Buy/Drive/Burn: Powerful and Unpopular 2018 Sub-super Coupes

by Corey Lewis

Published: September 18th, 2018

buy drive burn powerful and unpopular 2018 sub super coupes

Today’s Buy/Drive/Burn trio represent the high-dollar sports car that doesn’t quite make it into supercar territory. They’re very expensive, yet among other extra-fast vehicles in the six-figure segment, they’re considered relatively good value.

This makes them all oddballs; none ever burn up the sales charts. But that doesn’t mean they can’t catch fire.

Acura NSX

Honda’s long-delayed second entrant into the NSX nameplate made its way to Acura dealers for the 2017 model year. Produced at the Honda Performance Manufacturing center in Marysville, Ohio, the new NSX grew in every dimension compared to the first generation. Fortunately, power grew as well. The 3.5-liter V6 residing in the middle of the car has twin turbos, which work in conjunction with dual electric motors at the front , and a single electric motor at the rear. 573 combined horsepower travel to all four wheels via the nine-speed dual-clutch transmission. Today’s NSX has a couple of options: polished wheels for $1,700, and carbon-ceramic brakes for a tire-screeching $9,900. Final total is $170,700.

Nissan GT-R

The new GT-R was a bit of a departure for the performance entrant in the Nissan lineup. Previous versions of the GT-R had the Skyline name affixed to it — but Nissan wanted to go a different direction. Available since July of 2008 in the United States, the GT-R debuted to immediate critical acclaim. It received a facelift in 2011 and has continued its slow sales to date. A NISMO variant entered the fray in 2018, making it the most powerful, most serious GT-R. In this guise, the standard 3.8-liter twin-turbo engine is reworked for NISMO duty, to the tune of 600 horsepower. All four wheels receive horses via the six-speed dual-clutch automatic. Everything is standard, which is why the NISMO costs about $75,000 more than the base model. It’s $175,490.

Audi R8 V10

Audi’s first mid-engine car went on sale in Europe in 2006, making its way to the United states in 2007. The model was successful enough to warrant a second album, and an all-new R8 debuted for 2016. In the process, the R8 gained sharper styling and lost the V8 base engine of the first generation. Related to the Lamborghini Huracan, the R8 is built at the same Neckarsulm, Germany plant that used to crank out NSU vehicles. Two versions of the Lamborghini 5.2-liter V10 have powered the R8 since 2016; one is turned down, the other is turned up. Today’s offering is the middle trim that’s fitted with the lower-powered V10 and Quattro all-wheel drive. A total of 532 horsepower funnel through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. The R8 is today’s value leader, and asks just $164,900.

Three performance (not super) cars, each with well over 500 horsepower. Which one gets the Buy?

[Images: Honda, Nissan, Volkswagen]

#Acura #AcuraNSX #Audi #AudiR8 #Buy/Drive/Burn #CollectorCars #Editorial #FutureClassics #LuxuryCars #NewCars #Nissan #V6 #Nissan.GT-R #Nismo #SportsCars #V10 #NewsBlog

Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

More by Corey Lewis

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 50 comments

Rpn453 on Sep 18, 2018

Buy the R8. Mid-rear V10. Drive the GT-R. During winter and anytime I need a trunk or back seats. I'll probably put more miles on it than the R8. Burn the NSX. Too electronic and futuristic-looking for my luddite tastes.

Like Reply
Wodehouse on Sep 19, 2018

Buy the GT-R. It's nasty in all of the right and wrong ways=an involving relationship. Drive the Audi; because of the truly sweet sound. The dreary, "comes shipped in a flat pack box" design disappoints. Burn the NSX. After having driven it, I felt completely ok with never having to see, get in, or, drive one again. No emotional attachment for me. A perfect by-the-numbers car for those that like "mechanical-ness" of cars triple filtered and distilled. Its exterior design is also unoriginal.

Like Reply

Recent Comments

3-On-The-Tree I have a 2009 C6 Corvette LS3 and the only major repair that I have done on it was replace the radiator. Besides usual plugs, wires oil etc. And yes those tires are expensive as well.
28-Cars-Later We had a red 2003 with less than 100 miles in late 2004/5ish and kept it till the end AFAIK. I do recall being told we had about $28,000 in at the time (about $43,6 in 2023 Clown World Bux). I don't ever recall anyone retail even looking at it, and it lived in the showroom/garage."It's an automatic that just had the linkage repaired and upgraded"This really doesn't bode well. Maybe there's a upgrade I'm simply not aware of so one could tune the 3rd Gen LM4 for higher power but messing with it isn't making me smile because now I know its no longer factory or somehow it broke and with such low miles I'm equally concerned.
Analoggrotto With Kia Hyundai you are guaranteed to have the best Maintenance and Service experience in the industry. Complementary diagnostics, open book fees schedules and adherence to published rates with no attempts to tack extra work on are part of the HMC Gold Standard of Service. Recalls are the lowest in the industry but when you bring your Hyundai Genesis Kia vehicle in for Feature Improvement, rest assured that it will be taken care of to the highest pentagon standards, fully free of charge with no pressure for paid work or service unless requested. Hyundai Kia have the highest levels of customer ATP loyalty in the industry and Service is key to the best after sales experience.
MaintenanceCosts In Toyota's hands, these hybrid powertrains with a single motor and a conventional automatic transmission have not been achieving the same kind of fuel economy benefits as the planetary-gear setups in the smaller cars. It's too bad. Many years ago GM did a group of full-size pickups and SUVs with a 6.0L V8 and a two-motor planetary gear system, and those got the fuel economy boost you'd expect while maintaining big-time towing capacity. Toyota should have done the same with its turbo four and six in the new trucks.
JMII My C7 isn't too bad maintain wise but it requires 10 quarts of expensive 0W-40 once a year (per GM) and tires are pricey due size and grip requirements. I average about $600 a year in maintenance but a majority of that is due to track usage. Brake fluid, brake pads and tires add up quickly. Wiper blades, coolant flush, transmission fluid, rear diff fluid and a new battery were the other costs. I bought the car in 2018 with 18k in mileage and now it has 42k. Many of the items mentioned are needed between 20k and 40k per GM's service schedule so my ownership period just happens to align with various intervals.I really need to go thru my service spreadsheet and put track related items on a separate tab to get a better picture of what "normal" cost would be. Its likely 75% of my spend is track related.Repairs to date are only $350. I needed a new XM antenna (aftermarket), a cargo net clip, a backup lamp switch and new LED side markers (aftermarket). The LEDs were the most expensive at $220.