Andy D

Hi,

I'm considering buying a used NSX in the $30-35k range. I'm trying to learn more about typical ownership costs & experiences.

Can anyone suggest any good sites or links for detailed owndership experience & cost examples?

Can anyone point to any detailed links describing typical tire life seen? From all I've read so far, I get the impression that even when dialing in tire type, alignment, and air pressure for max life, the tire barely see over 15k-20k miles of life. Can anyone expand upon that either here or by pointing to good other sites/links?

Thanks very much,
Andy

ED9man

Soft compound for better handling probably because it's a sports car, it doesn't just have some shitty rock hard all seasons.

Andy D

Thanks but I'm not sure I understand your comment. I realize softer performance-biased tires wear more. I'm looking for examples that owners have experienced getting higher-than-average mileage out of their tires. For reference I was able to get 50K out of Goodyear Eagles on my 91 300ZX driving 60% like a grandma, 35% like an enthusiast, and 5% heavy.

nsxtasy

The NSX FAQ (answers to Frequently Asked Questions) can be found by clicking here.

You can read in the "Tire Tech" section (in the Tires & Wheels area) all about the advantage of the OEM tires which were designed specifically for the NSX, and for its individual corners (you have to order a left front tire, for example). They give the car its incredibly precise handling feel. The treadlife of these tires with the revised, factory-recommended alignment specs is generally 4-8K miles for rear tires, and 10-15K miles for front tires. If you drive gently, expect to be towards the upper end of that range; if not, the lower end. That works out to around 8 cents per mile for tires at the upper end, and 14 cents per mile at the lower end.

To put this into perspective, this is similar to the cost of gasoline (currently around 8-10 cents per mile). Drive 5,000 miles per year - which is average for an NSX - and you're spending $400-700 per year on tires, a pittance compared with the car's $30-35K purchase price.

With less-aggressive alignment specs (particularly less rear toe) and longer-lasting, less-sticky tires, you might be able to double the rear treadlife so that rear tires last 8-16K miles, and you might get up to 20K miles on the front tires. This is no worse than most other ultra-high-performance sports cars.

This assumes that the factory recommended air pressures are used (33F/40R), which should maximize treadlife. It also assumes that the tires are used from the time they are new, until they have 2/32" of tread depth, when the treadwear indicator bars are flat across the width of the tread.

SRD_DC2

try www.nsxprime.com

Andy D

Thanks for the link -- I was able to find that FAQ before coming to this site, and I'm still looking for any specific examples of anyone getting mileage >20,000 miles or even 30,000 by employing the various methods suggested, as well as via average, non-aggressive driving. For such a temperate, easy-to-drive vehicle, I expected to find at least some accounts of grandma's who achieved high mileage on their tires, but I haven't yet.

Does anyone have any examples to offer of mileage > 20k? If 20k is the ceiling, even with normal driving, I just want to confirm that before looking into ownership further. Thanks.

SRD_DC2

No offense to HAN, but maybe you should post your question on nsxprime. I'm sure youll find your answer there, considering it is all if anything nsx owners.

SRD_DC2

Well, I spoke w/someone I know who has an nsx, and according to him, avg. life is about 15k miles for front, and about 10k miles for back. Not sure how accurate this is.

nsxtasy

It depends on the tires, the alignment, and the driving style, as I noted above. Sounds like he's using tires that are not the stickiest around.

Why someone would pay $30-80K for the performance of a high-end sports car, and then degrade that performance in order to save a few hundred dollars in tires, doesn't seem to make sense to me. For example, for a lot less money, you could get a lower-performance car, use the stickiest tires around, and you would get equal performance for a lot less money. Go figure...

SRD_DC2

Actually, he stated with his car its about 10kmiles front, and 5kmiles rear. Thats w/Tein Coilovers and 18 front/19 rear. But yeah, when buying a high performance car, I dont think tire wear is a big concern.