The kind of thing that Honda/Acura should immulate!

[tbromley]

I was going to post this within some of the other threads in this group but decided to just post it all by itself. I think it deserves it. Doc mentioned that in the early days Honda and Japanese car manufacturers in general were called copy cats, etc. Well here is the kind of thing they should be copying - and not just copying but it's the mentality of a race bred performance car manufacturer.

Granted Honda is not that - but it has racing roots, both in thier motorcycle division and under Acura here and Honda with the NSX and LMP2, not to mention Honda's F1 engines - solid racing heritage that they should be living up to - not shying away from. The great car manufacturers improve constantly - upgrade constantly. Every new model and even within model runs and years and this is what I'm talkin bout!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXHNJGf3A5k&feature=channel_video_title

 

[nsxtasy]

The kind of thing that Honda/Acura should immulate!

Do you mean...

im·mo·late verb \ˈi-mə-ˌlāt\
Definition of IMMOLATE
transitive verb
1: to offer in sacrifice; especially : to kill as a sacrificial victim
2: to kill or destroy often by fire

...or...

em·u·late verb \ˈem-yə-ˌlāt, -yü-\
Definition of EMULATE
transitive verb
1a : to strive to equal or excel b : imitate; especially : to imitate by means of an emulator
2: to equal or approach equality with

:biggrin:

 

[gleibig]

I just can't get into porsches. How many decades have they looked almost exactly the same? yawn

 

[docjohn]

Do you mean...

im·mo·late verb \ˈi-mə-ˌlāt\
Definition of IMMOLATE
transitive verb
1: to offer in sacrifice; especially : to kill as a sacrificial victim
2: to kill or destroy often by fire

...or...

em·u·late verb \ˈem-yə-ˌlāt, -yü-\
Definition of EMULATE
transitive verb
1a : to strive to equal or excel b : imitate; especially : to imitate by means of an emulator
2: to equal or approach equality with

:biggrin:

I don't know Ken, could be iether:wink:

 

[tbromley]

I just can't get into porsches. How many decades have they looked almost exactly the same? yawn

Well that's what they call evolution of a model! They just go on quitely kicking ass in the sports car world don't they. Yep just loaping along improving all the way.

Point I'm trying to make here is this - they have a flat 6 variation of the original engine that has little to do with it mechanically other than the cylinders are directly opposed and now they have 500 hp out of 4 litres - can you say what's wrong with a naturally aspirated V6 that EVOLVES to produce 500 hp????

Anybody here or is this just kind of catching you on an off day?

One more thing for the spelling police - that would be "emulate" for those that need this correction - and no it isn't either....you boys just continue to be confused by the point I'm trying to make. Must be jealousy or envy or maybe you guys , Doc and Ken can explain.

Actually don't really know why Ken is looking for an explanation -since he's trying to SELL his NSX. Maybe to buy a Porsche mmmmmmm? What say ye Ken? Or have you just out grown the "boyish" hobby?

Listen I'm not trying to beat the NSX to a pulp - I'm trying to get thru so maybe just maybe they'll really see their way clear to doing SOMETHING instead of just talking about it - while the rest of the sports car world gets on with BUSINESS!

Oh, I know everyone watched that video - pretty awesome sounding wasn't it. That ole boring Porsche body style and all. Yeah just wish ole Honda might do something as good as that - something for them to shoot for! It can be done!

 

[docjohn]

lol thats Ken's humor....Tim I love your passion for the nsx,just like you have it for Porsche..but honda is in a real transition and we don't have a clear idea of thier direction other than green.Plus now all the design ideas have been copied mostly by the Koreans.....as others have said just enjoy what we have...the s2000 is also a hoot and quite reliable.But boy how bout porsche building some big sixes kinda like the mondo 4 bangers in the 944-968 cars.

 

[tbromley]

lol thats Ken's humor....Tim I love your passion for the nsx,just like you have it for Porsche..but honda is in a real transition and we don't have a clear idea of thier direction other than green.Plus now all the design ideas have been copied mostly by the Koreans.....as others have said just enjoy what we have...the s2000 is also a hoot and quite reliable.But boy how bout porsche building some big sixes kinda like the mondo 4 bangers in the 944-968 cars.

You know that the big 4 cylinders were actually the 928 V8 cut in half. They were honkers. But this new 4 litre putting out 500 naturally aspirated - damn - just goes to show you that you don't have to have SCs and TCs to get real power! I feel like those that poo poo the V6 ought to think about this. Go to a 4 litre V6 and see what Honda could do!

 

[2slow2speed]

The reality is that the typical Honda/Acura customer who is interested in an Accord/MDX/Odyssey probably has no idea on what a NSX is. They also don't have $185K+ for their toy car budget.

 

[tbromley]

What they're looking for from Honda is an S2000 replacement and anyone that remembers the NSX is surely interested in it's replacement.

When I talked with Acura at the International Car Show here in Georgia - they had been inundated with questions about the NSX replacement and "where are real sports cars from Honda?". Honda customers are looking for a sports car - not some minor league "sporty" hybrid! 185k does not compute - but Honda isn't unlike any other car manufacturer that is busy improving technological/mechanical aspects of their cars - you don't have to be Porsche to improve and EVOLVE. Honda is not too busy doing anything but trying to improve the looks of their cars while making minor technological/cosmetic tweaks. You can only go so far with that kind of business unless your aim is the Accord clientel. And THAT maybe all Honda and Acura are interested in - even the Acura folks admited that Acura has been "directionally challenged" over the past several years.

I think we can all agree to that! Too bad though. You can't tell me that taking their TL engine as Honcho mentions and really doing a performance number on it and making evolutionary changes to the interior and exterior aspects of a "new" NSX would be that damn difficult. They can surely change their other cars respectively - there really is no excuse and I think they know that. Whether it really matters to them or not is another question entirely!

 

[captainjman]

What they're looking for from Honda is an S2000 replacement and anyone that remembers the NSX is surely interested in it's replacement.

When I talked with Acura at the International Car Show here in Georgia - they had been inundated with questions about the NSX replacement and "where are real sports cars from Honda?". Honda customers are looking for a sports car - not some minor league "sporty" hybrid! 185k does not compute - but Honda isn't unlike any other car manufacturer that is busy improving technological/mechanical aspects of their cars - you don't have to be Porsche to improve and EVOLVE. Honda is not too busy doing anything but trying to improve the looks of their cars while making minor technological/cosmetic tweaks. You can only go so far with that kind of business unless your aim is the Accord clientel. And THAT maybe all Honda and Acura are interested in - even the Acura folks admited that Acura has been "directionally challenged" over the past several years.

I think we can all agree to that! Too bad though. You can't tell me that taking their TL engine as Honcho mentions and really doing a performance number on it and making evolutionary changes to the interior and exterior aspects of a "new" NSX would be that damn difficult. They can surely change their other cars respectively - there really is no excuse and I think they know that. Whether it really matters to them or not is another question entirely!

I can see both sides of the coin with the "yawn" comment. But the nice thing about not touching the looks of the 911 over the years that all the changes were internal - where it really counts.

That being said, it would be nice if it changed a little bit with the times - but then again, doesn't its lack of change have kind of a heritage to it all?

I think every car enthusiast should own a porcshe at some time in their lives. Then compare it to the other cars youve owned and see how they make you feel. Personally I like the looks of the NSX a lot more than the 911, WAY more in fact... but it stopped evolving.

 

[2slow2speed]

FWIW: Porsche 964 (1989-1994), Porsche 993 (1993-1998), Porsche 996 (1998-2005), Porsche 997.1 (2005-2008), Porsche 997.2 (2009-2011). Each time that the internal model designation changed on the Porsche's 911's they were major changes.

The NSX was essentially the same car that was designed in 1990 with some minor improvements along the way, T-top in 1995, 3.2L and 6 speed in 1997, headlights in 2002, etc.

The NSX was ahead of it's time relative to the 964, still ahead of the 993, about on par with the 996's and slightly behind by the time that the 997.1 came around.

The changes that the Porsche's went through between the 1989-2005 years (964 - 997) in contrast were quite substantial. Those folks that had to endure the ownership of the 964 were rewarded with subsequent models that were better.

If Honda had actually bothered to continue the same pace of development of the NSX by doing some major changes every 4-5 years, by 2005 it would have had a car that would have been competitive with almost anything that Porsche or anyone else for that matter had on the market.

Only someone who is ignorant about cars in general would consider a Porsche's GT3RS4.0 to be a car to yawn about, a street legal car that is normally aspirated with 500HP at 8,250RPM from a 4.0L engine that can do 7:27 at the Ring, etc. .

 

[tbromley]

Amen 2slow2speed. Yawn - hardly. You have to be familiar with the 911 - it surely changed - just not radically. But those that love the 911 shape are really quite happy about the fact that the shape of the original 911 is still there basically.

We'd be happy if there were internal changes and special models brought about by Honda for it's owners with subtle body changes too - so you have to have your head in the sand not to realize that. The things that Honda should have done - imagine a 4 litre V6 in the a modernized NSX with 500 hp - um excuse me - isn't that what everyone wishes for? I thought that's what I read on Prime - ALL THE TIME! Mods to your NSX - geez - all we ever wanted were mods from Honda!

I can only imagine what Honda could have done with the body if it had just worked at it and the interior - I mean really guys. Honda is just not with it. They've sort of diserted us.