finding the signal in an industry filled with noise
Nearly two decades ago the Honda/Acura NSX shook up the performance car scene.
This year, the Nissan GT-R is said to be doing the same.
But could the two cars be any more different?
Looking at this picture I stumbled across on the web – is the NSX is too much like a Formula 1 car or is the GT-R is too much like an SUV?
Although the [Ridgeline’s] entire engine is carryover, the all-aluminum 3.5L V-6 does have a new Magnesium dual-stage intake manifold that bumps the horsepower and torque up by three and two, respectively. Additionally, Honda keeps the current five-speed automatic, but does offer slightly different gear ratios, in some cases changed only 0.2 percent, to help to improve overall responsiveness. Of note, throttle response off idle is vastly improved, making it feel like the truck has more power off the line because of how strongly it jumps from a stop. A new computer software program works with the new gearing strategy to make it feel like there’s more power than the small gains in hp and torque would suggest. – Motor Trend
You might have noticed that I am more critical of steering feel – or rather the lack of the same in the modern car. I’m not sure when it became acceptable to remove the driver’s sense of what the front tires are doing, and whether its a family sedan or a sports car the feel of electrically assisted system in particular, whether from BMW or Honda or whomever is at a disadvantage.
Other than perhaps the last Cooper and the current Rabbit/Jetta (which has an entirely different take on electrical assist) I can’t think of a case in which messing with the good old fasioned hydraulic setup has resulted in an advancement, and that includes cars I’ve driven with the latest in technology – cars that aren’t even out yet. And remember: power assist is a step backwards in feel from the original non-assisted systems (available as recently as 1991, in the Civic Si).
And as this quote reminds us of – it’s not a failing that even extensive chasss retuning can get back…
The original S2000 had sharp steering but was blighted by an excessive lateral compliance in its rear suspension, an elasticity that made it feel imprecise when you were pushing on. This was lessened in subsequent chassis revisions, and in this latest evolution it’s almost entirely gone. Confidence up and VSA switched out, in the wet you can steer the S2000 accurately on the throttle if you wish. It telegraphs its intentions well, delivering a warning shot of understeer as you dive into a second-gear corner before shifting into snappy but catchable oversteer if you choose to keep your foot in. The only disappointment is that now that the rear suspension is more composed, the steering is in the spotlight, and while the electrically-assisted set-up is keen, accurate and has good weight, it’s lacking in feel. This is most obvious in the wet, where understeer is revealed more by the fact that you’re visually straying from the steered line rather than the tactile sensation of the front tyres slipping wide… And while its VTEC ‘four’ delivers in thrilling fashion at the top end, it sounds ordinary, almost coarse, when it’s pottering. – evo
The [TSX is] not necessarily an easy car to drive, however: there are several blind spots (the rear windscreen is shallow and strangely angled… and the new dashboard layout is confusing and over-complex. The driver is faced with banks of switches, LEDs, dials within dials, display screens, electronic gauges and levers – it’s a case of information overload. – 4car
“After driving the Saturn and Forester, I got into the RAV and CR-V and thought, good gosh, there are horrible seams and bumps in this road I didn’t even realize were there.” St. Antoine: “The CR-V is disappointing in terms of ride. And I’m shocked at the RAV’s ride. Typically, when you get into a Toyota, you expect soft and cushy.” Through the back-and-forth curves, the Honda also has a peculiar squirmy thing going on: tiny gyrations deep down in its suspension joints. – Motor Trend
It’s depressing to see a company – any company – forget what made them great and there’s perhaps no clearer example of this than Honda’s interior design these days.
The virus started with the Acura RL then spread to the MDX, but now its found its way into the Accord and even the Pilot. Not only are the controls arranged in a completely nonsensical manner, there’s a visual clutter – a hodgepodge of shapes that seems contrived to make the braindead feel they’re getting more for their money.
I can understand why you’ve gone to overly large and wide tires now that your cars are overly wide and large as well but please Honda, stop the madness. Sure, plastic is easy to mold into any shape you desire but that doesn’t mean you should. To paraphrase Chris Rock, “You can drive a car with your feet, but that doesn’t make it a good idea!”
Remember when Toyota and Honda tried as hard as they could? That was before Lexus and Acura dealers existed, before the company wanted to keep those same dealers from whining that customers would drive their cars then go buy a Toyota and Honda instead.
Today’s Hondas and Toyotas are dumbed down to the point that they’re not only more American – they’re caricatures of what domestic cars were. They’re backward thinking.
The new Accord deserves the whipping its getting in the press, and so does the Corolla:
we’re disappointed with the design and materials used throughout the interior. The peanut-butter-jar lids doubling as rheostat dials for the climate controls are particularly horrifying from a company that could probably buy any one of Detroit’s Big Three automakers with the change in its pockets. If Toyota wants to maintain its lead in this business, we dare suggest it benchmark some of GM’s interiors and then do better, not worse… Aside from its affordability… we’re let down by the ’09 Corolla. Perhaps Toyota has set the bar so high in its various segments for the past two decades up to and including the current Camry that we expect every at-bat to result in a home run. And although we have no doubt the Corolla will continue to seduce buyers by the hundreds of thousands, that may be more than ever a matter of momentum as opposed to product superiority, because the new Corolla is no quantum leap. – Car and Driver
