RE: Honda NSX: Review

[Jodyone]

Dan Trent said:

Right! Found the page in the handout of the tech presentation. Apologies for the quality of the scan but hopefully it shows what I mean.

Cheers!

Dan

So it's roughly a Victorian speaking tube



so the staff below can speak to "them upstairs"

This is the kind of new tech we need.

[HeMightBeBanned]

Yes yes yes, but does it have any steering feel?

[Dan Trent]

More than an R8, less than a 570S, probably on a par with a 911 Turbo but with faster all-round response thanks to the torque vectoring and other systems. I'm just finishing off a 'deep dive' tech piece that'll explain more on why.

Cheers!

Dan

[soad]

Jodyone said:

Dan Trent said:

Right! Found the page in the handout of the tech presentation. Apologies for the quality of the scan but hopefully it shows what I mean.

Cheers!

Dan

So it's roughly a Victorian speaking tube



so the staff below can speak to "them upstairs"

This is the kind of new tech we need.

[Derek Chevalier]

greenarrow said:

Chris Harris was never an original NSX fan and we all know he loves his Porsches so when he raves about what a great car the new NSX is, I think people need to take notice

Read his Autocar road test in 2002 of NSX vs 996 - after beating the GT-R he said NSX came very close to beating 996.

Edited by Derek Chevalier on Thursday 14th July 14:17

[Axionknight]

https://streamable.com/huw3

Harris on Top Gear if anyone hasn't seen it!

[Twoshoe]

Derek Chevalier said:

Read his Autocar road test in 2002 of NSX vs 996 - after beating the GT-R he said NSX came very close to beating NSX.

(You may want to edit your comment!)

[havoc]

dobly said:

Why stay still, when there is always progress (not merely change) to be made?

But progress in what way?

Performance? Frankly the original NSX arguably has plenty of performance for real-world road driving unless you plan to regularly risk your licence, and anything >400bhp really is limiting your returns...

Handling? Weight is ALWAYS the enemy here - the motors are great at that initial turn moment*, creating controlled yaw, but after that those extra kgs hurt the handling.

Feedback? Erm, I'd argue most automotive 'progress' has been backwards here. I'm not proposing a return to unassisted steering and unservo'd brakes, but every step forwards from them has been retrograde for feedback. As has ALL of the NVH control that modern engineers get so bothered about...

Involvement? As for feedback, really - modern super-trick gearboxes isolate drivers from another aspect of controlling the car, super-trick ESP systems take the hassle out of having to 'learn' a car, and also mean manufacturers can be lazier in chassis set-up, turbocharged engines add throttle lag (yes, they do) and almost always mean a less involving exhaust note. Etc. etc. etc.

I'm not a luddite...but whenever I hear talk about "progress" as applied to drivers' cars I do get p'd off, as it's all quantitative progress, NOT qualitative progress! Not sure whether to blame the (target-fixated) engineers, or the Marketing teams...




* As in the physics term

[dobly]

havoc said:

But progress in what way?

Performance? Frankly the original NSX arguably has plenty of performance for real-world road driving unless you plan to regularly risk your licence, and anything >400bhp really is limiting your returns...

Handling? Weight is ALWAYS the enemy here - the motors are great at that initial turn moment*, creating controlled yaw, but after that those extra kgs hurt the handling.

Feedback? Erm, I'd argue most automotive 'progress' has been backwards here. I'm not proposing a return to unassisted steering and unservo'd brakes, but every step forwards from them has been retrograde for feedback. As has ALL of the NVH control that modern engineers get so bothered about...

Involvement? As for feedback, really - modern super-trick gearboxes isolate drivers from another aspect of controlling the car, super-trick ESP systems take the hassle out of having to 'learn' a car, and also mean manufacturers can be lazier in chassis set-up, turbocharged engines add throttle lag (yes, they do) and almost always mean a less involving exhaust note. Etc. etc. etc.

I'm not a luddite...but whenever I hear talk about "progress" as applied to drivers' cars I do get p'd off, as it's all quantitative progress, NOT qualitative progress! Not sure whether to blame the (target-fixated) engineers, or the Marketing teams...


* As in the physics term

Martin,

I'm with you in most respects, but for Honda to release a car with less than 400BHP would have been commercial suicide.
As for the other points, all I'm saying is that it could have been a whole lot worse had the engineers not tried so hard to mitigate the effects of legislation etc. , from all accounts.

[Alles Klar]

Love it. I hope Honda can shrink wrap this to make a smaller lighter version without the electrical gubbins and give us a new S2000. Oh, and it needs a better steering wheel.

[dinkel]

S2000? Make that an S3500, without the electric bits.

[jason61c]

Ozzie Osmond said:

What you really need is a "Lexus". Oh, I see you've already got one!

Anyway, I'll see your Honda and raise you an Acura - which is the way most of these cars will be branded.

Oi, leave my lexi out of it!

LFA anyone

[s m]

Derek Chevalier said:

greenarrow said:

Chris Harris was never an original NSX fan and we all know he loves his Porsches so when he raves about what a great car the new NSX is, I think people need to take notice

Read his Autocar road test in 2002 of NSX vs 996 - after beating the GT-R he said NSX came very close to beating NSX.

People often seem to dismiss what motoring journos say.

With a lot of these rare or expensive cars though, 99% of people on here will never have driven a factory fresh example (and of that 1% that have maybe not to the edges of what it is capable of ) and most likely not in the presence of major automotive rivals at the time

[jason61c]

Just like this thread and a few others, does it only matter what chris harris thinks now, or are we allowed to listen to other journo's?

[s m]

jason61c said:

Just like this thread and a few others, does it only matter what chris harris thinks now, or are we allowed to listen to other journo's?

i read ALL the opinions personally - until I drive one that's the only driver feedback I'll have

(posted the article precis for interest , not as a definitive view, as it was mentioned previously - feel free to disregard if it doesn't 'fit' )

Edited by s m on Thursday 14th July 10:08

[dinkel]

s m said:

Chris was and still is a fan.

[Ozzie Osmond]

jason61c said:

LFA anyone

Dead right. There are very few truly desirable cars in my book. They include,

• Toyota LFA
• Alfa 8C

[Artey]

What does Ken Block think about it though? He's better at drifting that Harris so presumably his opinion must weigh more.

[Edin430]

Anyone else thinking this looks exactly like the car on GTA5?

[Terminator X]

Artey said:

Terminator X said:

CH loved it, nuff said. Junior 918.

TX.

Oh no you're one if them aren't you.

He's my hero, do you want some

TX.