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Animals. That’s what’s missing from this test. There are three badges on display here and there is not a horse or a bull among them. A decade ago, it would have been all but unthinkable to have what is, let’s be clear, one of the most exciting supercar tests of the year without the presence of a Porsche, Ferrari or Lamborghini. I’ll grant you that the entry price to this test is lower than many supercar group tests, but know one thing before the reckoning starts: it's none the worse, and no less exciting, for the absence of the traditional establishment.
The Honda NSX, then, is back. And everyone, apparently, knows it. I wouldn’t normally mention stuff like this, because it feels self-indulgent and in no way scientific, but in (cough)-teen years of doing this gig, I’ve never known three cars to garner such a positive reaction. When driving a Ferrari or a hot Porsche 911 for a few days, I’d expect to be called a knob half a dozen times or more. But in spite of, or perhaps because of, the fact that there are no cars here from manufacturers who are traditional targets of resentment and jealousy, during two days in Wales the interest – and positivity – was stratospheric. Put it this way: I have never before been followed for five miles by four lads in a Vauxhall Corsa all to film a Honda.
Maybe it’s because two of these badges don’t have barriers. If you can afford a banger, a battered old Civic or 3 Series Compact is within your reach. Although a McLaren wouldn't be, and although it will be familiar to you, dear reader, and to me, McLaren still feels very ‘new’ to the public.
Besides, it's British and this one is orange, which always helps. It’s a 570S, which is one of McLaren’s increasing range of entry-level supercars. Costing £143,250, it’s only a tad more expensive than the £137,950 NSX, and the similarities don’t end there. The 570S’s twin-turbocharged, mid-mounted 3.8-litre V8 engine gets 563bhp. The NSX’s total output is a not-too-dissimilar 573bhp, although it goes about it in a different way. A mid-mounted twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 accounts for 500bhp of its total, while a 48bhp electric motor assists at the rear and two 37bhp motors help out at the front. Not all make peak power is made at the same time, hence 573bhp, not 622bhp.
If all of that complexity sounds weighty, it is. The NSX, despite having only two seats and composite bodywork over its aluminium chassis, weighs a claimed 1725kg. The carbonfibre-tubbed McLaren, with mostly aluminium bodywork, tipped our road test scales earlier this year at 1445kg.
And that’s without the NSX’s battery having the same level of reserves as that of the BMW i8, which is the car most unlike the other two here. In fact, calling it a supercar is misleading – both overselling and underselling it in equal measure. The £104,540 BMW is a plug-in hybrid GT/sports car. On electric power alone, it has a range of about 20 miles. The Honda rarely goes 20 seconds on electric power only; its motors are there for performance enhancement. But even with a 7.1kWh battery to haul around, the BMW weighed just 1575kg when we stuck it on our scales, despite having +2 rear seats, which the other two do not.
That weight is partly because both the i8's body and tub are of carbonfibre composite, and partly because instead of having a grunty V6 or V8 in its middle, it has a 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine from a Mini. That develops 228bhp and drives the rear wheels, and it is augmented by a 129bhp electric motor driving the front wheels. As a result, it develops ‘only’ 357bhp and appears undernourished in this company. However, given that everyone has a smartphone or dashcam and a YouTube account these days, there’s hardly a time on the road when 357bhp is not plenty to be getting on with.
Besides, there’s so much more to the i8 than simply its performance set-up. As we concluded in our road test in 2014, there is not a more interesting car on sale today. At least, there wasn’t then; the NSX here might change that. The i8 is a fine GT car, with a steady ride quality and a dead-straight seating position inside a cabin that’s ensconcing and futuristic yet reassuringly familiar from other BMWs, with great ergonomics and an easy-to-use infotainment system.
It all serves to make the i8 a fabulous everyday sports car. Its steering is light and remote by sports car standards, but oily smooth and deadly responsive and accurate. The noise of its heavily boosted turbocharged engine is augmented through the speakers, so it sounds gruntier than a three-pot, and it responds that way, too – because as soon as you ask for acceleration, the electric motor at the front provides it while the turbo engine at the back spools. And yet despite all of this electronic smoke and mirrors, the i8 still feels organically involving and natural. As a way to make electric propulsion feel not just completely integrated but genuinely enjoyable, BMW ranks alongside Tesla as an industry benchmark.
McLaren did it pretty well, too, mind, but the P1 cost nearly a million quid. Conveniently for the 570S, it looks a bit like the P1, so passing punters frequently mistake it for a far more expensive car than it is. No, you explain, it only has its 8000rpm petrol engine to be getting along with, but this is no great hardship.
And it isn’t. McLaren puts the 570S into its Sports rather than Super Series of cars, but there’s nothing un-supercar about it. Even its idle is loud and angry, and although its low-speed ride has a more than acceptable level of compliance, and visibility and the driving position are spot on, you’re always aware of the 570S’s latent purpose. Even around town, the steering, still hydraulically rather than electrically assisted, bristles with lovely, subtly filtered information. The (optional) fixedback bucket seats this example came with hold you upright and grip you firmly, and the steering wheel can be brought rally-car close.
Given that it weighs so much less than the Honda, it’s no surprise that in this company the 570S feels the most agile and is the most responsive to steering inputs, even though, at 2.5 turns lock to lock, it wants more than half a turn more than the Honda to go from one stop to the other. On country roads, it rides bumps and cambers with firmness but no harshness, and with phenomenal levels of body control. The 570S does without the fancy hydraulically linked suspension of the more expensive 650S but still breathes easily. I’d love to see how quickly the wheels work to hold the body this flat. When crests, dips, bumps and tree roots finally upset the road to the extent that it troubles the McLaren’s traction, in any of its chassis/ powertrain modes (there are various and they remain too complicated to access) the 570S’s traction and stability control is a model of discretion. Crucially, all the while, it feels like a supercar. It goes like one, stops like one, sounds like one and, by gum, it corners like one. It’s an invigorating, honest, immersive, analogue experience.
Is it unfair to expect the Honda to be the same? This is a car designed mostly in the US and part of its remit is to appeal to the wealthy retired people of Palm Springs as transport from house to golf club. So it has conventional doors rather than dihedral ones like the other two cars, and low sills (but a low roof, too), and the widest, most accommodating seats of the three. You can see out well: it has a low scuttle, and although the mirrors make it extremely wide (2217mm), the 1940mm-wide body is only a bit bigger than the 1915mm 570S’s, so it never feels unwieldy on the road.
The driving position is sound, although it’s less racy than the McLaren's and more airy than the BMW's. Interior materials are fine, but the abundance of shiny plastics makes you aware there’s more Japan/US than Europe in here. A big dial that would be better suited to assisting the hopeless infotainment touchscreen shifts between the drive modes. The NSX starts in Sport mode, but Sport+ and Track are a twist in one direction, Quiet in the other, altering between two damper settings, two steering weights and even more powertrain/ gearshift settings. The dual-clutch automatic gearbox has nine ratios to the McLaren’s seven and BMW’s six, but ninth is very long and first won’t select until you’re stationary, so really you get seven to punch along with.
Fail to use them all vigorously and the NSX just feels pleasingly brisk. Asking a 3.5-litre engine to produce 500bhp means there’s some turbo lag, but the electric motors mask it well, to the extent that acceleration is linear and smooth. Aside from a little brittleness around town (and a dozen phones pointing at you at all times), the NSX makes a convincing daily supercar. Its steering, 1.9 turns between locks, is far less hyperactive than a Ferrari’s rack of similar speed, and it’s medium weighted with good self-centring. The brakes are by-wire (to regenerate charge in the batteries) but have a similarly reassuring, natural feel.
However, this is a supercar test, remember. So feel free to ask more of the NSX. If you do, it delivers. Honda’s development team had surprisingly little experience of developing sports cars but, even so, they’ve done a magnificent job here. Neither suspension mode is too harsh for the road, but the softer setting is better on British back roads. Body control is terrific, and because there is torque going to both front and rear, traction is magnificent.
At lower revs, the Honda feels less urgent than the McLaren – blame the kerb weight for that one, I suspect – but if you get towards the V6’s 7500rpm redline, it’s eye-poppingly fast and manically responsive. There’s moderate feel to the steering – more than the BMW gives, less than the McLaren – and handling that never strays beyond engaging and grippy, slightly rearbiased but never lurid like an Aston Martin or Mercedes-AMG might be. It’s incisive and rewarding, and only unexpectedly fast throttle response on occasion (likely an electric motor giving you what it thinks you want) makes it feel anything less than natural and organic.
Where, ultimately, does it sit in this company, then? Both the 570S and NSX feel more serious driver’s propositions than the BMW, but that’s no criticism of the i8 in itself. The i8 is still a uniquely appealing, uniquely fascinating car, and cheaper to buy and run than both of the others. That it competes as a driver’s car at all in this company, given that it has 20 miles of electric range to lug around with it, is a triumph.
But the Honda and McLaren are sports cars of the highest order. That, ultimately, the McLaren is more engaging, exciting, urgent and agile, that it feels more ‘supercar’ than the NSX, gives it the win in what is, after all, a sports car group test. But the gap is small and there are a lot of times when the NSX is at least as appealing. Times when you’d have a strop on a back road, a long cruise on a motorway, and get out at the end knowing you’d driven one of the most interesting, engaging and capable sports cars of modern times. You’d get out, look back and have not one iota of regret about the choice you’ve made. No question, the NSX is back.
Is it unfair to expect the Honda to be the same? This is a car designed mostly in the US and part of its remit is to appeal to the wealthy retired people of Palm Springs as transport from house to golf club. So it has conventional doors rather than dihedral ones like the other two cars, and low sills (but a low roof, too), and the widest, most accommodating seats of the three.
The dual-clutch automatic gearbox has nine ratios to the McLaren’s seven and BMW’s six, but ninth is very long and first won’t select until you’re stationary,
I think this is the first time in a long time i think one of Acura's car has better exterior than Interior.
Always thought Acura's interior was good... and better than most and NSX's is not bad. But it does not match the car.
Not sure how to describe it, if you tell me that is the new MDX's interior, i would not have even doubt it at all.
Lighting and pics certainly seem to do the NSX not much favors in portraying its interior...which from real world photos...looks actually pretty bad for a 200k.
I haven't seen one in real life up close but....from these accounts it seems they look better in real life than pics.
Is it unfair to expect the Honda to be the same? This is a car designed mostly in the US and part of its remit is to appeal to the wealthy retired people of Palm Springs as transport from house to golf club. So it has conventional doors rather than dihedral ones like the other two cars, and low sills (but a low roof, too), and the widest, most accommodating seats of the three.
While your wife or friend put your clubs in their car as you have no room for them
seemed like there was plenty of room for a passenger in there.
No, the trunk is too small to hold a set of clubs. Or two.
I believe you could definitely fit at least 1 set in the 1G NSX. Maybe two, but don't quote me on that.
For a car that would have undoubtedly been driven to the golf course by 80% of owners, it's seen as another short coming.
However, I have a feeling that most super cars are not able to accomodate a set of clubs these days, so it's kind of a moot point. Shit, it would be hard to fit a set of clubs in my 370z. Two sets are completely out of question.
Go to 5:15 and 11:30, the vehicle Rossi drivers everyday is a Honda Pilot and he owns nothing else.
Gotta tell my wife that as shes the same vehicle as a Indy 500 winner.
While your wife or friend put your clubs in their car as you have no room for them
Originally Posted by TacoBello
No, the trunk is too small to hold a set of clubs. Or two.
I believe you could definitely fit at least 1 set in the 1G NSX. Maybe two, but don't quote me on that.
For a car that would have undoubtedly been driven to the golf course by 80% of owners, it's seen as another short coming.
However, I have a feeling that most super cars are not able to accomodate a set of clubs these days, so it's kind of a moot point. Shit, it would be hard to fit a set of clubs in my 370z. Two sets are completely out of question.
I've already posted this (maybe in another thread) but both Michelle Christensen and Ted Klaus from Acura says that they designed the trunk specifically to be able to fit 1 standard golf bag:
They talk about the trunk space starting around 25m 45s
Its 103.5-inch wheelbase is just a 3.9-inch stretch from the 2005 NSX, while overall length grows by only 1.8 inches, providing a trunk roomy enough for a set of golf clubs.
The trunk opening is smaller than an original NSX but the actual cargo space does go farther out that's hidden underneath the body so you'll likely just need to slide it down.
Originally Posted by Legend2TL
Go to 5:15 and 11:30, the vehicle Rossi drivers everyday is a Honda Pilot and he owns nothing else.
Gotta tell my wife that as shes the same vehicle as a Indy 500 winner.
Yeah when I saw that it was insane.
What's more telling is he says if he could have a street-legal fun car...it would be the P1. Kinda makes sense. When you're a professional racer driving those kinds of cars...almost ANYTHING on the road will be completely pedestrian...so might as well just stay practical. Not to mention the Pilot is probably provided for free of charge.
What's more telling is he says if he could have a street-legal fun car...it would be the P1. Kinda makes sense. When you're a professional racer driving those kinds of cars...almost ANYTHING on the road will be completely pedestrian...so might as well just stay practical. Not to mention the Pilot is probably provided for free of charge.
That didn't surprised me, alot of racers have ordinary cars.
The most common car F1 drivers had in the mid-80's was a MB 560SEC.
Even most current drivers have some rather tame rides.
I like the interior and exterior styling. Still looking forward to seeing one in person.
The beginning of the article sums up the overall direction Honda/Acura wanted to go in.
If a 3868-pound, all-wheel-drive hybrid strikes you as a curious sequel to the original bantamweight NSX, you’re not alone. As vehicle-performance lead engineer Jason Widmer tells it, the initial prospect of a gas-electric NSX caused as much hand-wringing within Honda’s hallways as raised eyebrows outside them. In the early days of the new car, NSX mules consistently laid down faster laps without the battery-electric assist system that was supposed to make the thing quicker.
That was more than five years ago, and the NSX’s hybrid-electric system is now a fully developed piece of go-faster kit. The car rolling out of Marysville, Ohio, seamlessly combines two turbochargers, three electric motors, four driven wheels, six cylinders, and nine forward gears to produce bona fide supercar performance. That won’t make it any less controversial; there are an infinite number of ideas as to what a resurrected NSX should have been. The concept that won out is a rolling testbed for the future of performance technology. “You will not find a car in this category in 10 years that won’t have electrification. I’m confident on that,” Widmer says....
They seem to really like the chassis a lot. A Type R version without the front motors, with less weight, more aero, and with more power would be interesting.
The 2017 NSX Isn't Just the Fastest Acura Ever, It Might Be the Most Fun
Here's why Acura's $210,000 speed demon is one hell of a ride.Dan Carney 18 hours ago
Photo: Dan Carney
When the Pixar Animation family classic Toy Story was in development, then-owner Steve Jobs halted the production, ordering a rewrite to make the Woody character more likable. Such a dramatic change, so late in a film's production usually bodes ill for the final result, but it turned out to be just what Woody and Buzz needed to become new fixtures in the American childscape.
Photo: Acura
Similarly, only about 2 years ago, Acura concluded that its NSX design was unacceptably compromised and ordered a major revision. As with Toy Story, this change further delayed a project that was already behind schedule.
Photo: Acura
It is too soon to know whether the 2017 Acura NSX will ever establish a reputation as sterling as that of Toy Story, but we do know that the decision to change the orientation of the engine in the chassis has produced exactly the sort of track-worthy machine buyers in this category demand. For starters, it's the fastest Acura ever with a 191 MPH top speed, and can scorch from 0-60 in just 3 seconds flat.
Photo: Dan Carney
The car's significantly racy design change was to turn the engine 90 degrees so that it is placed in alignment with the car's spine (like a race car) rather than sideways between the rear wheels (as with most street cars these days).
Photo: Acura
This pushed those rear wheels a few inches further rearward and shifted the NSX's weight balance slightly forward, producing exactly the race-worthy handling expected from such a car. The original 1991-2005 NSX employed a transverse engine layout successfully, but with 290 horsepower, it had far less power to put to the ground and did so at lower speeds.
Photo: Dan Carney
The 2017 NSX's 3.5-liter V6 is twin-turbocharged, which pumps it up to 500 horsepower, and gets a 119-horsepower assist from a trio of electric motors. 1 electric motor is bolted to the gas engine and helps drive the rear wheels, and the other 2 are at the front of the car, providing power to the front wheels.
Photo: Acura
Total system power is 573 peak horsepower, because, as with the romantic capacities of men and women, the gas engine and the electric motors hit their peaks at different times.
Photo: Acura
The engine peaks out through the window in the rear cover, revealing Y-shaped intake plumbing that lacks some fiber optic lighting to resemble a time-traveling flux capacitor. Its attached electric motor starts the gas engine none of the uncouth whining of a conventional starter, but rather with a "Vrroom!" that creates the impression that the engine had been running all along and just decided to speak up.
Photo: Dan Carney
The car has 4 operating modes; "quiet," "sport," "sport+" and "track." Each of these tweaks the electronic adjustments of the magnetically variable shock absorbers, the 9-speed automatic transmission, the electric power steering, the all-wheel-drive system, the electronic stability control system and active muffler bypass valves.
Photo: Acura
An unprecedented range of adjustability in each of these areas permits the NSX to have the most dramatic personality changes since Brad and Janet met Dr. Frank-N-Furter. In Quiet mode, the NSX is as buttoned up as the young couple was upon arrival to the doctor's mansion, and in Race mode, the NSX goes for full-on debauchery.
Photo: Dan Carney
For younger drivers seeking a primer on the meaning of the term "understeer," (which is when the front wheels are turned toward a curve but they slide so the car continues straight), the NSX is wonderfully instructive. The car begins in Quiet mode with abundant, safe understeer, which keeps the car from spinning around, and then lessens the understeer progressively in each mode up through "Track," where the NSX is largely neutral.
Photo: Dan Carney
The car's exhaust volume also ratchets upward through the settings, and the great thing is that the driver can decide when to engage in which. So unlike too many of its competitors which force the driver to look like a preening rooster on trips to Walgreens, the NSX can creep surreptitiously out of the neighborhood in the wee hours, but still announce its presence with suitable authority at the track.
Photo: Acura
It would be nice to be able to employ track mode without disabling the stability control system, for some noisy fun that preserves the car's electronic safety net.
An iffier electronic feature of the NSX is electric servo-operated brakes that disconnect the brake pedal from the actual brakes. In earlier, failed attempts to introduce this technology, other automakers have tolerated an utter absence of brake feel needed to communicate whether the car is responding as expected.
The NSX's electric brakes are better than that. Indeed, at high speeds they provide a feeling of imperturbable confidence, which may or may not be warranted. Even at trickier lower speeds, when the car has less inertia and is more vulnerable to misapplications of brake pressure, the system still holds up well compared to conventional brakes. But at very low parking speeds, stopping the car can still be abrupt. The feeling is similar to that provided by some carbon ceramic brakes, which can be difficult to modulate at walking speeds.
And the test NSX was fact equipped with such brakes. But with their electronic operation, there was no possibility of feeling what the carbon brakes were doing, so any misunderstandings were an artifact of the electronics and not the ceramic brake rotors' characteristics.
Our test car featured the optional $6,000 Valencia Red Pearl paint that could be considered mandatory because of its incredible appearance. The hue gives the NSX a sophistication that a mid-engined supercar could lack if improperly executed.
Photo: Dan Carney
Similarly, the NSX's exuberant lines attracted compliments everywhere the car went, typically followed by the exclamation, "That's an Acura?!" Yes indeed it is.
It was reassuring to hear Acura's big bet garnering such favorable comments, because after seeing the car only in the unreal world of the auto show circuit where the NSX competes for notice with Ford's astounding new GT and various garishly finished Italian, German and English supercars, the NSX's ability to stand up for itself was uncertain.
The adjustable suspension provides a surprisingly cushy ride and even the racing-style seats are acceptably comfy for highway cruising. Legroom for occupants' door-side legs is always in short supply in mid-engined sports cars, but the NSX does a good enough job in this respect to prevent leg cramps on long drives.
The other thing that will prevent leg cramps is the frequent opportunity to get out and walk around while the NSX is refueling. The car's EPA numbers are unremarkable, at 20 mpg city and 22 mpg highway. But the raison d'etre of the hybrid system is to boost efficiency, and the NSX falls well short on the highway of cars like the Corvette, which gets 29 mpg on the highway.
Further, in 150 miles of test driving, which included a few laps around a racetrack, but which was mostly highway driving to and from that track, the NSX returned 14.75 mpg, putting it in company with the V10 Dodge Viper. At that rate, strolls around the gas pumps will keep NSX occupants' legs stretched.
Acura's goal for the NSX is to cultivate a more prestigious image for the brand that has too often relied on selling dressed-up Hondas, and the car achieves its technical objectives. With a $209,500 as-tested price, the cost alone will push Acura into unprecedented demographics.
A true conversion of the Acura brand into an authentic prestige brand would be a personality transplant on par with Pixar's conversion of Woody from unsympathetically jealous to affable Tom Hanks good guy.
10-13-2016, 08:09 AM
Maxim
Photo: Dan Carney
Photo: Acura
Photo: Acura
Photo: Dan Carney
Photo: Acura
Photo: Dan Carney
Photo: Acura
Photo: Acura
Photo: Dan Carney
Photo: Acura
Photo: Dan Carney
Photo: Dan Carney
Photo: Acura
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