NSX

Author
Discussion

simonrockman

Original Poster:

6,911 posts

262 months

Monday 20th January 2003
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I'm thinking of buying an NSX. What should I know?

deltaf

1,384 posts

264 months

Monday 20th January 2003
quotequote all
Theyre fast, theyre expensive, theyre made by Honda!
Theres a turbo conversion kit out in the states for these, gives it 390bhp and 0-60 in 4.8.
Try it, you might like it!

malbon

280 posts

268 months

Monday 20th January 2003
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malbon

280 posts

268 months

Monday 20th January 2003
quotequote all

There fast but not expensive (relatively speaking)

Inside looks dated - outside looks OK. Fairly good residuals. Most spare parts shared with Civics Integras etc so fairly cheap to maintain.

yeah. why not ?

CraigAlsop

1,991 posts

275 months

Monday 20th January 2003
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Good cars - they don't really give you a big kick in the back like a turbo car, or a big V8, but the engine is very sweet & revvy.
Evo mag rated the new one as car of the year last year IIRC.
Has traction control that you can turn off, which is nice.
Excellent chassis - probably up there with Ferrari, Lotus & TVR Tamora

p-car

92 posts

268 months

Monday 27th January 2003
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How much were you thinking of spending?

£20K will get you a '91/'92 3litre 5sp but it's likely to have done a few miles. Fortunately they wear it well if properly looked after. Not many people know about them though and only a few Honda dealers are NSX certified.
These early cars had a problem where the gearbox casing could break following an internal failure. Known in NSX circles are "snap ring failure", if this hasn't happened and been fixed already it's VERY expensive ie new gearbox and £4K!!
'94-'97 cars gained power steering and bigger wheels (much nicer) and slightly better brakes. Basically the same car though. £25K+ puts you in one of these.
'98-'02 cars got a 3.2litre engine and a 6spd 'box. These are significantly better cars and are absolutely brilliant to drive. Think £33K+ for a 3.2
'02- Latest facelifted cars with bigger wheels again and "honed" chassis dynamics which the motoring press have raved over AGAIN. Basically the same car as the '98-'02

ANY accident damage is bad news as the all aluminium monocoque (a first for a production sports car) is almost impossible to repair.

Some people say the early non power steering cars are the best (like the latest Type R version), but the 3.2 engine combined to the shorter gears in the 6spd 'box takes some beating. Anyway the steering is electrically assisted so you can just pull the fuse and disable it!

Try one, I defy you not to absolutely love it. John Cooper Honda down in Weymouth or Two Mills Honda up in Liverpool are the two biggest specialists in the country. These things are massively underated, they may not have the on paper power and performance of a TVR or Ferrari but they'll cover most roads OR tracks at least as fast.
The engine note is absolutely fantastic as it homes in on 8K revs, sort of Alfa V6 meets Honda Fireblade.
Check www.nsxprime.com for more info and links to the few NSX sites and owners out there.

simonrockman

Original Poster:

6,911 posts

262 months

Tuesday 28th January 2003
quotequote all
Thanks for that. I was thinking £25k ish. I've been tracking a every one I have seen for sale and they sell very, very slowly so I feel the price may be quite soft.

p-car

92 posts

268 months

Wednesday 29th January 2003
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If you're really serious it would be worth signing up to the NSX Club GB mail list...

www.nsxcb.co.uk/theclub/index.htm

It's pretty low key (don't expect more than a couple of emails a week) but these guys know a lot of the UK cars personally and will help you locate a good one. Just occassionally one of these member cars becomes available and they tend to be cherished examples.

simonrockman

Original Poster:

6,911 posts

262 months

Wednesday 29th January 2003
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Thanks, I've signed up and put a 'wanted' ad on the site.

j14nsx

50 posts

267 months

Tuesday 4th February 2003
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I found the NSXCB posting quite funny, at least it wasn't derogatory! As I wrote the web site and am one of the organisers of the group.

Quite right to say that occasionally one of our cars is for sale, once you have an NSX you don't tend to sell it. There are 350 cars in the UK, and they do sell slowly from certain places. My Honda dealer, one of the 5 NSX approved, can't get enough to sell. They are always asking to buy mine off me.

One word about the classifieds, it doesn't get used much, so don't put all your hopes on that to get one. Send an email to the group, and you might be lucky.

Kevin