NSX vs Cayman GT4 and F355 Autocar 21 October 2015 - Matt Saunders

[Rob_Fenn]

It's great to read a modern comparison. You cannot stop progress, but it is good to see that the qualities of the NSX still clearly shine through.

The car world is driven by an improvement in numbers, so inevitably - no matter how objectively good it is - you will lose elements that 'feel' better because they do not perform better. Today, the NSX's approachability wouldn't cut the mustard as it just wouldn't be fast enough around a circuit.

I think where people (i.e. 'fan boys') can get carried away is thinking their car is an equal match, even if it's a ropey 15 year old car with 100,000 miles. I have driven many a rough NSX because owners haven't spent enough money maintaining important suspension components or have the wrong tyres. With the car now bordering on being an investment, i hope owners are giving their NSX's the attention they deserve!

[marknsx]

Well said. Is this the only supercar to be worth more in bits than whole?

[AR]

Shawn,

The purpose of my posts was not to insult anyone, just to bring a perspective from someone who has driven and owned quite a few NSX and other more modern, and older cars.

Nostalgia, well I had a 1983 RX7 with a 12A engine and carbs, it was a great car and "felt" so fast, yet our roundaround fiat 500 diesel ran rings around it.

What I am saying is that owners need to be objective and accept the NSX for what it is, which is, a Classic Junior Supercar.

Before anyone feels ready to curtail my freedom of expression ( how very dare you ) just understand that we all have different frames of references! An acquaintance had a Dino 246 and I thought it was great, till I drove it!

Have your Nostalgia, but don't let it cloud your mind.

I am not an "enemy" of NSX owners, I have probably helped more than 20 people buy their NSX over the few years I was active, even accompany and test drove cars for them FOC, not even a beer thrown in and in many cases not even a thank you.

I designed, tested and made an exhaust for the NSX that met the requirements of most owners, only to be attacked by some who wanted spaghetti exhausts. One minute owners want performance and tell me the NSX can walk a away from X,Y or Z car, the next minute they say power is not important just the feel.

When I had my 3rd NSX and decided to supercharge it, nodody was touching them, except a company that wanted 5k to look at it and another one that installed two one of which ran like crap according to many and the other that blew itself up. Then people said the NSX is not about power.

Everyone knows that the NSX has a SUPERB chassis, but it needs better brakes and more power amongst other things to be able to keep up with modern stuff, no jokes about remapped 335D BMWs lol.

So there you are, my opinion, and no mention about price fixing, insider trading or the anorak cartel.

[goldnsx]

What I am saying is that owners need to be objective and accept the NSX for what it is, which is, a Classic Junior Supercar.

I'm not with you on the term 'objective'. Owners don't have to be objective nor do they have to be wearing pink glasses.

Nice to read the article, a little bit too much superlatives but they all write them that way. The article is in contrast to the stepmotherly articles way back when it was for sale in Europe.

If you like the sweet smell of the background of the time around the 90ies you don't have to compare it to each of today's cars. I know some Honda owners are not interested in the new cars for several reasons. I for myself am not even interested in the new NSX as I try to avoid being held hostage by the new technology and retire from DIY.

[marknsx]

Just driven 180 miles to Woodstock and back today. My nsx blown apart by the modern bmw Mercedes and Audi racers. The NSX turned all the heads.

[Senninha]

Just driven 180 miles to Woodstock and back today. My nsx blown apart by the modern bmw Mercedes and Audi racers. The NSX turned all the heads.

Good effort, but as my teacher often said, must try harder ;0) today's round trip was 406 miles ... Bizarrely, between us today we have exceeded some owners annual mileage!!!!

An early start gave me some open roads to play with until I joined the commuter train up the M11. Occasional 'gaps' permitted exercise for the loud pedal en route to Barnsley. On arrival I parked in what I thought was out of site location. Late morning and the snap wagon swings past, nothing unusual. At lunchtime my colleague comes back from lunch and advises he has been chatting to a group of Toyota and Honda tech's who had been told there was this honda badged sports car in my customers car park. There was some expensive modern machinery in the car park, but as many of us know, the NSX is a car that continues to attract positive attention.

The journey home was the same mix of a-roads, smiles, waves and thumbs ups!

The purpose for sharing? To suggest that if you're not driving your NSX then what is the point of any comparison as you will have no reference points to compare with. The NSX is a classic supercar of its decade. Comparing the NSX to a GT4 is like debating whether Fangio is better than Senna or if Lewis better than both ... A pointless discussion that will simply devide opinion.

It was nice to see a more positive article, if I get a hard copy I'll put it with other less positive articles. But in the meantime, I'm off out again soon to keep my own reference points alive!

[marknsx]

Great work big man!
Im having a day off diving as my Legend is to be traded in. Got to clean it and move all the junk out first.
Tomorrow local travel only. I need to get to Derby next. I might try a very early start to exploit the roads.

[havoc]

I think where people (i.e. 'fan boys') can get carried away is thinking their car is an equal match, even if it's a ropey 15 year old car with 100,000 miles. I have driven many a rough NSX because owners haven't spent enough money maintaining important suspension components or have the wrong tyres. With the car now bordering on being an investment, i hope owners are giving their NSX's the attention they deserve!

Agree with this 100% - the "best" (sic) NSX in the country probably is a subjective* match for the best the modern market can offer, sub-£100k.

But a lot of our cars are old and leggy, and need to be driven with a modicum of sympathy - I did a track evening at Donington in the summer, my first proper trackday in the NSX, excluding the two NSXCE trips, and I found myself driving to the car's limits (brake and engine temps, typically) rather than my own, which is the opposite of the way I've been driving hired Caterhams on track, and actually more considered than the way I drove my first (near-new) DC2 on track. A 991 Cayman-S was there and was (slightly) quicker in a straight line, rolled less in the corners, and braked harder - like it or nor a stock NSX isn't a trackday toy!!!
(And note my car has had an 'engine refresh' and was running uprated pads and new dampers, among other refurb'd items, so leggy but hopefully not 'tired')



I think the article IS written from a biased perspective...but everyone, even (esp.) journos, have biases, and that some people consider the NSX to still occupy that rarefied atmosphere IS high praise. Not everyone will, but not everyone did first time around, and not everyone agrees what the best cars are today, so that's irrelevant...



* Ary and the others are right - objectively our car is bettered by some hot hatches nowadays...the nature of progress in brakes, tyres and suspension tech more than anything else.

[Rob_Fenn]

In fairness, the limitation versus modern cars is tyres. The new Cayman has 235/265 section tyres, which is good for braking, acceleration and turning! Ultimately if you strapped a set of wider Michelin Cup 2s on an NSX, you'd have an appreciably quicker car.

The advantage an 'old' car like the NSX has is that it is relatively small and light these days. As a result, it's light on consumables so i would argue not an expensive car to run on track (unless you crash it).

[L696ULO]

For those who didn't see the original Autocar report, the Daily Fail err... Mail have done their own test using the tried and tested 'cut and paste' technique ans here it is:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cars/article-3346082/Would-buy-65k-Porsche-Cayman-GT4-classic-Ferrari-Honda-NSX.html