2016/2017 Ford GT and Honda NSX... Opinions?

What say you?

The Honda, I think, will be amazing.

The Ford? I’m disappointed. Looks great, but where’s the fire breathing V8?

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I absolutely love both of them. I think Ford overshadowed all the other makers just a little (Which by I mean a lot!) with all of the reveals yesterday though.

The NSX just looks great and has a really cool powertrain, so hopefully its performance matches its looks.

Now for the GT, the Ecoboost V6 is the perfect engine for this car. I am certain the entire car was built around that engine to keep it as compact as possible, meaning it would be more lightweight and aerodynamic (And probably not easy to service). It’s also a proven engine unlike the 5.2L. It’s been racing IMSA for two seasons, so it’s been heavily field tested in some harsh environments.

I would love a high revving N/A V8 more then anyone, but imagine what it would take to get that to produce over 600HP (I’m going to assume it’s in the upper 600’s and Ford is just teasing us). Think about emissions testing on a 600HP+ N/A V8, if I remember correctly they had issues getting the 5.2L with 500HP+ to pass.

Not to mention the enormous marketing opportunity using the Ecoboost engine to. I don’t think the GT was ever about having a big V8, it was always about beating Ferrari and this one should do just that. I can’t wait to see the GT on the road and track.

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The NSX looks fantastic, even if it’s a far cry from the original. My biggest concern is for them to keep the weight down, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

The Ford GT is just a little too busy, appearance-wise, but I’m confident it will be a strong performer on and off the track, worthy of the GT name.

NSX, bleh I don’t like it.

GT on the other hand, looks simply amazing. Surprised they went with an ecoboost 6cyl, but with the way racing is going now a days, it makes sense, and I expect big things with it!

Man this forum is dead. There have been some major reveals lately, where is everybody!

Anyway, my general comments. These are two interesting cars that signal different things. Starting with the NSX, I think it is a pretty car that had its impact blunted by being shown too much and too early. The real question will be performance and the market. The major players in sports cars (from cheapest to most expensive) are Corvette, Porsche, and Ferrari. Corvette buyers seems to buy on performance value. At 150K, the NSX is too expensive and won’t be much if any of a performance upgrade over the Z06 to really pull those buyers. Porsche buyers tend to be very faithful. GT3 owners want a track car and the NSX is not comparable (at first glance), which leaves the 911 turbo. I suspect the NSX and Turbo will match up very well (by design by Honda I suspect), but car manufactures have been trying to dethrone the Turbo for decades and yet it still reigns. Ferrari is the most interesting scenario. The original NSX caught Ferrari off guard with it’s reliable high performance. It could humiliate the 348 and drove like an Accord any other time. That was decades ago. Modern Ferraris…well work and are no longer the finicky cars that need to be “put up with.” Also, the next generation 458 is already under testing and believed to be packing a turbo V8. What I think will happen is that the NSX will take market share away from the aging GTR and R8 and go toe to toe against the AMG GT, possibly losing to it due to practicality (those batteries have to go somewhere) and an less lustrous badge.

I personally think the Ford GT is gorgeous, it also signals some important things. It’s basically official, the V8 is dead at Ford. That’s not necessarily a “bad” thing, but my idea of performance is a thumping V8, so I’m said to see it go. Ford has always been the quickest to embrace new powertrain technologies of the American manufactures, so this is not really a surprise. I don’t doubt that Ford is keeping the V8 only for Mustang and Truck owners who feel like I do about V8s. Nevertheless, as to the car itself I must say…FINALLY! I respect the P1, LaFerrari (hate the name though), and 918, but hybrid supercars are a joke to me. The hyper rich can pay the gas bill…for as little as the cars will be driven, anyway. And on track (in testing so far) they are one lap wonders that can’t reproduce their opening lap times due to battery depletion. The Ford GT is old school. Powerful engine, good aero, and Sport Cup 2 grip. I’m not exactly sure what to put it up against.

Discussions on cars usually just leads to massive arguments (as we’re both well aware), which I’m assuming is the reason people are hesitant to post in here. But yeah, the forums are pretty much dead anyways…

Why? The definition of a hybrid is two (or more) things combined into one. The entire reason behind all these modern performance cars being hybrids is to take advantage of the pros while eliminating the cons of ICE and electric power. It’s not really about fuel economy. Heck, I design cars when I’m bored and my best one so far would use hyrbid tech to do so really awesome things.

There is nothing wrong with argument as long as it’s well reasoned.

I know the question wasn’t directed at me, but I’ll answer anyway. My problem with “performance” hybrids is the extra weight of the additional motors and associated hardware. The 918, during Motortrend best driver’s car competition, gave an amazing hero lap time for its first lap, but the next lap was dramatically slower due to battery depletion. The tech behind these cars is amazing, but the basic rules of performance remain the same: light stiff chassis, high power, high grip tires, low drag coupled with high downforce. The Ford GT checks all these boxes, current reports say it will be under 3,000 lbs! The P1, 918, LaFerrari, and soon to be NSX most certainly don’t rival a F40 for light weight.

I am loving this new NSX, and can barely wait for Its Forza version. The element of surprise the GT had, made it easy for it to steal to show, however, if it is true that Ford can squeeze 600bhp out of a turbo V6, then Honda should be easily able to top that. Honda’s secrecy with the specs makes it hard guess, but if I had to, I would bet the NSX posts better times around a track, or at least very close ones.

I for one loathe those soulless McLarens, and therefore dislike Forza 5 cover, and even though I am not a Ford GT fan, It does look amazing, and it is probably going to be good cover… I just hope the NSX makes as the limited edition cover.

As for Hybrids, I for a rule dislike them, and any other eco-friendly bull, however the hybrid concept in the NSX, is more selfish and practical, as means of launch control, offsetting turbo-lag, and torque vectoring, small details that sum up to a big difference.

The greatest challenge for the new NSX, is being a worthy succesor, the GT, even with its shrunken engine already seems to be fulfilling its purpose, the NSX in other hand has much larger, and more specific shoes to fill. The original NSX is a very unique car, and it should be a tought job translating it to modern times.

On Ferrari chat (I don’t post just lurk) it seems like most of the members aren’t all to keen on the NSX, including the guys that used to own one. …I don’t think the car is going to do as well as some hope. There’s just no buzz about it.

I want to hear what the twin turbo GT sounds like,it might surprise us all. At least the exhaust looks cool the way they routed out the back of the car.

The first NSX surprised everybody when launched, no one expected to be what it was, the new NSX hope, is to be able to do the same, it is too different from the original to bet on pedigree alone.

When I said I disliked hybrids, I meant hybrids as most people know them, as eco-annoying bore machines, but as I said previously, the hybrid aspect in these new sport cars is rather clever, and adds to performance instead of subtracting.

Ah, that clears things up. Thanks for clarifying.

Yeah, weight matters quite a lot with supercars and hypercars. Still, making a car too lightweight can have bad results as well. It’s a fine balance…

On the topic of the GT… While I understand the reason behind the V6 and its great performance, I still really am bummed there’s no V8 option. I’m fine with the standard engine being the V6TT, but I’d really like to see Ford offer the GT500 Supersnake’s 850HP V8S (so long as it fit worked properly) as an optional engine. Can you imagine if they went even further and tuned it up to 900+HP? So long as it had big enough tires and a good enough chassis, it could very well become a hypercar and compete with the P1, 918, and LF.

That’s were the downforce comes in. All the weight you want for grip with non of the dynamic penalties (other than drag).

As am I. Ford admitted that they went Ecoboost solely for marketing purposes. I respect turbo V6s, but I love the sound of a V8, consequently it’s just “better” to me for emotional reasons regardless of performance.

I suspect the at GT will already humiliate the current list of hypercars without needing 900hp. The European manufacturers like to list dry weight of their cars to make them seem lighter than they actually are. The actual curb weights are around 3,300-3,600 lbs. The LF in particular is a paper tiger. Ferrari refuses to allow it to compete directly with the 918 and P1 in a head to head comparison. The transmission mounted behind the axle causes problems with moments of inertia, and the suspension kinematics. The large disparity between the front and rear tires on the LF gives some hint as to how unoptimized the friction circle is for each tire. I don’t think the GT will have any trouble with at least that car.

As a side note, the GT was born out of a design study to produce a Mustang for GTLM Le Mans racing. Ford found that the Mustang couldn’t adequately compete, and thus the GT was born. It was designed to race. The new mid engine Vette (if it comes), was also born out of the change in GTLM class rules coming in 2017. I look forward to the GT doing battle with the Zora, 911, and next gen 458 in Tudor.

Both the new Ford GT and the NSX are very awesome. No complaints.

Those two cars got a dramatic revamp in their designs and looks.

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1097105_the-ford-gt-will-cost-400000-sell-250-per-year

If any of you guys are interested, I got up close and personal with both of these cars at Geneva this year. Really impressed with both to be honest, love the styling of the Ford and their marketing of the car (huge ‘LaFord’ posters outside the exhibition hall) though I’ve always been a fan of the NSX of old and it’s hard not to fall in love with this one as well. Some pics:

Not sure where I’d put my money if I was in the market, they’re both great-looking cars and I expect both to be ridiculous to drive.

You’ll get your monies worth with the Ford GT. I am a V8 fan, but look forward to the technological bad ass that is in their eco boost v6 derived from the Daytona Prototype car. Yes its detuned, the ford engineers have specifically said they went with eco boost to keep weight down. I wouldnt be at all surprised that the weight of the GT is around 2600lbs.

Meh… I don’t care about the Nsx but I’m really do not like the new look of the GT.

My opinion I think the new GT looks great but what in the world was for thinking putting a v6 turbo in a supercar? Yes it’s high hp out the factory but what about those like mullet who would like to get 2000hp out of it… just a bad decision imo…

Because times change, and proves you don’t need 8 or more cylinders to get the same horsepower.

Time will tell how well this monster does. But for now, I am excited with what this thing will be able to do. At first I cringed at the thought of turbo 6’s and 4’s taking over, but… having driven considerable miles with the 2015 Ford Mustang ecoboost 4, and the 6 Cyl … I can say I thoroughly enjoy the Ecoboost 4 a whole heck of a lot more.

Fords ecoboost system has proven to be amazing, especially after these last few projects.