deutschland-dobson

It seems like an odd move, but I too jumped from an RX7 to the 964.

The build quality was the big benefit of RX7 vs 964 for me.

The RX7 was quick, mine was tuned to about 310bhp with little effort, but you couldnt rely on the car. The ride was hard, the turbo rats nest a nightmare and the trips home on the back of a recovery truck embarasing. 18 months before selling i'd had to pay for an engine re-build and replacement turbo pack. About £5,500 GBP.

Total change when owning the 964. The car feels planted on the road and handling is great, although the car will never be as quick or as easy to tune.

There is plenty opportunity to personalise your 964, which I loved coming from the RX7, where every car is different.

If it were me i'd get out there and drive a couple and make your decision from that

Becasuse everyone loves a photo...

Chris

Scotty Dosent Know

Chris, I know the rotary heart break all to well lol My first car was an 83 with the 12a in it. I have had 8 RX7s total over the years. The N/A ones treated me good but the modified turbo cars just dont last.....maybe now that there are better tuning solutions for the cars it would be a different story(sold the last one in 2004). I have had FC's and FD's but the FC's are my favorite.....apparently im a sucker for early 90's cars. After several rebuilds and to many trips home on a tow truck to count I was done.

I really want a car that is as fun to drive as my RX7's were, but with out the constant problems.

I have not seen one of those RE Amemiya front ends in years! lol

deutschland-dobson

Sold my FD about 4.5 years ago now, so things may well have improved.

I didnt want to sound too down on the reliability of the rotary, just new it was time to sell once the big bills started to come in. The 964 is in another league however. Build quality is perfect. I've only broken down once, and thats due to me not re-fitting my alternator corectly after powder coating fan and housing.

My old car was chock-full of RE-A kit, including the RE Amemiya AC037 front end. Not to everyones taste, but she was the only one in the UK and did me well at shows

Chris

BigMikeATL

It is what it is. I've been a car guy my entire life ranging from 60's muscle cars to tuner cars, to sport bikes, to Harleys. I just never accepted the NSX into my realm of something I'd want to drive.

The NSX is sort of like the Harley wannabe guys that ride metric cruisers. It kinda of looks like Harley, kinda sorta sounds like a Harley, but at the end of the day, it's still a Honda.

I've driven a few Ferrari's that friends of mine owned and if I wanted a Ferrari, I wouldn't buy an NSX thinking my car was in the same class as a Ferrari.

I have no illusion that the C2/C4 964 is the best sports car of the early 90's. That is reserved for the '94 Turbo 3.6 IMO.

Good luck with your decision. You have to buy what you will enjoy driving.

BillyB

I love my 964 but I'd also love an NSX to sit along side it

pmohr993

Scotty, my 12 hour drive was exhausting. i have to say that a 5-6 hour trip probably would be fine, but after that it got tiring. i drove it straight with only down time to gas up and grab a quick bite. i love the 964 and am looking forward to doing most of the maintenance myself. the interior is simple but it works and is relatively comfortable for being a 20+ old sports car. take some rides in one and you'll understand quickly what everyone tries to describe!

Jaye Bass

I bought mine a month or so ago. It was a low mileage car at less than 38K miles when I purchased it. I have two other vehicles so I fully intended the 964 as a low mileage fun car. However, I can't seem to make myself pick of the keys to my TDI or Miata anymore. I suppose I will sell both and DD the 964. Its a wonderful car with a ton of character. Which is what I wanted - character. Cause frankly I could have afforded all sorts of Vettes, M3's and 997's but in the end, while being great cars, they are just competent sports cars. Driving an air cooled 911 is more of an event with so many different sensations (the feeling of the weight in the rear, the noise, the iconic flat 5 gauge dash, etc.) that the experience treads lightly into the transcendent.

BLACK-BETTY

Gorgeous RX7 Chris!

PelicanParts.com

Great discussion guys!

Chris, your old FD with the RE Amemiya AC037 front end looks pretty good my friend! Glad you're enjoying the 964.

Mark/Pelican Parts

KaiB

Perhaps this will help. Nothing frumpy here.

deutschland-dobson

Thanks folks, but back to the OP...

Scotty, just checked the price of NSXs on UK classified site pistonheads. The cheapest one was close to £25k GBP!

That would buy a cracking 964 bud

Then save to tune her like Kai

Chris

Scotty Dosent Know

Thanks, and yeah I bet that 12 hour drive got old after a while. I have driven cross country a few times (Seattle to Charleston) and it always starts off fun lol

Just out of curiosity how much did you pay and do you think you got a good deal? You can PM me if you dont want to post on here. I wish I could just daily a fun car, I used to with my RX-7's when younger but I have 2 big dogs and Mtn bikes and kayaks etc lol It is nice to know that people feel the car is daily-able though.


Yes it seems prices of NSX's are higher. Anything below $30K is going to have higher miles or need some work. Once you get up to $35K though you should be able to get a car well taken care of with under 75K miles. Once you get into 1997 and up prices are quite a bit higher as they come with a bump in displacement and a 6 speed. $45K and up seems to be going price for those cars.

There are not many 964's for sale here right now, atleast that I can find. Looking around the country though it seems $25k should buy me something pretty nice, no? I would like the car to have under 100k miles and well taken care of. I see some though dealers though and they want an arm and a leg.


Also it seems that there are more 4S cars for sale. Dont know if thats because there are more of them or people trying to sell due to awd problems. I had a V70R Volvo and awd systems can have expensive issues with those cars. Currently have a WRX as a daily though and AWD seems to be pretty bullet proof in those cars.

Is the 4S full time awd or does it send power to the front when rears slip?

boxsey911

It's interesting to see some folk mention that an NSX and F348 are supposedly much quicker than a 964. I guess that on pure facts and figures published at the time these cars were introduced, that might have been true. However, if we fast forward 20 years it has become plainly obvious that the 964 can be made much quicker than the stock car. And I'm not talking about any power upgrades. Updating the suspension, exhaust and a mild weight reduction program can transform it into a significantly quicker car than stock.

To illustrate this I picked up some useful data from a club race meeting at Silverstone where both Porsche and Ferrari clubs were racing on the same day. Separately unfortunately! Although they were in race trim, neither club allows power upgrades and weights have to be close to original factory spec. The best qualifying times on the Silverstone Historic GP circuit layout (3.14 miles) were:

Porsche 964C2 - 2.19
Ferrari 360 challenge - 2.20
Ferrari 355 challenge - 2.22
Ferrari 328GTB - 2.32
nb. There were no 348s racing so I have no data for those.

Although times will be dependent on driver ability, I thought it was quite interesting how quick the 964 was compared to similar age and younger F cars.

bigunit_271078

Boxsey just confess. That was your C2 and your lap time! ;p

jotaking

Really interesting discussion.

It's always going to be a 964 on this forum

NSX was, and still is a showcase for Honda; impeccably engineered and IMHO a superb piece of eastern exotica. If your into the Japanese scene then I think you would have the holly grail in the NSX.

I have never had the privilege of driving one, however I would assume that the experience would be somewhat sanitised when compared to the RAW, seat of the pants drive of the 964.

I love mine and would only swap it for another, I have never driven anything that puts it down like the 964. Although I am a novice and not a speed demon you don't need to be going fast to feal like a racing driver. Oodles of grip, plenty of pace with great chuckability....and a great 964 forum to boot!

What are waiting for?

Good luck with your decision.

Not that I'm biased