a fair comparison. The ACR driver was in full race mode -- driving solo, with helmet and suit, going all out without distraction. In contrast, Rahal had a passenger and was chatting it up throughout the lap -- moreover, he was not wearing a helmet. I suspect Rahal could have put down a faster lap time in the NSX if he was driving solo and did not have any distractions. Therefore, the 1:21 lap time, while no doubt impressive, is merely a floor -- the NSX is capable of a faster time.
He didn't have a passenger on the lap at 11:18 the talking might have been edited in from a separate lap, but I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.

Lap times can vary by SECONDS. The only good comparison is the same day/same driver, so hard to compare the ACR results on the admittedly hot day vs Graham's NSX laps.
 
like Stuntman said, we'll all have to wait until the day when all the cars are gathered at the same track, on the same day, in the same conditions, with the same tires and the same driver...
 
Not at all Valkyrie, he's looking for reality vs spin and that's probably the only way to see how the NSX stacks up.

Since the all the new info has come out on the '17 NSX (over the past few weeks) I think most NSX enthusiasts are ready to see
unfettered opinions & results.

Honda seldom makes mistakes.
 
Not at all Valkyrie, he's looking for reality vs spin and that's probably the only way to see how the NSX stacks up.

Since the all the new info has come out on the '17 NSX (over the past few weeks) I think most NSX enthusiasts are ready to see
unfettered opinions & results.

Honda seldom makes mistakes.

I like fastaussie as much as anyone but he has a well known track record of being a bit of a naysayer on this new car so it gave me a chuckle.

Have you seen the technical presentations that Klaus gave? Seems to stack up quite nicely.
 
I'm still a believer that we've only seen the tip of the iceberg on the NSX.
As more details come out about the factory and what's underneath, the exterior the amount of engineering and detail work is impressive.
Things like the paint quality, chassis construction, and more, suggests a great deal of thought has gone into the car.

On performance perhaps the area we've not seen much of is the effect of the very flat torque curve and the 9 speed transmission.
Looks like the NSX will can have just the right torque multiplication gear for each driving situation.
While other cars may have more power and better power/weight ratio they might not have the optimum power and gear selection to maximize the power out of every corner and so on.

In expert hands on a track no doubt other cars will outperform the NSX.
But it appears in everyday conditions, for the average NSX owner, there will be the right amount of power and the right gear to go as fast as the owner is capable of driving.

As HotHonda says Honda rarely makes big mistakes and I don't think we've seen enough yet, to really understand what Honda has built.
 
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I'm still a believer that we've only seen the tip of the iceberg on the NSX....I don't think we've seen enough yet, to really understand what Honda has built.

I hope you're right, but the time to tease and build excitement is BEFORE they start asking people to commit to $200K for the car. I expect to get the call this week to finalize order and put down 10%. I'd sure like to read more (any?) independent instrumented reviews to get a peak "below the waterline" of this iceberg....

What's the logic in hiding the ball at this point? The GT-R glossy booklet (available well before the car) had a two page glossy spread listing it's laptime on the 'Ring.

For those who say "The NSX is not that kind of car, stop asking for data on stuff Acura didn't focus on." I offer Exhibit A. Since they obviously OBSESSED over hitting and beating their objectives (or else they wouldn't be telling us now that they were trying to do this), they have the data. Share it.

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I hope you're right, but the time to tease and build excitement is BEFORE they start asking people to commit to $200K for the car. I expect to get the call this week to finalize order and put down 10%. I'd sure like to read more (any?) independent instrumented reviews to get a peak "below the waterline" of this iceberg....

The NSX team has stated repeatedly which cars they positioned the NSX against from a performance view and that those performance goals were met.
So the NSX will be no slower than an R8, 458 or 911(can't remember which 911 model).
That's good enough for me and fast enough for me.
Don't need any other data.

Judging from the factory data the construction of this NSX will have many leading edge elements and so will be first class in all respects..
Honda wouldn't have built over 100 prototypes (soon to be crushed) and a special factory if they weren't totally committed to this project.
And because it's a Honda all the leading edge electronics will work reliably (or be made to work reliably if needed).

To me the NSX offers excellent value.
 
Don't get me wrong-- I'm gonna buy one. :biggrin:

I'm just the kind of person who likes to have as much information as possible before committing to a significant (to me) transaction.

To be in the Top 5 fastest lapping production cars under $1M, the NSX will need to be able to hang with the GT3RS, Z06 and ACR. This is my stretch hope. My fallback hope is that it will be in Top 5 fastest lapping <$1M WITHOUT a giant ugly wing (knocking out the ACR and GT3RS).

Agree that we should know *WHICH* 911 it is faster than. I'm also hoping that the slide's reference to the R8 v10+ is the current ("Mark II") version and not the significantly slower older model. It's not enough to match performance of cars released ~5 years ago when newer versions of the competition are available before you ship your car....

Again, my question is: why not either release the factory data or allow third parties to test how they want and publish results?
 
The NSX team has stated repeatedly which cars they positioned the NSX against from a performance view and that those performance goals were met. So the NSX will be no slower than an R8, 458 or 911(can't remember which 911 model).

Agree that we should know *WHICH* 911 it is faster than. I'm also hoping that the slide's reference to the R8 v10+ is the current ("Mark II") version and not the significantly slower older model. It's not enough to match performance of cars released ~5 years ago when newer versions of the competition are available before you ship your car.

that's a question that still remains to be answered. as they were targeting the 458, and the new model R8 is yet to be actually released on the showroom floor. one would have to assume the R&D of the NSX was based on the target performance of the previous model R8.

LOL You crack me up fastaussie. You almost sound a little concerned...

Not at all Valkyrie, he's looking for reality vs spin and that's probably the only way to see how the NSX stacks up.

I like fastaussie as much as anyone but he has a well known track record of being a bit of a naysayer on this new car so it gave me a chuckle.

nah mate, i don't care less. but they've been talking this shit for years. like a few guys have said, time to put up or shut up. let's see what she'll do already...
 
The NSX team has stated repeatedly which cars they positioned the NSX against from a performance view and that those performance goals were met.
So the NSX will be no slower than an R8, 458 or 911(can't remember which 911 model).
That's good enough for me and fast enough for me.

Acura (I thnk it was Klaus) stated that the NSX is faster than the turbo Porsche (before all 911s went turbo). That means the 0-60 time is faster than 2.9 seconds. Moreover, I have heard that the NSX is well below 3 seconds to 60 mph.

To be in the Top 5 fastest lapping production cars under $1M, the NSX will need to be able to hang with the GT3RS, Z06 and ACR. This is my stretch hope. My fallback hope is that it will be in Top 5 fastest lapping <$1M WITHOUT a giant ugly wing (knocking out the ACR and GT3RS).

For reasons previously discussed ad nauseum, I am less concerned with lap times. Moreover, the GT3RS and Viper ACR are purpose built track cars, designed with the primary goal of fast lap times, at the expense of daily drivability. Conversely, the NSX is a purpose built daily driver that also has the added benefit of being ridiculously fast on a track; but, importantly, not at the expense of daily drivability. Thus, comparing the lap times of purpose built track cars with the lap times of daily drivers is really a case of apples and oranges -- it is not an even playing field. On the other hand, the fact that the daily driver NSX can produce lap times similar to the premier purpose built track cars, and still be suitable for daily driving, is an extraordinary accomplishment. Lastly, as you correctly observe, the large wings on the ACR and GT3RS are hideous, but necessary for these cars to produce their track times. In contrast, the NSX produces similar track times without the nasty wing and is, therefore, infinitely better looking.

I'm also hoping that the slide's reference to the R8 v10+ is the current ("Mark II") version and not the significantly slower older model. It's not enough to match performance of cars released ~5 years ago when newer versions of the competition are available before you ship your car....

If you look closely at the screen behind Klaus in the above-posted photo, it references the "R8 v10+". I think the Plus designation is solely for Gen 2 R8s. Moreover, the Gen 2 R8 has been available in Europe for approximately a year, and the Gen 1 ceased being produced in 2015.
 
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If you look closely at the screen behind Klaus in the above-posted photo, it references the "R8 v10+". I think the Plus designation is solely for Gen 2 R8s. Moreover, the Gen 2 R8 has been available in Europe for approximately a year, and the Gen 1 ceased being produced in 2015.

there's been a R8 V10+ edition available for a few years now...
 
there's been a R8 V10+ edition available for a few years now...

You're right . . . it was first introduced in 2014, when Audi switched to the dual clutch transmission. It appears that Acura could have used either the Gen 1 or the Gen 2 R8 for its comparison testing. That said, it matters not because, according to what I have heard, the NSX's 0-60 time is commensurate with the Gen 2 R8.
 
I completely agree with the same day total car lineup comparison as they are inevitable and soon hopefully, but what are people saying about Nurbugring records that were set on different days/times/weather by various manufacturers?
 
Picture this:

There's a cars and coffee gathering.
In one corner we have a group of guys chatting about their cars, an NSX, a 458, an R8V10, and a 911 turbo.
A young guy walks over and says "whose car is fastest?"
The car owners immediately rush to their cars and bring out magazines, internet tests, videos on their phones with performance tests and so on.
Each owner proclaims that based on their favorite test their car is the fastest.

The young guy listens to all the raves and says, "sorry what I meant was which one of you guys can drive your car the faster than the other guys in their cars?"
The owners all look at each other and say " we don't know which of us can drive faster, we only know what the magazine tests say."

:smile:
 
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