Any NSX owners out there?

I'm just daydreaming...but daydreaming of something wicked, fun to drive, and not a bank-breaker when it comes to parts. While I realize a Z06 can be had for similar money, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't rather have a little of the weird/head-turner quality in a poor-man's supercar.

There are a couple on CL right now that start with that seductive and magical number "2." Thoughts? Pitfalls?

No personal experience yet, but Adam Corolla's Carcast had Dave Edmunds from Edmunds.com on - they have a long term NSX.

His comment re reliability was "it's a Honda".

However anything bent re the suspension is going to be major major money, and keep in mind the whole body and chassis are aluminum so accident damage has to be repaired by someone with a clue and it's a lot harder to detect filler on them.

Do you mean 1st gen or 2nd gen? .. let's see, the one at my cottage in the Hamptons is....

I would almost kill for an NSX. I hope the new one is so great that it knocks down the going rate for a used one. Maybe then I could afford the ashtray.

If you have the money and you like the NSX there are very few reasons to not pick one up. I can't really recall any reasons to not get one.

No. Don't buy one. They're a terrible value. Unreliable. Had absolutely no input by Ayrton Senna...

Hey, I gotta look out for myself when these dang student loans are paid off!!!

Gorgeous car, great mechanicals, strong well designed chassis, Buy in coming down into GRM territory.

Priceless

I want one in the worst way. One day...

while totally different cars who's only commonality is they are built by honda... if I were looking for a modern sports car, it would probably come down to either an NSX or a S2000

Here is my knowledge:

Very expensive and hard to find parts. Front suspension is very elaborate, very annoying to dis-assemble and re-assemble. Interior is kinda cramped, but its a good driving car. Ive always had a soft spot for them. If i ever got in the position where I had the money and enough for up-keep, I would probably pick one up

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: Here is my knowledge: Very expensive and hard to find parts. Front suspension is very elaborate, very annoying to dis-assemble and re-assemble. Interior is kinda cramped, but its a good driving car. Ive always had a soft spot for them. If i ever got in the position where I had the money and enough for up-keep, I would probably pick one up

Pretty much sums it up.

I can speak to one more thing, the cosmetics. If not perfect, these look BAD, not classic. Almost like an e36. If they aren't flawless or restored garage queens or race cars, they look like complete E36 M3.

So if you're buying one, make sure the body and trim are perfect.

Stock for stock, how does the early NSX perform against its nephew the S2000? The S is pretty affordable these days, and the cost of ownership should be lots lower.

I'm going to bet close if the S2k isn't a little faster.

But that is serious apples to oranges, IMO. S2k faster for same money, Miata faster for 1/4, etc. etc. so on and so forth. You can't factor in cost-to-performance ratio when talking NSX. Huge difference in ownership experience.

It's one of the very few cars I'd specifically purchase with the "hey look at me" factor weighing in pretty significantly. Okay. I may be having an early mid-life crisis. I have actually considered an S2k, but I don't look at an S2k and go "Holy berkeley, I NEED that."

So are parts really crazy expensive? Specifically suspension components? Anything in my (daydream) price range would have over 100k miles.

nderwater wrote: Stock for stock, how does the early NSX perform against its nephew the S2000? The S is pretty affordable these days, and the cost of ownership should be lots lower.

A few comparison test have been published. I seem to recall performance being right about equal.

I love the S2000. It's a fantastic car, but if I were presented with a S2000 and an NSX for the same buy-in, I'd have to have the NSX.

There's something to be said for a car that you don't see very often; it somehow makes the car seem a bit more special.

I thought the stock 1st gen NSX was a mid-low 13 second car. Stock S2k doesn't see 13's does it?

MG Bryan wrote: There's something to be said for a car that you don't see very often; it somehow makes the car seem a bit more special.

I rarely see S2000s and NSXs.. so both are special

In reply to poopshovel:

The NSX might post slightly faster ETs, but, unless my memory is failing me, overall performance is kind of a wash between the two. Again, I'm not fact checking here, but my recollection is they tend to post pretty similar lap times as well.

The only experiance I have with an NSX is a guy bought a wrecked one. I believe it was a 2nd gen. He had the body repaired. He was renting a lift at the place I was painting my E21. He was putting a titanium exhaust on it and he was on a rampage about how badly the paintwork had turned out. He was on the phone cussing the guy out over it. I had him show me where he was talking about. He pointed out three spots and honestly I couldn't see anything wrong. The guy really came off as a douche but I got to spend a good amount of time under it on the lift looking at the undercarrage. Sweet car.

poopshovel wrote: I thought the stock 1st gen NSX was a mid-low 13 second car. Stock S2k doesn't see 13's does it?

Low 14s, very high 13s is about as good as i've ever seen a stock S2k.

I think in this case "faster" is probably referring to lap times.

I've never had the chance to drive an NSX yet, but they are aging remarkably well. There's a Black 1st Gen targa around (like the one in the pic above) that looks really, really good.

Inside Line is doing a long-term test on one that's looking pretty rosy so far. The suspension is indeed nuts (and $$$). I wouldn't let that deter me from owning one. They definitely have the "it" factor.

poopshovel wrote: It's one of the very few cars I'd specifically purchase with the "hey look at me" factor weighing in pretty significantly. Okay. I may be having an early mid-life crisis. I have actually considered an S2k, but I don't look at an S2k and go "Holy berkeley, I NEED that." So are parts really crazy expensive? Specifically suspension components? Anything in my (daydream) price range would have over 100k miles.

This does make sense. I have a buddy who had a cherry 20k mile NSX and a Boxster S at the same time. When he wanted to be fast he took the Boxster S....when he wanted attention he took the NSX.

The NSX may have been faster on paper, I'm not sure since I haven't looked at the numbers, but he said the Porsche was much easier to drive fast...especially at the limits. He loved both cars though.

I could ask him about parts prices, but I doubt he has replaced much. His is garage queen and only saw action on nice weekends.

There is an extensive comparison of Stock and STR prepped NSX vs S2K out there. The disparity between the two in STR trim is worse as the NSX cannot fit as much tire up front as the S2K can.

http://nsxftw.blogspot.com/

From ^that guy on another forum...

3. comparing the NSX vs. s2000 i have driven AP2 s2000's on street tires a couple of times this season... but this was my first time getting a taste of the s2000 on good race tires. so i was able to get a bit of an idea of the relative strengths of each car... a. the s2000 is only slightly faster in transitions. the difference is really not as much as you might think. b. the NSX digs out of corners much better. this is really the NSX's only real strength over the s2000. by my estimate... for every 2.5 seconds of full throttle acceleration (at speeds between 30-60 mph) the NSX picks up 0.1 seconds over the s2000. on a typical "nationals" style course, there is typically about 15-20 seconds of full throttle action... which gives the NSX a 0.6-0.8 second advantage based on acceleration. c. the s2000 is able to carry significantly more speed around corners/sweepers. this is a consequence of weight vs. the amount of tire on the car. i cannot fit a large enough tire to compensate for the ~300 extra lbs of the NSX. the difference is as much as 1-2 mph around the corner, which (depending on the length of the corner) could make a difference of a couple of tenths... 0.1-0.3... per corner! so really, the conclusion is no surprise. the s2000 has a bit of an edge over the NSX; an edge of just a few tenths over a typical nationals course.

In looks/want/exoticness, the NSX wins hands down. S2K is a hot car, but doesn't stand a chance.

Sigh.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/2864291609.html

In reply to ProDarwin:

I'll bet that difference would switch the other way on a open roadcourse rather than an autocross.

does LS1 fit?