latest news on NSX replacement (w/pic)

[9/11-RSX]

I would buy one!

I started following NSX news, and this site, when I first saw the HSC. I really like the look of the rear of the HSC: the big under bumper vents and the spoiler slot on top of the "trunk." Round taillights, I could do without; my first car having been a 70 Cougar with lights from side to side, I rather like the NSX taillights.

Anyway, comments regarding the Japanese mag photo:
- Rear looks very much like HSC. Good! I expected that to be the first compromised feature of the prototype.
- Big side scoops? I'm okay with that. Not like the NSX is scoop free. Honda tends toward subtle; upping the scoop size is a bit more exotic, more Lambo style.
- Headlights. I like popups so that would be my first choice (the Cougar had covered lights). However, I like the headlights in the photo much better than the ones on the current NSX.
- It has large "hips": that more or less horizontal ledge across the rear fenders. I've liked that look since the 60's Vettes (damn, I should have bought that 67 aluminum block 427 when I was in 8th grade).
- Hood? Looks fine to me, but then I do have an RSX for a daily.
- Price? Is there anyone who wants to buy a new NSX actually complaining about the price coming down? Perhaps you'd like to seek out the most expensive gas station to fill up at, as well. I don't know about the rest of you, but I was afraid the new NSX would be on the high side of $100k. That would be out of my range--at least out of my range of reasonable ways to blow money. $50k? GREAT! Where do I sign up? I guess some are afraid that a $50k car will sell more and thus not be as "special." One should remember that there is a limited market for cars that can carry two people, a cup of coffee, and nothing else no matter the price. Still, do you begrudge Honda enough sales volume to actually make money and thus recover the expense of the R&D and tooling? I doubt they have made money on the NSX.
- Same weight? Something wrong with that? The NSX is not heavy.
- ENGINE. 6-cyl: Great. You'all think there's something wrong with the current powerplant? 8000 RPM and 300 HP is a lot of fun in a car like the NSX. So 40 to 70 more HP is going to hurt someones feelings? My personal hope is that they don't OVERPOWER the car just 'cause they can. Put a 500 HP V8 or V10 in the thing and you'll never need to shift again or rev it over 5000 RPM; 'cause if you did you would be smoking large expensive tires and going too fast. You want balls-to-the-wall power, buy a Hemi Cuda or that 67 427 Vette I missed out on. Then you can stomp everyone from stoplight to stoplight. If you want a "sports car" with which to slice up curvy roads, get something like the NSX.

I still think one of the best fun cars I've ever experienced was a Fiat X1/9. So low to the ground it cornered like mad and made you feel like you were going very fast as the pebbles in the road blurred by seemingly inches away. So under powered that you had to work the engine and tranny and yourself pretty hard on twisty mountain roads. That was fun. Try having that much fun in one of today's overpowered sports cars. Your odds of living to tell about it or of still having a license afterwards are not great.

To my tastes, the current NSX has plenty of power. But I'll be happy as long as they don't add so much torque that the need to bring on the revs goes out the window. I'd rather have a fun car than one that can win a race on paper with the latest overpowered piece of fertilizer from the likes of Chrysler.

Well, that's my $20 worth. May we all be blessed with great cars.

Enjoy,
CAD

 

[mlambert890]

Re: I would buy one!

- Price? Is there anyone who wants to buy a new NSX actually complaining about the price coming down? Perhaps you'd like to seek out the most expensive gas station to fill up at, as well. I don't know about the rest of you, but I was afraid the new NSX would be on the high side of $100k. That would be out of my range--at least out of my range of reasonable ways to blow money. $50k? GREAT! Where do I sign up? I guess some are afraid that a $50k car will sell more and thus not be as "special." One should remember that there is a limited market for cars that can carry two people, a cup of coffee, and nothing else no matter the price. Still, do you begrudge Honda enough sales volume to actually make money and thus recover the expense of the R&D and tooling? I doubt they have made money on the NSX.

Yes, as someone that helped keep the NSX alive by actually buying one new and showing $90,000 worth of faith in Honda, I absolutely do begrudge them slapping us in the face with a $50k car that outperforms every NSX to date at a little more than half the price.

What you need to realize is that most people who desperately want the "$50k NSX" are just selfilshly awaiting a car they can afford. But keep in mind, part of what has made the NSX so desireable is that it was priced out of the reach of most people for so long. Believe me... If the NSX had been the Japanese Corvette all of these years, you wouldnt be wanting one nearly so badly nor wishing for an "affordable model". Personally, I don't dream of Ferrari making a $90k successor to the 360, I dream of making enough money to afford the 420. You dont aspire to bring what you want down to your level, you aspire to reach up to what you want.

A Boxster is not as special as a 911 which is why Porsche maintains two seperate models. While many bandwagon riders will LOVE the $50k "NSX", if they go forward with such a horrible strategy, it will be a big turnoff to high end buyers. They will have effectively turned the NSX into the Corvette, and that would be a shame. They will have basically acknowledged that they cannot beat Porsche and Ferrari in producing a car with true heritage that maintains brand power through generations.

Maybe THATS what the Euros talk about when they mean "soul". When I get in a Ferrari or 911, I know that the companies that make them have remained committed to their mission through thick and thin and, while they may have made concessions to business realities (cough, Cayenne, cough), they have at least kept the core models pure.

If Honda wants to make money on the NSX, make it price competitive with the Porsche 997 but with better performance and better reliability. Don't take it down to Corvette level and build 35,000 a year.

Honda is only able to sell around 200 new NSXs to the MOST hardcore faithful (like me) these years. That says that something is very wrong with the car. Clearly, the answer is power. The new NSX may have enough power for you, but would you spend $90k on it? It's not an easy thing to do in an era when the WRX, Evolution, Corvette, Viper, Porsche 911 (997) and a flotilla of Mercedes AMGs (and soon to be BMW M cars with the new 3, 5 and 6) can all out accelerate the NSX for around the same price (or less!)

 

[MarkB]

Re: Re: I would buy one!

...You dont aspire to bring what you want down to your level, you aspire to reach up to what you want....

That is why I, personally, am hoping the car will truely be a 'Ferarri killer', even if its cost goes up.

 

[Dr.Honda]

IF Honda builds a better, faster, lighter NSX that costs less than the existing model, that's progress, not a catastrophe. Maybe our cars will take a temporary hit, but they will always be collectable and values will come back up. Look at C3 vettes, the
Ferrari Dino and all the muscle cars of the '60's. Values steadily rising despite the fact that newer, better, and cheaper replacements exist. Don't underestimate the power of nostalgia!
Now, get to work on that HSC, Honda.

 

[gheba_nsx]

Hmmm... normally only low production car raise in value on the long term: this only of course if they have a status and a nostalgic value. Many magazine says that 10'000 units worldwide is the magic number.

The Ferrari Dino is a good example and the production number back this behaviour up (about 5'000 Dino 206 and Dino 246 models in total were produced).


But I did not know about the C3: is it really appreciating? This is interesting! Maybe it is due to the declining number of good examples left, versus the trashed models you see on car lots. The car has been produced several hundred thousands times (500'000?). This would really mean that there is hope for the NSX (about 20'000 cars) in the next years to raise in value...

 

[Dr.Honda]

I think the improved values of C3 (Coke-bottle shaped years) is more due to nostalgia and declining numbers of good examples.
The NSX is a relatively rare and brilliantly engineered vehicle that
is generally unloved by the hp-crazed, nostalgia-blinded collectors that have the cash to push values of American muscle-cars to ridiculous levels. I mean, really, $100 K for a short-wheelbase Dodge Dart with a primitive school-bus motor (the sacred Hemi)?! Someday, today's enthusiasts will prize (and pay
top dollar for) rare Japanese sports cars they can't afford right now.
Someday, you will see an NSX at Pebble Beach and rolling across the block at Barret-Jackson. I don't think the next generation car,
cheaper or not will make any difference in the long-term value of our cars.

 

[Spider]

FYI

6,000,000.00 JPY Japan Yen = 53,985.62 USD

At that price it is head to head with a vette. It could sell well, but PLEASE do not call it NSX.

That's why Honda has chosen to market it as HSC and not NSX. We would all like it to be a 2nd generation NSX, but realistically and economically, I don't believe there will be a 2nd generation NSX.

I can understand how people are worrying about the devaluation of their NSX once the HSC comes out, as evident from the increasing number of NSXs being listed up for sale. The HSC will have more hp than the current NSX, weigh (hopefully) about the same, just as exotic or more, depending on your point of view, and cost less than the NSX. To me that's progress. It's no different than the PC market; when we bought our desktops or portables a few years ago, and paid X bucks, we can buy better or just as good versions today for X/3 bucks.

 

[9/11-RSX]

Want an investment, buy stock

I want an NSX because it is a great car. It is an exotic by design, no matter its price. I would not buy a Lambo or other such exotic for the same reason I wouldn't buy any car other than a Japanese made car, preferably a Honda. They are well designed and well behaved. I've had 4 Honda/Acuras. I bought 3 of those new. I've had one VW GTI Turbo. It was very nice, but it was poorly engineered to the point of being a lemon on wheels. Honda has great quality and NSX is the only exotic that is not a finicky little garage baby.

RE: Price. From a consumer stand point, lower price is better. Honda is not in the business of building collector's cars to be kept garaged in a vault. They build great machines that are to be used. You want an investment, buy stock in Honda. You want a car, expect it to go down in value as it is used and as new innovations come along in all cars not just its replacement. NOTE The C6 Vette has more power and better handling than the C5 AND IT COSTS LESS. That my friends is called progress and good news for those who like to drive.

The first year of production, Honda made 3000 or so NSXes. All other years, production has been in the 100s. There is no way they have made back the R&D and tooling expense. I don't think that is an exercise they are going to repeat.

If the new NSX is not way cool and under $60k, I'm not buying one. That puts me back to Plan A: buy a used one. Which is fine by me as that was my original intention before I started seeing the stories about $50k next gen cars. Also fine by me if they don't call it an NSX. They can call it the Pokemon car for all I care, as long as it is a great drive and is available in black!

Now you owners of black NSXes take good care of them. I'll be in the market if this new car doesn't work out.

Enjoy,
CAD