850CSi vs NSX: Which looks better?

[NWwagon]

i want nsx only because my neightbor as a supercharged one with straight pipes and it sounds beautiful, however the 8 series would be a fun car to own ive just never had the chance to ride in one.

[tedy e30]

look at this and decide yourself ... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmROkK8FDyA&feature=related"]YouTube - bmw 850 goryl cz1[/ame]

[limepickle]

I created an account just to post in this thread. This discussion is actually very important to me. As many have already stated, the NSX and 8 series are both really nice looking cars, but to me, if we are talking about looks only, the 8 series wins. I've seen an 840ci, 850i, 850ci, and an 850csi (really rare- only 225 imported to the US-I was very lucky to spot one, parked and detailed beautifully in someone's driveway). I've also seen a few NSXs, one that was parked just outside my neighbor's house (he is either a car salesman or some shady mafia guy, because there is a new car outside his house almost everyday). I've had the chance to look at both of them up close, and I certainly looked at them both for a long time. As for rarity in the US, if we are looking at both models as a whole, the NSX is about 1.5 times more common than an 8 series, even less common if we are only talking NA1. It is basically a wash in terms of rarity, and any personal experiences that differ are coincidental. Rarity makes a huge difference to our perception of looks. I can exemplify what I mean by referring to the Corvette or new Camaro, both of which are beautiful cars but that are also so common now that we as car fanatics are basically just tired of them. One thing about the NSX is that the pictures do it justice; pictures aren't the same obviously, but they never are. The reason is because the NSX has much sharper lines. Most pictures absolutely kill the 8 series, because glare ruins the subtle 300sl-like wheel arches and the 2d of all pictures usually destroys the perfect teardrop shape of the 8 series. The best picture I could find to show the teardrop shape is here: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...1t:429,r:1,s:0

Look at that ass! It is even better when you are directly behind it, and you can really see the shape just perfectly. You have to see it to know what I mean. Another major problems with the pictures is that they take the pictures from the ground so that the kidney grilles are highlighted. On the 850csi which has the front spoiler, the ground pictures are just okay, but these still miss the point. The point of the kidney grilles is to be a sub-theme which identifies the car as a BMW without looking like every other Bimmer. When you are standing next to the car and you're way above the hood, which you are if you're more than 2 feet tall, you'll see that the kidney grilles do in fact as the subtheme that they are meant to be and the beautifully slanted headlights are the real "eyes of the car." One thing I must agree on with the NSX voters is that I do like the look of the NSX lights when they are up more than the 8's. But like others have said, the 8 is all about class and elegance. To someone who knows cars, the 8 is a design marvel. I can tell you that I dislike the look of most BMWs (however, I acknowledge that they are extremely well-engineered cars). The fact that the 8 series, like the M1 and Z1, takes the otherwise obnoxious kidney grilles and puts them down low. No four round headlights on these cars, and not the new generation standard headlights either. Of the three, which all take styling cues from the BMW Turbo concept, the 8 series is the only one to use the centerline hood bulge. You notice that the 8 series does not have the notch coupé look that is overused today. This fact combined with the pillarless windows turns it into a very refined German muscle car, with of course much better handling. There is character in the 8 series design. From the 300sl wheel arches, to the grill, to the teardrop body, to the pillarless windows. This is what the NSX lacks, but I should at least give the NSX the full description that it deserves.

The NSX is a car that screams performance. People saw the 8 and wanted it to perform like a Ferrari, but at a deeper level, the design hinted at more of a grand tourer. The NSX is the opposite. One of the first things you notice is how short it is. It packs a lot of style and flare into a relatively short body. To me, that screams "Get in and go!" There is no doubt that the NSX was a more well-developed and engineered car than the 8 series. They were handbuilt by Honda's finest, and everything was aluminum (even the extremely rigid chassis!) That doesn't mean that the 8 series wasn't put together well. In terms of build quality (build quality not having to do with reliability or that stuff but more of the quality of materials and how well they are PUT TOGETHER- as in how far away from a kit car is it), the two are on par. However, Honda made the NSX to make a point and beat Ferrari on the track, whereas BMW made the 8 series to compete with Mercedes and Porsche on the road. The former took more development and research. It also means that the looks of the NSX come in large part to reflect the performance, whereas the looks of the 8 series emphasize ride quality and comfort. For example, the NSX has a spoiler and door cutouts for a race perfect .32 drag coefficient, optimal for a combination of straights and turns, whereas the 8 has the teardrop for a slippery highway .29 to reduce turbulence and maximize fuel efficiency. And this is where the NSX loses me in terms of LOOKS. In making a race car, Honda made the NSX look similar to other race-type performance cars. For you NSX owners, I'm sure many non-car people will ask you, "Is that a Ferrari?" No visual character- that doesn't mean that it has no character when you turn the key. It's just that visually, it looks like a generic exotic car. The fact that they made the recent Accord have the same tail-light design as the NSX really bums me out too, because that was one thing that I thought was cool and unique about the NSX. But for what it's worth, I think that the NSX is a very noble car. You can say what you want, but it gets the job done. Ferrari guys will tell you that it has no soul, but that's bogus. Ferraris are pretentious and overdone; if they had any soul, it was covered up by the ridiculous embellishments that Ferrari puts on its cars. No visual character is different from no soul. The soul is what's on the inside. And one place where the NSX deserves a lot of credit is in deviating from the standard curved hood Japanese pop ups to a really aggressive straight cut hood. Rx-7s are really cool and unique, but the hood looks to much like a Miata. And of course there's the whole line up of pop up generic Nissan Silvias and early Toyota MRs, so the NSX is really different for a Japanese car. But I'm getting really tired now- don't know what I'm saying.

To sum it up, the 8 series catches my eye in person and as a car enthusiast more than an NSX does

[limepickle]

Good God- I didn't realize how long my post was!

[Jorge]

I'm all for BMWs, and I'd kill for an 850CSi, but the NSX wins this round for me.

[Blake]

850csi all the wai.

[loneStar22]

E31 def has the NSX beat on being a timeless design. im gonna go with the 8 on this one. and bmw technology owns honda. honda wasnt the first with varable timing anyway so why even bring it up? The 300ZX had it when it first came out BEFORE 1989

[Oxer]

E31 def has the NSX beat on being a timeless design. im gonna go with the 8 on this one. and bmw technology owns honda. honda wasnt the first with varable timing anyway so why even bring it up? The 300ZX had it when it first came out BEFORE 1989

Actually, Honda released VTEC in 1986

[Dudermagee]

I created an account just to post in this thread. This discussion is actually very important to me. As many have already stated, the NSX and 8 series are both really nice looking cars, but to me, if we are talking about looks only, the 8 series wins. I've seen an 840ci, 850i, 850ci, and an 850csi (really rare- only 225 imported to the US-I was very lucky to spot one, parked and detailed beautifully in someone's driveway). I've also seen a few NSXs, one that was parked just outside my neighbor's house (he is either a car salesman or some shady mafia guy, because there is a new car outside his house almost everyday). I've had the chance to look at both of them up close, and I certainly looked at them both for a long time. As for rarity in the US, if we are looking at both models as a whole, the NSX is about 1.5 times more common than an 8 series, even less common if we are only talking NA1. It is basically a wash in terms of rarity, and any personal experiences that differ are coincidental. Rarity makes a huge difference to our perception of looks. I can exemplify what I mean by referring to the Corvette or new Camaro, both of which are beautiful cars but that are also so common now that we as car fanatics are basically just tired of them. One thing about the NSX is that the pictures do it justice; pictures aren't the same obviously, but they never are. The reason is because the NSX has much sharper lines. Most pictures absolutely kill the 8 series, because glare ruins the subtle 300sl-like wheel arches and the 2d of all pictures usually destroys the perfect teardrop shape of the 8 series. The best picture I could find to show the teardrop shape is here: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...1t:429,r:1,s:0

Look at that ass! It is even better when you are directly behind it, and you can really see the shape just perfectly. You have to see it to know what I mean. Another major problems with the pictures is that they take the pictures from the ground so that the kidney grilles are highlighted. On the 850csi which has the front spoiler, the ground pictures are just okay, but these still miss the point. The point of the kidney grilles is to be a sub-theme which identifies the car as a BMW without looking like every other Bimmer. When you are standing next to the car and you're way above the hood, which you are if you're more than 2 feet tall, you'll see that the kidney grilles do in fact as the subtheme that they are meant to be and the beautifully slanted headlights are the real "eyes of the car." One thing I must agree on with the NSX voters is that I do like the look of the NSX lights when they are up more than the 8's. But like others have said, the 8 is all about class and elegance. To someone who knows cars, the 8 is a design marvel. I can tell you that I dislike the look of most BMWs (however, I acknowledge that they are extremely well-engineered cars). The fact that the 8 series, like the M1 and Z1, takes the otherwise obnoxious kidney grilles and puts them down low. No four round headlights on these cars, and not the new generation standard headlights either. Of the three, which all take styling cues from the BMW Turbo concept, the 8 series is the only one to use the centerline hood bulge. You notice that the 8 series does not have the notch coupé look that is overused today. This fact combined with the pillarless windows turns it into a very refined German muscle car, with of course much better handling. There is character in the 8 series design. From the 300sl wheel arches, to the grill, to the teardrop body, to the pillarless windows. This is what the NSX lacks, but I should at least give the NSX the full description that it deserves.

The NSX is a car that screams performance. People saw the 8 and wanted it to perform like a Ferrari, but at a deeper level, the design hinted at more of a grand tourer. The NSX is the opposite. One of the first things you notice is how short it is. It packs a lot of style and flare into a relatively short body. To me, that screams "Get in and go!" There is no doubt that the NSX was a more well-developed and engineered car than the 8 series. They were handbuilt by Honda's finest, and everything was aluminum (even the extremely rigid chassis!) That doesn't mean that the 8 series wasn't put together well. In terms of build quality (build quality not having to do with reliability or that stuff but more of the quality of materials and how well they are PUT TOGETHER- as in how far away from a kit car is it), the two are on par. However, Honda made the NSX to make a point and beat Ferrari on the track, whereas BMW made the 8 series to compete with Mercedes and Porsche on the road. The former took more development and research. It also means that the looks of the NSX come in large part to reflect the performance, whereas the looks of the 8 series emphasize ride quality and comfort. For example, the NSX has a spoiler and door cutouts for a race perfect .32 drag coefficient, optimal for a combination of straights and turns, whereas the 8 has the teardrop for a slippery highway .29 to reduce turbulence and maximize fuel efficiency. And this is where the NSX loses me in terms of LOOKS. In making a race car, Honda made the NSX look similar to other race-type performance cars. For you NSX owners, I'm sure many non-car people will ask you, "Is that a Ferrari?" No visual character- that doesn't mean that it has no character when you turn the key. It's just that visually, it looks like a generic exotic car. The fact that they made the recent Accord have the same tail-light design as the NSX really bums me out too, because that was one thing that I thought was cool and unique about the NSX. But for what it's worth, I think that the NSX is a very noble car. You can say what you want, but it gets the job done. Ferrari guys will tell you that it has no soul, but that's bogus. Ferraris are pretentious and overdone; if they had any soul, it was covered up by the ridiculous embellishments that Ferrari puts on its cars. No visual character is different from no soul. The soul is what's on the inside. And one place where the NSX deserves a lot of credit is in deviating from the standard curved hood Japanese pop ups to a really aggressive straight cut hood. Rx-7s are really cool and unique, but the hood looks to much like a Miata. And of course there's the whole line up of pop up generic Nissan Silvias and early Toyota MRs, so the NSX is really different for a Japanese car. But I'm getting really tired now- don't know what I'm saying.

To sum it up, the 8 series catches my eye in person and as a car enthusiast more than an NSX does

TL;DR

Actually, Honda released VTEC in 1986

coolstorybro.jpg, but needs moar vtak

[loneStar22]

Actually, Honda released VTEC in 1986

either way they didnt 'create' variable valve timing, so the whole argument is invalid

[stacson]

Actually, Honda released VTEC in 1986

Sorry but honda still wasnt first to have this type of technology. Afla Romeos TwinSpark 2.0 that was eventually used in the 164 was the first and they have been developing the technology way before Honda and is a fact in the books. There was another car company to pioneer the idea too but I am sure it was not Honda.

Just another car enthusiast contributing to info

Also E31
The NSX fits the average cookie cutter super car "engine in the back" look and the Japs have not been none to really design exactly "style evoking" automobiles.

An 850 has more timeless beauty and now a days but auto enthusiast is considere an automotive art like the Hispano- Suiza and the Lanci Fulvia. Its body contains all aspects of what a proper GT should have from the extending swage lines to the bister fender aches and low slung cocpit.
It only looks like something that the italian would put there soul into building but with Munich quality.

The NSX is great looking for a purpose sports car but its more of a purpose sports car that a stylish gt tourer. GTs are meant to overly beautiful, look at Italian and some british cars of the day.

NSX is great and a proper sports car but then japs alway left some to be had in the styling department and would be only fair not to compare these too as being Munichs finest and already in the hisotry books as well as a supreme cult classic the E31 will win

Just a little opinion

[VR.G2]

The 2nd gen NSX-R with the non-pop out headlights for sure. Otherwise the 850. But once the headlights pop out on the 850, yuck.

[Devildog0341]

850csi wins it for me but then again I am a German car lunatic.

[righteousrags88]

Those 8 series look like Ford Probes. Acura for me

[motorsport_stance]

What a coincidence, an NSX pulled up the other day next to my buddies 840ci.
The 8 takes it for me, I'm a straight BMW guy and the Honda just doesn't do it specially after looking at the badge it feels like another ordinary Honda regardless of the cheap quality put into all the parts.