NSX vs. Corvette Z06?

[Rath]

Hello one and all. I'd like to start this off by giving the concession that I am only an 18 year old kid with no NSX or corvette Z06, only with aspirations to get one or the other and i currently drive a 97 Integra GSR. I am in college and working a good job (for a recent high school grad, that is ), and thusly cannot afford anything yet. For now, this thread only serves the purpose of enlightening me. Having said that... please dont immediately flame me for being ignorant, naive, blasphemous, or any combination :wink:

Now essentially my question is this: why is an NSX significantly more expensive than a Z06? Correct me if I'm wrong but from all that I know, comparing stock to stock, an NSX has balance and perhaps handling better than a Z06, not to mention better styling imo. But a Z06 has significanly higher horsepower... and yet a brand new NSX is around $20,000 more than a new Z06! I know that honda has a great reputation for making cars that don't fall apart and conversely chevy has a... less flattering reputation. But to be honest, I am questioning if all that is worth the extra 20 grand. Could someone explain this drastic difference in price? Keep in mind that I am not planning to mod either car too much, if at all, and I am not planning on taking a car to a race; more of a daily driver. Thanks!

 

[mickeylex]

For now, this thread only serves the purpose of enlightening me. Having said that... please dont immediately flame me for being ignorant, naive, blasphemous, or any combination :wink:

This topic has been discussed many times. Use the search function at the top of the page in the red menu bar and you will get many posts regarding your question. :smile:

 

[Hal_396]

Get the Z06. I think the regular corvette is 20G cheaper not the z06

 

[NSX7]

Why are you driving a 97 GSR and not any GM, Ford, Chrysler of equivalent horsepower and more torque ??? For example Focus SVT

The answer is the same

Styling alone on the NSX is worth $20,000 more than the corvette

Why do some people pay $130,000 for a 1994 Ferrari 512TR and they can pay almost half of that for a 2006 Z06 that will destroy the 512 performance wise ???

NSX= Exclusive, Quality, Long lasting, Fit and finish, Gear box and shifter feel, View of the road, Mid-engine, Fun to drive factor

Z06= Better performance

 

[redshift]

NSX:
hand built
all aluminum
suspension tuned by Senna
no compromises
engineering and design masterpiece
rarity

Z06:
best bang for your buck

 

[MvM]

As said above, if you do a search you fill find many topics which basically cover the same question.

You could, of course, expand your question to many items people buy.

Are you your expensive RayBan sun glasses really worth what you paid for them. Is the quality of your original Lev's really that much better than the no-brand pair of jeans I am wearing today?

In the case of the NSX, a substantial amount of its prices can be traced back to the cost of its materials and the way it has been put together. Honda designed the body of the NSX with a lifespan of 30 years in mind. Do a search right here on this forum on rust or corrosion problems with the NSX and you will find very little. And that inclused a lot of cars that are by now 15 years old.
The aluminium used for the NSX is more expensive than the steel normally used on cars and also requires much more specialised and more expensive tooling to get a perfect finish.
60% of the chassis on the NSX is hand-welded.
The NSX was built by Honda to show the world what it could do when it would put its mind to it. Unfortunately, I have to admit that perhaps Honda lost its dedication to the car when it started focussing more on making money. And yes, the NSX could have been made from steel just as easy, probably a lot cheaper too and with a bigger engine would have put down the same numbers as it does now.

But that was not the point.

The point was to built a car with equal or better performance than its competitors like Porsche and Ferrari and still offer comfort and day-to-day driveability and (extreme) reliability and yes, exclusivity, all in One Package. Simply, because no one had ever done that before.
And yes, all those famous manufacturers with their cars which had so much 'character' sat up and took notice.

So, I think the question if the NSX is worth its money can only be answered by yourself. You might not see a need for the way the NSX was developed and/or created. But some people do.

After all, sun glasses don't really need to be made out of titanium now do they? But if someone does take the effort to build them from that, then why not appreciate it for what it is.

 

[BioBanker]

Horsepower is not expensive. What is expensive is making a great car. Not saying that the Z06 is not a great car, because it certainly is, but the best part of it is its power.

On the other hand, the best part of the NSX are the most expensive things to engineer.

Look at it this way, its not that hard, or expensive, to make an NSX as fast as a Z06 (at least a C5 Z06, maybe a bit harder to get it 500HP), but you're going to end up dumping it expenonentially more dough to bring a vette up to where an NSX is from many other respects.

Plus, find me a new NSX. They dont exist, and when they did, they sold for WAY under what you probably think they did.

 

[NetViper]

Plus, find me a new NSX. They dont exist, and when they did, they sold for WAY under what you probably think they did.

You are correct. The Z06 is still brining in anywhere from 5K-20K over sticker. In fact, it was so popular that GM raised the MSRP 5K for 2007 and they are still selling way over sticker.

 

[NSX-GUY]

You are correct. The Z06 is still brining in anywhere from 5K-20K over sticker. In fact, it was so popular that GM raised the MSRP 5K for 2007 and they are still selling way over sticker.

You noticed that too, eh ???

Actually, if eBay is anywhere near a valid yardstick the new Z06 is NOT selling for much of a premium over sticker. Most bidding seems to stop at, or very little above sticker although those bids often aren't making it to the reserve price.

So a lightlyrolleyes: ) used 2006 Z06 is running around $72K (which was roughly its sticker price new) and the 2007 Z06 is selling for sticker ($77K) if you're lucky and most of the time between 2-5K over.

That's around $80K, very little less than a new '05 NSX would have cost you brand new. And now you can find a lightly used '05 NSX for less than the current Z06 price. :wink:

So let's see now.......... 07 Z06 for $80K or a very low mileage '05 NSX for say $72-74K ???? Hmmmmmmmm.......... :tongue:

 

[Synthesis]

You noticed that too, eh ???

Actually, if eBay is anywhere near a valid yardstick the new Z06 is NOT selling for much of a premium over sticker. Most bidding seems to stop at, or very little above sticker although those bids often aren't making it to the reserve price.

So a lightlyrolleyes: ) used 2006 Z06 is running around $72K (which was roughly its sticker price new) and the 2007 Z06 is selling for sticker ($77K) if you're lucky and most of the time between 2-5K over.

That's around $80K, very little less than a new '05 NSX would have cost you brand new. And now you can find a lightly used '05 NSX for less than the current Z06 price. :wink:

So let's see now.......... 07 Z06 for $80K or a very low mileage '05 NSX for say $72-74K ???? Hmmmmmmmm.......... :tongue:

too bad the nsx didn't have enough demand for the dealers to raise the sticker on all of, what, 300 cars?

i duno why the price got jacked so much. in 1991, the nsx was 61,000 bucks (so says my window sticker)...... it kept going up and capped pretty close to 90 after a couple years.... with minimal changes made to the car. i think it was only because the production numbers went down. either way, 61 for a brand new nsx was a damn amazing price.

 

[Vega$ NSX]

You noticed that too, eh ???

Actually, if eBay is anywhere near a valid yardstick the new Z06 is NOT selling for much of a premium over sticker. Most bidding seems to stop at, or very little above sticker although those bids often aren't making it to the reserve price.

So a lightlyrolleyes: ) used 2006 Z06 is running around $72K (which was roughly its sticker price new) and the 2007 Z06 is selling for sticker ($77K) if you're lucky and most of the time between 2-5K over.

That's around $80K, very little less than a new '05 NSX would have cost you brand new. And now you can find a lightly used '05 NSX for less than the current Z06 price. :wink:

So let's see now.......... 07 Z06 for $80K or a very low mileage '05 NSX for say $72-74K ???? Hmmmmmmmm.......... :tongue:

I like your way of thinking. :smile: I'll take it one step further.

This is based on personal experience (namely my own NSX):

'91 NSX $20,000
Rebuilt motor, various upgrades, customization, Factor X turbo etc. $28,000

Total: $48,000
430 whp/406 ft-lbs of torque and climbing. AND I have it completely customized to my tastes.

I'd say that's about on par with a Z06 if not better and I still saved about $30,000. Enough to buy a Honda Accord Hybrid or similar as a daily driver.

People don't believe me, but a used NSX is one of the best deals in the world. It's already proven to have a lasting quality better than many NEW cars. And with some $25,000 in mods and FI, it can be put in a class of cars 2, 3 even 4 times the total cost. The only thing this doesn't take into account is all the time it took to do all this, while you can just hop right into a Z06. However, truth be told, the incremental process of building my car up from stock was a fun and magical experience. It's true what they say that sometimes the journey is important as the destination.

 

[WingZ]

too bad the nsx didn't have enough demand for the dealers to raise the sticker on all of, what, 300 cars?

i duno why the price got jacked so much. in 1991, the nsx was 61,000 bucks (so says my window sticker)...... it kept going up and capped pretty close to 90 after a couple years.... with minimal changes made to the car. i think it was only because the production numbers went down. either way, 61 for a brand new nsx was a damn amazing price.

Gotta do your 91 NSX history bro. You couldn't touch a 91 NSX for sticker when the first came out. Some actually sold for as much as $100k.

 

[redshift]

too bad the nsx didn't have enough demand for the dealers to raise the sticker on all of, what, 300 cars?

i duno why the price got jacked so much. in 1991, the nsx was 61,000 bucks (so says my window sticker)...... it kept going up and capped pretty close to 90 after a couple years.... with minimal changes made to the car. i think it was only because the production numbers went down. either way, 61 for a brand new nsx was a damn amazing price.

The NSX sold way over sticker price when it was introduced - in Japan some went for double MSRP. $61K in '90-'91 is also on par with $90K in today's dollars... so, figuratively speaking, it didn't go up in price.

 

[NetViper]

I like your way of thinking. :smile: I'll take it one step further.

This is based on personal experience (namely my own NSX):

'91 NSX $20,000
Rebuilt motor, various upgrades, customization, Factor X turbo etc. $28,000

Total: $48,000
430 whp/406 ft-lbs of torque and climbing. AND I have it completely customized to my tastes.

I'd say that's about on par with a Z06 if not better and I still saved about $30,000. Enough to buy a Honda Accord Hybrid or similar as a daily driver.

People don't believe me, but a used NSX is one of the best deals in the world. It's already proven to have a lasting quality better than many NEW cars. And with some $25,000 in mods and FI, it can be put in a class of cars 2, 3 even 4 times the total cost. The only thing this doesn't take into account is all the time it took to do all this, while you can just hop right into a Z06. However, truth be told, the incremental process of building my car up from stock was a fun and magical experience. It's true what they say that sometimes the journey is important as the destination.

I do like your logic, but IMO it only safe to do a Turbo kit if you have a tuner and builder close to you that can help if you have issues. Otherwise if you have problems you are screwed. There are more people with turbo kits that don't work than do from what I can tell. On top of that, the true long term reliability of turbo kits still needs to be tested IMO. Yes there are a few cars that have a lot of miles, but nothing like as many cars as say have comptech blowers on them. -- and even with CTSC there are many more blown motors than people realize. You are going to spend a LOT of down time having a motor rebuilt and then turbo kit installed. I know of cars that were down as much as a YEAR for a certain turbo kit with a lot of low end TQ. That might be fun for you, but for other it is a HUGE PITA.

So you do all of that, and you basically end up with a car with performance on par with a stock Z06. So the Z06 goes and puts a procharger on for $5K and you still see his tailights at the end of the day. So you turn up the boost and your tranny blows up and your rear axel breaks...

Of course, you could always buy a 05 C5 for say 40K, put a 10K twin turbo kit on and make 600rwhp for a total of 50K -- no engine build required -- but the rear end might explode.

The bottom line is $ for $ the Z06 blows the NSX away in performance, but the NSX blows it away in quality, reliability and exclusivity.

For me the NSX is a wonderful car, but stock it just isn't that fun to drive on the streets. On the other hand, it is a fantastic car to drive on the track.

 

[Rath]

is it really over 70 grand for a new Z06? i thought it was just under 70 when i looked it up... and i thought a brand new NSX was about 85-90 grand (in 2005).
Yes, i was aware theres no such thing as a 2006 NSX, i meant hypothetically if there was, or comparing the 2 cars of an earlier year. Cuz i certainly wasnt planning on buying one this year anyway, perhaps when i am done with school
I never knew the Z06 wasn't hand crafted like the NSX is... I knew the corvette and NSX were both very light but are you guys saying the NSX is way lighter? about how heavy is each?
I was talking to my dad the other day about this topic, but comparing it to the S2000 (he bought that car when he easily could have gotten something more pricey). He said that the S2000 was not too far different than the NSX in terms of performance, weight and reliability (the most radical difference being in styling). Weight and reliability are both obviously similar, but I would have thought the NSX to perform exponentially better. But then again, ive never driven either car... Would you guys agree that an S2000 is possibly a better value all around than an NSX? I know its sort of in a different class, i was just wondering.

 

[NetViper]

He said that the S2000 was not too far different than the NSX in terms of performance, weight and reliability (the most radical difference being in styling). Weight and reliability are both obviously similar, but I would have thought the NSX to perform exponentially better. But then again, ive never driven either car... Would you guys agree that an S2000 is possibly a better value all around than an NSX? I know its sort of in a different class, i was just wondering.

While the performance isnt THAT different, the experience of driving a NSX makes you completely forget about the S2000. Trust me on that. :biggrin:

 

[Rath]

While the performance isnt THAT different, the experience of driving a NSX makes you completely forget about the S2000. Trust me on that. :biggrin:

really? can you elaborate?
also, another question i had (for whoever): I believe toyota stopped making MR2's fairly recently because of low sales, correct? If you guys are talking about honda selling like, 300 cars... is it feasible that honda will stop making NSX's in the years to come?

 

[MashimaroNSX]

is it really over 70 grand for a new Z06? i thought it was just under 70 when i looked it up... and i thought a brand new NSX was about 85-90 grand (in 2005).
Yes, i was aware theres no such thing as a 2006 NSX, i meant hypothetically if there was, or comparing the 2 cars of an earlier year. Cuz i certainly wasnt planning on buying one this year anyway, perhaps when i am done with school
I never knew the Z06 wasn't hand crafted like the NSX is... I knew the corvette and NSX were both very light but are you guys saying the NSX is way lighter? about how heavy is each?
I was talking to my dad the other day about this topic, but comparing it to the S2000 (he bought that car when he easily could have gotten something more pricey). He said that the S2000 was not too far different than the NSX in terms of performance, weight and reliability (the most radical difference being in styling). Weight and reliability are both obviously similar, but I would have thought the NSX to perform exponentially better. But then again, ive never driven either car... Would you guys agree that an S2000 is possibly a better value all around than an NSX? I know its sort of in a different class, i was just wondering.

Actually the difference between the s2000 and the NSX is like day and night. I own both an can definitely tell you that the 91' NSX will top the s2000 in speed and accelleration. The torque is felt instantly on the NSX while on the s2000 there really isn't any below 6000 rpm's. the handling is also like day and night, the s2000 fells very go-kart ish and can get tail happy rather easily in the rain. The NSX has a much more solid feel and definitely doesn't feel like a go-kart, but rather almost like flying a plane. Hope this helps.

-Rob

 

[Rath]

Actually the difference between the s2000 and the NSX is like day and night. I own both an can definitely tell you that the 91' NSX will top the s2000 in speed and accelleration. The torque is felt instantly on the NSX while on the s2000 there really isn't any below 6000 rpm's. the handling is also like day and night, the s2000 fells very go-kart ish and can get tail happy rather easily in the rain. The NSX has a much more solid feel and definitely doesn't feel like a go-kart, but rather almost like flying a plane. Hope this helps.

-Rob

really! that sounds like alot of fun. I need to drive them sometime, ill see if i can talk my dad into it... Is it considered rude to test drive a car and then totally not buy it? I wouldnt know, ive never bought a brand new car :tongue:

 

[WingZ]

is it really over 70 grand for a new Z06? i thought it was just under 70 when i looked it up... and i thought a brand new NSX was about 85-90 grand (in 2005).
Yes, i was aware theres no such thing as a 2006 NSX, i meant hypothetically if there was, or comparing the 2 cars of an earlier year. Cuz i certainly wasnt planning on buying one this year anyway, perhaps when i am done with school
I never knew the Z06 wasn't hand crafted like the NSX is... I knew the corvette and NSX were both very light but are you guys saying the NSX is way lighter? about how heavy is each?
I was talking to my dad the other day about this topic, but comparing it to the S2000 (he bought that car when he easily could have gotten something more pricey). He said that the S2000 was not too far different than the NSX in terms of performance, weight and reliability (the most radical difference being in styling). Weight and reliability are both obviously similar, but I would have thought the NSX to perform exponentially better. But then again, ive never driven either car... Would you guys agree that an S2000 is possibly a better value all around than an NSX? I know its sort of in a different class, i was just wondering.

I looooooove my S2000 ( on my third one actually ) ,but it's not the performer my NSX is. The NA2 vs the AP2 ( larger engine models ) engine is night and day as far as acceleration goes. So as much as I love my S2000 it's not a fair comparison to the NSX ,but it's still a great sportscar:biggrin:

 

[Skylark]

...is it feasible that honda will stop making NSX's in the years to come?

No. Honda will absolutely NOT stop making the NSX anytime in the "recent" future. :biggrin:

Skylark

 

[Vega$ NSX]

I do like your logic, but IMO it only safe to do a Turbo kit if you have a tuner and builder close to you that can help if you have issues. Otherwise if you have problems you are screwed. There are more people with turbo kits that don't work than do from what I can tell. On top of that, the true long term reliability of turbo kits still needs to be tested IMO. Yes there are a few cars that have a lot of miles, but nothing like as many cars as say have comptech blowers on them. -- and even with CTSC there are many more blown motors than people realize. You are going to spend a LOT of down time having a motor rebuilt and then turbo kit installed. I know of cars that were down as much as a YEAR for a certain turbo kit with a lot of low end TQ. That might be fun for you, but for other it is a HUGE PITA.

So you do all of that, and you basically end up with a car with performance on par with a stock Z06. So the Z06 goes and puts a procharger on for $5K and you still see his tailights at the end of the day. So you turn up the boost and your tranny blows up and your rear axel breaks...

Yes, that's very, very true. I don't expect most FI NSX's to last nearly as long as a stock one. And I do give a virgin sacrifice daily to thank the NSX gods for putting a pretty awesome FI tunner shop in my backyard. But for what it's worth, at 10 lbs of boost, I walk (make that a light half skip-jog) away from Z06's. They'd need at least $5k in mods to keep up, and then they start to enter 'the unreliability zone' (do-di-do-doo). Also, from what I've read and seen with Corvettes, their build quality is questionable to begin with (roofs flying off anyone?) It could be argued that a '91 NSX could have as much reliability as a new Z06.

I guess the point of what I was trying to make was that the inital poster was trying to compare the cost and performance of a new Z06 and new NSX, which I think is an apples-to-bananas comparison. If his argument was that you get so much more performance for so much less money, I wanted to use that same logic to show the counter-arguement. The point being (in a very round about way) that you can't just look at performance and dollars when comparing two vehicles. You can almost always make a cheaper car go faster. And if we were to just look at a performance/dollar comparison, we would all be riding crotch rockets with 100 shot of NOS. :biggrin:

 

[jond]

But a Z06 has significanly higher horsepower... and yet a brand new NSX is around $20,000 more than a new Z06! I know that honda has a great reputation for making cars that don't fall apart and conversely chevy has a... less flattering reputation. But to be honest, I am questioning if all that is worth the extra 20 grand.

I have 1991 Sentra SE-R that I race. I paid $1,800 for it. I've put probably $1,500 or so in mods to it. At the last auto-x I was right behind a $75,000 C6 Z06 and beat a C5 Z06.

So let me ask you, is a Z06 worth $72,000 MORE then my SE-R for about the same performance?

 

[MiamiMermaid]

that'z a hot fight .... best left to the track. However, I gain +1 if I am driving the NSX.... d.Only b/c I have previously tested my pops' friends .... but, then again, .... our NSX's make the il' vette's pee in their pants .. before take off :tongue: my dad will kick my butt if he sees this post.....

 

[Synthesis]

The NSX sold way over sticker price when it was introduced - in Japan some went for double MSRP. $61K in '90-'91 is also on par with $90K in today's dollars... so, figuratively speaking, it didn't go up in price.

sorry, i was 9 years old when it came out....

so it was always overpriced then? :tongue: