3.2 - pop up or not?

[Unregistered]

I've been thinking of an NSX for quite a while and have driven one in the dark distant days long ago. Anyway, I would buy a manual 3.2 (not sure of roof choice) and have always liked the pop up headlamps. However, should I pay a bit more and get a fixed headlamp version? The latter car is obviously newer but I've never been convinced of the looks without the pop ups. Any thoughts? Thanks

[Ewan]

I've been thinking of an NSX for quite a while and have driven one in the dark distant days long ago. Anyway, I would buy a manual 3.2 (not sure of roof choice) and have always liked the pop up headlamps. However, should I pay a bit more and get a fixed headlamp version? The latter car is obviously newer but I've never been convinced of the looks without the pop ups. Any thoughts? Thanks

Your preference, mate :) IMHO, the fixed headlights make the car look a lot less dated (even a little bit Ferrari-esque from the front, in some peoples' eyes) and the overall exterior look is a little more resolved - the wheels particularly.

If you got a good manual pop-up 3.2 (like the Circuit Blue one that one "NSX 2000" has for sale at the moment, you'll have a great looking car which (for some) wasn't ruined by the facelift.

If you go for a later one (such as jaytip's), you'll get a slightly more modern looking car (same mechanicals, more or less, largely same interior) with fewer years behind it.

[Unregistered]

Cheers mate. it was NSX2000's car that I saw on PHs. What is jaytip selling?

[Ewan]

Cheers mate. it was NSX2000's car that I saw on PHs. What is jaytip selling?

2004 Red coupe:
http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/442312.htm

[Unregistered]

That was the other one I was looking at! So £8k for four years and basically the same car bar the lights - are they xenons on the 04?

I am tempted by the older car as I was looking for a 'classic' car to keep forever and cheap VED is useful. Are there big costs with airbag replacement and cambelts on the older cars?

[dan the man]

Non xenons im afraifd even on fixed light cars.

But xenon kits always available :0

[jaytip]

That was the other one I was looking at! So £8k for four years and basically the same car bar the lights - are they xenons on the 04?

I am tempted by the older car as I was looking for a 'classic' car to keep forever and cheap VED is useful. Are there big costs with airbag replacement and cambelts on the older cars?
Hmm,not sure what context this is to be taken in :dunno: My car at 38K is the cheapest 04 for sale in the country.

[Unregistered]

Certainly no need to take it negatively. I was just highlighting that four years equals £8k so £2k pa depreciation. The previous poster had lead me to believe that there was little change in the cars apart from the lights in 02/03/04 (?) when the pop ups went. I wasn't trying to offend.

Do you mind telling me how much your car would have been new as I'm out of touch with what the new prices were?

[AR]

You might find this interesting:

Changes for 2002

New Colors: Long Beach Blue Pearl, Imola Orange Pearl
Discontinued Colors: Monaco Blue Pearl
Added Interior Colors - Available with matching exterior color only: Yellow, Silver, Blue, Orange, White. Red is available with both red and black exterior.
New interior trim color: Aluminum Color (Center console, door inserts, and Gauge Cluster Bezel).
Wheel sizes changed to 17 x 7" front and 17 x 9" rear.
Tire sizes changed to 215/40ZR/17 front and 255/40ZR/17 Rear
Rear track increased 1/2" from 60.2" to 60.7"
Yokohama A022 no longer OEM tire - Bridgestone Potenza RE050 H0 replaced RE010 as new OEM tire
Appearance updated - Fixed HID headlights, new front, new lip on trunk, new ground effects beneath doors, black mesh vents (changed from ribbed)
Coupe option discontinued in the U.S. (available elsewhere)Press release from Honda before 2002 model introduction:

The NSX has earned its status as one of the world's premier exotic sports cars with a combination of head turning performance and contemporary styling. For 2002, the NSX's styling has been updated to modernize its look and its chassis was refined to ensure its competitiveness as a true world class sports car. The NSX features all-aluminum construction and is powered by an advanced 290 horsepower DOHC, VTEC, V-6 engine coupled to a 6-speed close-ratio manual transmission. When equipped with the optional 4-speed automatic transmission with Sequential SportShift(TM), the NSX engine generates 252 horsepower.2002 NSX Color Card for US
2002colors.jpg (46560 bytes)
Changes for 2003


Rear sway bar size increased from: 17.5 mm to 19.1 mm. Wall thickness remains at 2.3 mm Changes for 2004


US Colors: Long Beach Blue Pearl, New Imola Orange Pearl, Grand Prix White, New Formula Red, Rio Yellow Pearl, Silverstone Metallic, and Berlina Black. Each of these colors can be matched to a corresponding interior color for a personalized look or ordered with a conventional tan or black leather interior.
Now standard equipment instead of options: Keyless entry, CD changer in trunk
Redesigned shift knob
Removal of passenger side power door lock.
Gauge Cluster bezel color change: from "Aluminum" to dark gray.
MSRP $89,000 + destination and handling $745.00
Interior gauge faces changed from black to dark blue

[Lankstarr]

I never knew they doscontinued the coupe in the US!

Mr Unreg.

You can have my 98 3.2 for 26.5k ... I prefer the pop up model but would spend an extra 11k to go and get Jaytips.

It's in the for sale section:D

L*

[Ewan]

Do you mind telling me how much your car would have been new as I'm out of touch with what the new prices were?

Honda UK dropped the price by £10k when the facelifted cars came out, so they would be starting from £60k. The 2000 year cars would therefore have started off at £70k.

My point earlier was that mechanically (engine, transmission at least) and more-or-less interior (the dashboard layout and dimensions) went essentially unchanged during the 2002 facelift.

I bought a facelifted car recently because I just prefer the look; sense might have said to get a pre-2001 model because pop-up 3.2s aren't all that plentiful, and like you say, the VED savings might come in handy.

On the plus side of the facelifted model, there are even fewer of them around - Honda sold only 21 cars in EUROPE in 2003, for example, so with 4 years of post-facelift production in the UK, there probably only ever were 50 or 60 "NA2" models (as they're known).

Why not go & see the NSX2000 and jaytip cars for yourself, and figure out which (if either) floats your boat...

[Senninha]

1997 35
1998 10
1999 17
2000 11
2001 8
2002 23

I cant find the numbers for registrations in later years. Both the cars mentioned are owned by keen NSX owners who have owned both versions.

3.2 manual pop ups are a very rare commodity IMO and would certainly fit your 'classic' requirement due to the earlier styling.

It will of course be you who decides but I would encourage you to view both cars that I beleive to be true and honest examples with full Honda history.

Happy shopping and see you in one soon!

regards, Paul

[Ewan]

Paul

According to Brian Long's book, sales figures for Europe were:

1990 6
1991 440
1992 224
1993 152
1994 104
1995 138
1996 84
1997 71
1998 44
1999 34
2000 19
2001 10
2002 26
2003 21

... at which point his data runs out.

[WhyOne?]

I am tempted by the older car as I was looking for a 'classic' car to keep.....

Welcome....and get registered! :)

I deliberately went for an older car with pop-ups - I prefer the look and feel it was the way Honda intended the car, so in my mind, this is the definitive version of the car.

Having said that, aesthetics are a purely personal thing - whichever way you go, I am sure you wont regret the choice, it really is a tremendous car whatever the lights look like.

[Unregistered]

3.2 manual pop ups are a very rare commodity IMO and would certainly fit your 'classic' requirement due to the earlier styling.

Unless you happen to have one with a wobbly roof!

It is a well known fact that on the road the fastest NSX's are 3.2 manual's in red with roofs as god intended.

[TheQuietOne]

Here's a collage for you which might help. Mine's the 3.2 with Pop-Ups it is a New Formula Red (Ascari) 3.2 Coupe with black roof on a 2000 plate. The other is lifted from Ewan's post and is the same colour but before he had washed it.

For what it's worth I like both, and if you go for a 2000 - 2001 3.2 with pop-ups you get IMO the best bit of the face-lifted interior, the perforated leather seats which do update the interior nicely over the gathered leather.

Paul's (NSX2000) blue 3.2 that is for sale at the money is as good as it gets for a pre-facelift and I think Luke (Lankstarr) could be persuaded to let his '98 3.2 go for the right money too if you go that option. As said above Jaytip's facelift is as good as they come for that money also!

What choice...:)

[Senninha]

Unless you happen to have one with a wobbly roof!

It is a well known fact that on the road the fastest NSX's are 3.2 manual's in red with roofs as god intended.

Come out, come out whoever you are and lets settle this myth. For those that really know, the Targa is so clearly the better car for the UK :cool:

Nice collage Matt, and looking at what you've presented, I would go pop-ups and add the later wheels :thumbsup:

[Merlot]

Hi

I've now registered as Merlot - I'm well know over on TSN where I do most of my posting.

Thanks for being so friendly and offering balanced advice. Food for thought. I drove a manual 3.0 targa for about 500 miles a few years ago and really liked it. Now I'm heading more towards older cars to try and save money on depreciation and as new cars get faster and faster its more than I need - I had an E92 M3 briefly last year and it did nothing for me.

The unregistered posts on page 1 were me but the one on page 2 about coupes' vs targas' was not.

[jaytip]

Certainly no need to take it negatively. I was just highlighting that four years equals £8k so £2k pa depreciation. The previous poster had lead me to believe that there was little change in the cars apart from the lights in 02/03/04 (?) when the pop ups went. I wasn't trying to offend.

Do you mind telling me how much your car would have been new as I'm out of touch with what the new prices were?
No worries mate.I just wan't sure which way it was meant to be taken.

[Ewan]

Come out, come out whoever you are and lets settle this myth. For those that really know, the Targa is so clearly the better car for the UK :cool:

Nice collage Matt, and looking at what you've presented, I would go pop-ups and add the later wheels :thumbsup:
My decision for buying a Targa was that even the coupe isn't all that fast by modern standards - I'd say it's comparable to a Cayman S. Still quick, but a way off modern supercar standards.

As a result, in conjunction with the fact that I'd only plan to use the car in clement weather, it made sense to go T-Top. As Paul says, the suspension on the -T is a bit softer, so is more compliant for rough roads. If you want a track weapon or are particularly keen on getting the max driving performance and experience, then a couple would be a better bet... though if that's your game, maybe an Exige S or Noble M12 would be more appropriate... (dons Asbestos jacket ;)).

Brian Long's book reckons that the fared-in headlights in the facelift model (along with other aero improvements) are good for an extra 4 mph top speed, so in reality, a facelifted targa could be quicker than a "classic" 3.2 coupe :D

Ewan

[Ewan]

The other is lifted from Ewan's post and is the same colour but before he had washed it.


And here's one (with the roof on this time) after I'd washed & waxed it :D

3556

[TheQuietOne]

The unregistered posts on page 1 were me but the one on page 2 about coupes' vs targas' was not.

Who would write such a cowardly and accurate remark not logged in though.....:eek::D

[Merlot]

No worries mate.I just wan't sure which way it was meant to be taken.

:thumbsup:

[TheSebringOne]

Maybe before you decide, go and see both models at MattFest! Plenty of models in both & colour choices, plus Targa & coupes. As you say you've prefer the pop ups, which most people like. Then theres advantages of lower outlay, cheaper VED, less depreciation in the long run and cheaper insurance for cars from 10 yrs old too. Good luck in your NSX hunting.

[WhyOne?]

Brian Long's book reckons that the fared-in headlights in the facelift model (along with other aero improvements) are good for an extra 4 mph top speed, so in reality, a facelifted targa could be quicker than a "classic" 3.2 coupe :D



My understanding is that the 4mph difference comes when the pop-up lights are popped-up!

[Ewan]

My understanding is that the 4mph difference comes when the pop-up lights are popped-up!

That would seem to make sense. :)

[NoelWatson]

That would seem to make sense. :)

The top speed went from a claimed 168 to a claimed 175 due to a reduction in Cd from 0.32 to 0.3. I assume the 168 was with the headlights down