Honda NSX

	Honda NSX
	Debut: 2016 Maker: Honda Predecessor: NSX (Mk1)

Published on 23 Oct 2016

26 years ago, Honda stunned the world by introducing Japan's first supercar, NSX. Featuring a lightweight all-aluminum chassis, mid-engined layout, high-revving VTEC motor and electric power steering, it was renowned for agile handling, easy control and everyday practicality. Honda sold 18,000 units in the next 15 years. However, the road leading to the second generation NSX has been a lot rougher than expected. Honda kickstarted the project in 2007. It was supposed to be a very different car – a front-engined GT powered by a high-revving V10. Running prototypes had been developed and extensively tested, but the project was eventually cancelled due to economic reasons. Meanwhile, Toyota leapfrogged it and introduced Lexus LFA.

In 2011, the NSX project was resurrected. It returned to its roots of mid-engined layout and V6 power, but this time it was added with electrification which also enabled AWD and torque vectoring. The design prototype was displayed in Hollywood movie The Avengers and then the 2012 Detroit motor show. Somehow, Honda kept changing its mechanical design during the development. To improve balance, its V6 engine was repositioned from transverse to longitudinal mounting. To fight with more powerful rivals, the V6 was added with twin-turbochargers. Then it needed a strengthened chassis to contain everything. These changes caused further delay. Finally, after 9 years of development, the second generation NSX goes on sale in late 2016. How much money was spent in total? Honda won't tell, but it must be substantial. I guess it could beat Bugatti Veyron to be the most expensive supercar project ever completed.

It could be the most expensive supercar project ever completed.

With that in mind, you might be less critical to its high price. The new NSX starts at $160K in the US or £140K in the UK. Add carbon-ceramic brakes, track tires, carbon-fiber kits and a few options, it can easily top $200K or £170K, more than Audi R8 V10 Plus, Porsche 911 Turbo S or even McLaren 570S! While the Japanese supercar is no longer as bargain as it used to be, it offers more ingredients than anyone else in its class, because until now it is the only one running hybrid power and front-wheel electric torque vectoring – BMW i8 is not considered to be in the same performance league, and it does not have front-wheel torque vectoring. Think a poor man's 918 Spyder and it won't be far off.

Thankfully, it gets the supercar look to match its price. While it doesn’t look as dramatic as a Ferrari 488 or Lamborghini Huracan, it is stylish in its own right. The wedge, razor-sharp design, especially the blade-like C-pillar intakes, gives it the necessary aggression to catch your attention without looking familiar. Meanwhile, the low bonnet and large windscreen are reminiscent of the original NSX. It might have been even better if it brought back also the wraparound rear window, but I am convinced that the current arrangement benefits weight and chassis rigidity. My only reservation is the rear end – the 3 meshed air outlets, diffuser and exhaust lack styling at all, looking as if the designers ran out of time to finish the detailed design. Surprisingly, the car was designed and developed by the American operation of Honda, although the hybrid powertrain was developed in Japan HQ. Even more surprising, its assembly takes place at the Marysville plant in Ohio, USA, where Accord and TLX are produced. Production rate is about 1500 units a year.

The new NSX is sized very close to Audi R8, i.e. wide, low but relatively short, thanks to the minimal rear overhang. At 1204 mm tall, it is even lower than the Audi, virtually matching McLaren 570S. As for aerodynamics, the company declines to reveal its drag coefficient and downforce figures, just saying it "achieves top-class aerodynamic balance and supercar aerodynamic downforce". Considering no active aerodynamic devices are employed, and there are as many as 10 radiators to cool (thanks to hybrid system), I suppose it is wise not to reveal those figures. Admittedly, the NSX tops only 191 mph, unlike its rivals which are all qualified for the 200-mph Club, so aerodynamic efficiency is less important.

Its chassis is a spaceframe construction made of multiple materials. While most of it are cast, extruded or stamped aluminum, the floorpan is reinforced by carbon-fiber, and the structural parts at A-pillars are made of rectangular-section ultra-high-strength steel, which are thinner than equivalent aluminum thus benefit visibility. The body shell is made of aluminum sheets (bonnet, roof, doors and engine lid) and sheet molding compound, or otherwise known as glass-fiber reinforced plastics (fenders and boot lid). The optional carbon-fiber kits will convert the roof, engine lid, front splitters, side skirts, boot spoiler and diffuser to the lighter material. Even so, the car still tips the scale at close to 1.8 tons, which is at least 200 kg more than an R8, 250 kg more than 911 Turbo S and 350 kg heavier than the carbon-rich McLaren! Even if you take the 160 kg worth of battery and electrical components out of the equation, the Honda is not going to be praised for weight control.

However, highlight of the car should be its powertrain. Thankfully, the mid-mounted, 3493 c.c. V6 is not derived from the SOHC unit employed by Honda’s sedans and SUVs. It is a bespoke design with dry-sump lubrication to lower center of gravity, and a unique 75-degree V-angle, which lowers center of gravity again compared with conventional 60-degree design. Moreover, it reduces crankpin splay angle from 60 to 45 degrees, enabling a stronger and lighter crankshaft. The crankshaft and con-rods are made of forged steel, but the pistons are cast aluminum. The bore is coated with plasma-transferred arc spray to reduce friction. The DOHC cylinder heads feature dual-variable cam phasing but not VTEC anymore, sadly. The fuel injection combines direct injection and port injection. The V6 has a nearly square combustion chamber design, with 91 mm bore and 89.5 mm stroke. Even so, it redlines at 7500 rpm, pretty high for a turbocharged motor. The twin-turbo arrangement is conventional, one serving a bank of cylinder and having its own intercooler. It does not have variable geometry turbines like Porsche, but it runs a lighter boost pressure at 1.05 bar. Moreover, the turbo lag at lower down the rev is fully masked by the electric motors, so it should feel like a large naturally aspirated V12.

The V6 alone produces 507 horsepower from 6500 rpm until the redline, while maximum torque of 406 lbft is delivered between 2000 and 6000 rpm. Note that Nissan GT-R’s engine remains the most powerful V6 built in Japan, with up to 600 horsepower in Nismo spec. Nevertheless, the Honda V6 is partnered with a better gearbox – a 9-speed dual-clutch transaxle. Not only this is the world’s first sports car with 9 forward ratios, but its gearshift is far smoother than the brutal Nissan transaxle, mainly because the 9-speeder is mounted right behind the engine, whereas GT-R’s gearbox is mounted at the opposite axle.

Think a poor man's 918 Spyder and it won't be far off.

The so-called Sports Hybrid SH-AWD system owes a lot to that of the flagship RLX sedan. The basic design is the same, just in reversed position. An electric motor sandwiching between the V6 and gearbox provides up to 48 hp and 109 lbft of torque to the rear axle, or acts as generator to recapture energy from braking. At the front axle, there are 2 electric motors, each drive one wheel to provide AWD as well as torque vectoring. As demonstrated by Porsche 918 Spyder, this could enhance its agility a lot and belie the weight of the car. Each front motor is rated at 37 hp and 54 lbft. They are geared to work up to 124 mph. Beyond that, the NSX reverts to rear-drive.

Total system output is 581 horsepower and 476 pound-foot of torque. It roughly matches McLaren, Audi and 911 Turbo S but fails to set new standards even before you consider its extra weight. By the way, Porsche 918 Spyder, is 50 percent more powerful again.

Juice of the electric motors comes from the Lithium-ion battery pack located behind the seats. It looks big enough, but actually its capacity is only 1.3 kWh, compared with 6.8 kWh on Porsche 918 Spyder or 7.1 kWh on BMW i8. No wonder the system offers neither plug-in charging nor a true zero-emission mode. Between the seats and in the central tunnel is the power inverter which converts DC to AC voltage to drive the motors. Despite the front motors and the optimum positions of battery and inverter, the NSX’s front to rear weight distribution is 42:58, the same as McLaren 570S.

Like most modern sports cars, the NSX rides on double-wishbone front suspensions and multi-link rear suspensions with forged aluminum control arms and cast aluminum knuckles. Each corner is served with magnetorheological adaptive dampers, which vary stiffness within 2 predefined ranges – a softer range for Quiet and Sport mode, and a stiffer range for Sport+ and Track mode. These modes also alter the powertrain, gearbox, steering and stability control settings, of course.

Since the original NSX already employed electrical power steering so many years ago, there is no way to revert to hydraulic setup like McLaren, Ferrari or Aston. It is a dual-pinion design with variable ratio, which gets faster with more lock applied, but it avoids the notorious active steering that Audi used.

The standard brakes use floating steel discs (with aluminum hubs) measuring 370 mm up front and 361 mm at the rear, clamped by Brembo 6-pot and 4-pot calipers respectively. The optional carbon-ceramic brakes are just marginally larger (380 mm) up front and keep the same size at the back. Wrapping around them are 245/35ZR19 and 305/30ZR20 rubbers. Strangely, Honda offers 3 choices: the standard street tires are Continental, while track day visitors may opt for stickier but short-lived Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R or ultimately Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, as on Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

To make sure the NSX rides and handles well, Honda put it to extensive testing at Nurburgring, Autobahn and the mountain passes in Alps. It also bought a Ferrari 458, Audi R8, 911 Turbo and GT3 to benchmark it. A pity the currently class-leading GT3 RS and McLaren 570S were not available then.

The most disappointing aspect of the NSX has to be its interior. The dashboard and door panels are full of cheap shinny plastics and very fake-looking fake alloys that would have been deemed disgraceful in a £30,000 Audi TT, let alone something 5 times the price. Its styling is not much better, more akin to an Acura SUV than a super sportscar. The part-leather, part-Alcantara bucket seats, while being comfortable and supportive enough, don’t look very classy. On the plus side, you enter the cabin with relative ease compared with a McLaren, thanks to slimmer and lower door sills and conventionally hinged doors. The cabin is also wider than the McLaren, as its spaceframe chassis consumes less space than a carbon-fiber tub. However, compared with Audi R8 and especially Porsche 911, the NSX’s headroom is more limited. There is not much in-cabin storage space either – the glovebox is small, no cubbies for small stuffs, and there is absolutely no space left behind the rear seats, not even for a small brief case. By the way, the boot behind the engine compartment is also very small. Practicality fails to match the original NSX.

You sit low in the NSX as the seat has no height adjustment. Despite that, the driving position is fundamentally good, while visibility is excellent through the large windscreen, if not a match of the original car. The steering wheel looks a bit cheap and the gearshift paddles behind feel plasticky. The instrument is TFT but the graphics are not particularly sophisticated. Most offensive is the Civic-sourced touchscreen infotainment system, which is unresponsive and cumbersome to use. Honda still needs to learn how to do supercar business.

However, to drive, the NSX is much better.

On the Road

Like all hybrids, the NSX offers multiple driving modes. It always starts at Quiet mode, which is rather superfluous because the small battery has juice for only one or two miles. Beyond that, it automatically fires up the engine, although it will keep the latter running below 4000 rpm. Sport mode is equally misleading because it actually reads “comfort” or “normal” in our dictionary. This means the true sport mode is Sport+. It frees up the engine, opens up the exhaust noise, speeds up the gearbox, weighs up the steering and firms up the suspension. Track mode turns up the throttle response and gearshift further while loosening stability control without disabling it completely.

The V6 starts with no drama, idling silently as if a luxury car engine. Plant the throttle and you are surprised with its immediate response. That’s the effect of electric motors! With the instant electric torque, its power delivery is more linear than anything turbocharged. The car accelerates rapidly, if not as brutally as the McLaren due to its extra 350 kilos of burden. Road tests confirmed this feeling – the NSX needs 3.1 seconds to sprint from rest to 60 mph even though Honda implied sub-3. This is already a bit slower than the McLaren, let alone the 4-wheel-drive 911 Turbo S, R8 V10 Plus and Nissan GT-R. The gap grows further at higher speeds. It takes just over 7 seconds to reach 100 mph, at least half a second adrift of its rivals. As its front motors give up beyond 120 mph, the defeat becomes even more noticeable. By 150 mph, it is already 2, 3 and 4 seconds slower than the Audi, Porsche and McLaren respectively. Make no mistake, the NSX is very fast, but it is GT-R-fast rather than exotic-fast.

Thanks to the impeccable integration of electric power, the V6 rarely gets noticed. At lower revs it sounds subdued and nothing special. Above 4000 rpm it starts singing more freely, but even so it is a hollow growl mixed with turbo wastegate whoosh, not as soulful as an Italian V8 or as spine-tingling as an AMG V8. Most telling, the VTEC V6 of the old NSX sounded sportier.

The NSX is very fast, but it is GT-R-fast rather than exotic-fast.

No complaints for the 9-speed DCT. In fact, it is as good as Porsche PDK, serving fast yet seamless gearshifts. How is this achievable? The answer is using the rear electric motor to speed up the engine to rev-match during downshifts. Clever.

Despite its sheer weight, the NSX is surprisingly agile and precise in corners. Again thanks must go to the individual motor serving each front wheel, and you have to praise the flawless calibration of the system. The electric power steering might be short of tactile communication, but it guides the nose precisely, while its weighting and speed are just about perfect. In Sport+ mode or beyond, the car turns into corner sharply, displaying neither understeer nor oversteer because the responsive front motors are always looking after the cornering attitude. The magnetorheological suspensions keep the car rock steady in corners, although their softer setting is too soft for committed drive, while the stiffer setting returns less ride composure than the 911 or 570S, especially on mountain roads – after all, they have too much load to take care of.

The standard Continental tires don’t generate world-class grip though. They are the achilles’ heels of the NSX, no wonder most test cars offered to motoring journalists wore the optional Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R rubbers. The latter are not as durable or weather-proof, of course, but find a clean track and they impress immediately with strong grip and superior lap time. The balance is also altered. With Continentals, the NSX would understeer moderately at the limit (no such problem on roads though). With Pirelli and the driving mode set to Track, it runs much more neutral, sometimes even with a hint of oversteer. Normally the NSX does not encourage powerslide because its stability control doesn't stand large slip angles. However, should you turn off the stability control and trail brake at the limit, you might swing its heavy tail sideway quite massively, which reveals one of the vices of the NSX: it is not designed for track abuse. Well, no cars weighing as much should be subjected to track abuse.

The last mentionable element is braking, which is simply superb. Hybrid cars with regenerative braking have no reasons to brake with such a linearity and good pedal feel. The NSX achieves that with brake pressure simulator, which calculates the necessary feedback and uses an electric motor to push back the pedal. The steel brakes are powerful enough for road use, while ceramic brakes should receive no complaints on track days.

Conclusion

The new NSX has a big shoe to fill. As its predecessor was so widely acclaimed, expectation for the new car is unusually high. In spite of so many years spent and so much money invested in its development, it cannot quite repeat the accomplishment of the old car. While it is world-class in most important areas, it does not set any new standards like the original. The hybrid powertrain is neither plug-in nor inclusive a true EV mode, so it is not going to be a green supercar like Porsche 918 or BMW i8. As the chief function of its electrification is to enhance performance and handling, we have no choice but to compare it with conventional rivals like Porsche 911 Turbo S, Audi R8 V10 Plus or McLaren 570S. The NSX fails to match the performance of these cars, or the agility and involvement of McLaren, the practicality and all-round ability of Porsche, the build quality and engine noise of Audi, or the pure driving experience of 911 GT3 RS. If it were as bargain as the original NSX used to be, it would have been still considered a winner. As it is not, it becomes just another choice of the highly competitive segment. Even in the context of Japanese sports cars, it is no greater than Nissan GT-R and the late Lexus LFA.

As for technological innovation, it does not break any new ground from 918 Spyder. Still, after more than 10 years of wait and all those messes in development, it is a relieve that Honda has finally managed to bring back the NSX. Its persistence and commitment are already worth applause.

Verdict:

Published on 8 Oct 2022

NSX Type S

Subtle improvement for final edition

Time flies, 6 years have gone since the launch of the second generation NSX, and now it is time to say goodbye. Sadly, there won’t be a direct successor in sight, because the car has never been a business success. In the first 5 years, just over 2500 cars were sold. Take into account the last 350 units of Type S slated to be built until early next year as farewell edition, the total will be just over 3000 cars. For comparison, Lamborghini built 2,586 Huracans last year alone even though commanding higher prices.

Understandably, the Type S is only a subtle improvement from the existing car. Exterior revision is limited to the new, sharper fascia. Its V6 engine gets a pair of new turbos for slightly higher boost (lifted from 1.05 to 1.1 bar), in addition to more efficient intercooler and higher flow fuel injectors, raises horsepower from 507 to 527, and torque from 406 to 443 pound-foot. Meanwhile, the 3-motor hybrid system is unchanged in hardware, only recalibrated to match the engine power curve and software update to squeeze out more usable capacity from the tiny battery. Combined output is improved equally slightly, from 581 to 608 horsepower, and from 476 to 492 lbft.

The 9-speed dual-clutch transmission has been recalibrated to shift 50 percent faster in more aggressive modes. It is also made more eager to downshift during braking.

Various chassis control systems are said to be recalibrated, but too subtle to be described. Hardware changes are limited to slightly wider tracks (+10mm front and +20mm rear) yet they are implemented by offsetting the wheels rather than any new suspension components. Tire sizes are unchanged, too, although the new Pirelli P-Zeros have bespoke compounds. You may opt for lightweight package, which uses ceramic brakes and carbon-fiber engine cover to shave 26kg. Even so equipped, the Type S weighs virtually the same as the old car.

The Type S takes 2.9 seconds to go from 0-60 and 6.7 seconds to 100 mph. That might be a tad quicker than the old car, but in the context of nowadays’ supercars, is unremarkable. You don’t need a Ferrari or McLaren or Lamborghini to beat it, but a Porsche 911 Turbo S will do so easily – and we are talking about a gap of more than 1 second at the 100 mph mark, which is huge. Even a rear-drive, naturally aspirated 911 GT3 will run it neck to neck. The NSX is just too heavy and not potent enough by today’s standards.

Yes, its torque-vectoring electric front axle still gives it incisive turn-in. There is not much wrong in the way it steers, corners and brakes. It is just not spectacular enough, lacking the sharp handling of Porsche GT3, the speed of Ferrari 296GTB, the sensational noise of Lamborghini V10 or the sweet steering of McLaren. It is a very complicated piece of engineering art, but not necessarily the most thrilling to drive. The interior still lets down for a car costing north of $170K. That’s why it has to retire.

Verdict: