I met up with Phoen$x last night at the Scottsdale Pavillions car show. Now, going to a car show, I have to bring my son, since he is as much a car nut as I am.
After hanging out for a while and checking out a bunch of cars, Kelvin handed me his key and said "take your son for a spin in my car."
I was a little surprised by the gesture, as it's not everyday that someone lets you just take their car out for a spin and not ride with you. And I'm also not even in the market at the moment, so it's not like he's making a sales pitch. Anyway, this was certainly a rare opportunity.
What I gathered, though, both by this gesture and by previous conversations is that Kelvin is a pure enthusiast who likes to share in the joy of cool cars with other people who share that passion.
Needless to say, I took him up on his offer.
My son and I got in and we went for a short trip. Just a quick jaunt to the freeway, a couple of exits down, turned around and came back.
When I first got in, it was just a little cramped (I am 6'3, 240 lbs). Since I'm mostly torso, I need to have the seat a little forward compared to most people my height. With the seat all the way back, my head usually touches the liner. After adjusting the steering wheel, I was able to "sink" into the seat and reach the pedals just fine.
I also noticed that the pedals were kinda squished over to the right by comparison to other cars I've driven. It made me a little nervous that I might "fat foot" the pedals if I wasn't especially careful about my foot work.
First, by comparison to my own car (which is supposed to be about as quick as an NA2), the 3.0 pulled more smoothly and had impressive torque available in every gear. My first pull on the freeway on ramp I hit about 7 grand in first and second, and then shifted into third. I did not realize that I had already hit 85 by the time I was ready to merge. I let off the gas and noticed that the NSX sheds its speed quite well without needing to use the brakes (another part of the car that I did not want to explore at this time).
The second run through the gears was on the way back to the car show. I pulled up to about 7900 in first gear this time, paying particular attention to the engine sounds. It does sound sweet up past 5000. Definitely a noise to get enthusiastic about.
Driving the mid-engine lay out is very distinctive, too, as the sound of the engine itself is much more intense than the big V8 I have mounted up front (the engine itself sounds like a vacuum cleaner, even though the exhaust note is nice).
The non-power assisted steering is pure joy. The sharpness awesome. Since it was not my own car, and I was still very unfamiliar with it, I would not have been willing to experiment with the NSX's handling performance, so that aspect of the car's performance will have to be explored at a more appropriate time.
Overall, the car FEELS amazing. It's more like the car was built to be worn, rather than driven. It's tight inside, but not cramped... "Snug" might be a more appropriate word. And the seats hold onto their passengers nice and tight in a very reassuring way.
It was a real pleasure to drive this car, and I feel that I have taken the final step in my decision to (eventually) purchase one. I'm also happy to find out that even the stock NA1 offers enough performance to start off with.
And, honestly, even though red is my least favorite color for the car, after driving Kelvin's, I don't even care what color combination I end up with!
After hanging out for a while and checking out a bunch of cars, Kelvin handed me his key and said "take your son for a spin in my car."
I was a little surprised by the gesture, as it's not everyday that someone lets you just take their car out for a spin and not ride with you. And I'm also not even in the market at the moment, so it's not like he's making a sales pitch. Anyway, this was certainly a rare opportunity.
What I gathered, though, both by this gesture and by previous conversations is that Kelvin is a pure enthusiast who likes to share in the joy of cool cars with other people who share that passion.
Needless to say, I took him up on his offer.
My son and I got in and we went for a short trip. Just a quick jaunt to the freeway, a couple of exits down, turned around and came back.
When I first got in, it was just a little cramped (I am 6'3, 240 lbs). Since I'm mostly torso, I need to have the seat a little forward compared to most people my height. With the seat all the way back, my head usually touches the liner. After adjusting the steering wheel, I was able to "sink" into the seat and reach the pedals just fine.
I also noticed that the pedals were kinda squished over to the right by comparison to other cars I've driven. It made me a little nervous that I might "fat foot" the pedals if I wasn't especially careful about my foot work.
First, by comparison to my own car (which is supposed to be about as quick as an NA2), the 3.0 pulled more smoothly and had impressive torque available in every gear. My first pull on the freeway on ramp I hit about 7 grand in first and second, and then shifted into third. I did not realize that I had already hit 85 by the time I was ready to merge. I let off the gas and noticed that the NSX sheds its speed quite well without needing to use the brakes (another part of the car that I did not want to explore at this time).
The second run through the gears was on the way back to the car show. I pulled up to about 7900 in first gear this time, paying particular attention to the engine sounds. It does sound sweet up past 5000. Definitely a noise to get enthusiastic about.
Driving the mid-engine lay out is very distinctive, too, as the sound of the engine itself is much more intense than the big V8 I have mounted up front (the engine itself sounds like a vacuum cleaner, even though the exhaust note is nice).
The non-power assisted steering is pure joy. The sharpness awesome. Since it was not my own car, and I was still very unfamiliar with it, I would not have been willing to experiment with the NSX's handling performance, so that aspect of the car's performance will have to be explored at a more appropriate time.
Overall, the car FEELS amazing. It's more like the car was built to be worn, rather than driven. It's tight inside, but not cramped... "Snug" might be a more appropriate word. And the seats hold onto their passengers nice and tight in a very reassuring way.
It was a real pleasure to drive this car, and I feel that I have taken the final step in my decision to (eventually) purchase one. I'm also happy to find out that even the stock NA1 offers enough performance to start off with.
And, honestly, even though red is my least favorite color for the car, after driving Kelvin's, I don't even care what color combination I end up with!
