That was my point. There's no denying that they're outdated now though. Now-a-days you can have a comfortable, reliable car run just as fast as an F40 for less money. That takes nothing away from the fact that an F40 is one of the worlds most amazing cars.

And in the supercar world, the NSX has been the single most influential car in recent history.

 

Wow, I was gone for a weekend and this thread blew up. lol

 

I remember talking about the NSX here along time ago.

I argued that the NSX was a failure in the US market due to its lack of performance, poor selling numbers, and outrageous price.

That is still my contention today. If it was the most influential car in recent history...it sure didnt show it by its poor acceptance in the US market.

 

not really on either side here, but i don't think honda was accepted period when it came to anything performance wise 15 years ago in the U.S. People who could afford to drop that much on a sports car bought cars that had a rep. (vipers,testorosa,,etc.)

But id be willing to bet sales were ok in Japan.

 

I don't know how it did in the global market. I just know that it failed miserably in the U.S.

Here is a couple of observations that i have. They are just opinions so take them for what their worth.

I can think of two reasons why Honda didn't drastically change the NSX during the 15 years of its production run. 15 years is a LONGGG time for any car to remain practically unchanged. 1) they got it right the first time. It was selling like hotcakes the way it is and so they kept it the way it is. or 2) It wasn't the sucess that honda wanted. Honda didn't see any profit from r&d into the nsx and so they were simply dragging it as long as possible.

Again, im not the CEO of Honda so take these opinions for what its worth. But i know that profit drives every automobile company. Period. If Honda wasn't making any money from the NSX, they would have dumped it along time ago....or keep it basically unchanged until they do have the resources to make a new one.

 

I always accounted the low sales to the insanely stupid price tag they put on it when it first came out. That, coupled with people's perceptions of a japanese "exotic" sports car at the time really hurt them in the US.

Did it fail in the US market? Yeah, pretty much. But sales aside, it's still a hell of a car, performance-wise. If it wasn't still a fundamentally good car, I doubt Honda would have kept it essentially the same in their home market for as long as they did.

I'm sure Honda sold more than enough Accords in the US to float anything they lost with the NSX, so it's a tad moot.

 

Perhaps someone *cough* Dave22 *cough can comment here if I am incorrect, but Honda didn't produce the NSX to be a great selling machine and make them a huge profit. They built it to say, "Here you go Ferrari, we can do it too... and better!".

Sort of like Toyota's production of the Prius. Did you know that it costs Toyota more to produce the Prius than it cost the average consumer to buy it? Do you know why? Marketing...
Toyota builds the greenest vehicles on the planet. How many commercials do you hear for Toyota when they don't mention gas mileage? I bet not a single one.

Ultimately Honda built one of the greatest sports cars of all time. Peoples complaints, as I initially posted will always remain the same : it's outdated, overpriced, and underpowered.

 

Granted, like JKim I am not the CEO of Honda. That is just my understanding. In the early 90's no one really looked at Honda thinking that they would be able to compete with Ferrari in the supercar market. They proved they could do it.

 

The NSX was never supposed to be profitable for Honda. It was a showcase.

 

The Supra sold poorly in the US as well, does that make it a less than desireable car?

The NSX set a new bar for the supercar industry, but was a bit expensive for the average consumer, and those looking for a supercar went with one with name recognition. It's the same story for the Supra, and honestly despite the fact that the new GT-R beats the Porsche 911 in just about every category it will not sell well in the US either. Every ricer kid drooling over one will never, ever be able to afford one. Those who can will mostly just buy the Porsche anyway.