My relatively stock Esprit V8 TT will run rings around any relatively stock NSX. How’s that for being “a little biased”. Just look at my call-sign....:wink:
Having owned both cars for the past 6-7 yrs, here is what I have to say. I can easily fall asleep behind the wheels of my NSX, but I can’t help but getting excited every time I drive my Esprit. The NSX was my daily driver, rain or shine. She was extremely reliable, dependable, and user friendly. I can’t think of a better supercar that can serve daily duty. Quick hop to the groceries is mostly a non-issue. Ironically, it is the Esprit that has a bigger trunk to swallow up more stuff. However, what disappoints is the NSX’s lack of character and power. Push her beyond 6k rpm brings only incremental reward. A touch on the conservative side, understeer, the chassis is nicely tight and controlled with no hidden surprises. Yes, she is reasonably quick but way too tame and deceptive at speed.
On the contrary, my 98’ Esprit TT is a breath of fresh air. There was hardly a drive where my heart didn’t race with excitement. Yes the shifter sucks big time, but it forced me to come face to face with the well learn lesson name finesse. Properly driven, the Esprit is explosive yet tractable. Lugging around town is easy with plenty of torque down low. Once the tech hits 4k, power builds exponentially. With the sole addition of Hybinette blue chip, boost come on strong at 3k and she is deep within Viper territory. With the ability to take on a Super-bike or two, the only way for an NSX to keep up is go Supercharge or Turbo.
Unfortunately there was another reason for my excitement. Everytime I drove her, I don’t know when she will leave me stranded somewhere. I dreaded the times when I carelessly missed a shift or when the back-end came around all too suddenly once the turbo comes on. At 12k miles the CAT disintegrated. At 16k miles her clutch began to ride very high. Every refuel, I had to top off the radiator and she was mostly undriverable in Vegas summer. First the air-con blew everywhere but towards me, second she was always on the verge of overheating. At 18k miles, her engine finally bit the dust, but it was at no fault of the Esprit. Rather it was suspiciously a sabot ash in the making. It was a bitter sweet ending when I sold her to a fellow Lotus Club member but at least I’m making room for other toys.
Yes I do know people in my club that use their Esprit as daily driver. I love my Esprit when she was running well, but the constant problems and frequent break-downs finally did me in.
Best Regards
Paul
BTW, one can always build character and excitement into their NSX. I did…….
