A decade after a replacement for Honda's original NSX supercar was first mooted, we finally get into the driving seat – for a disappointingly short time
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| The new Honda NSX is rumoured to sprint from 0-62mph in less than three seconds / Photos: Paul Harmer |
Three laps we were told. But it actually turned out to be 1¾ laps of a banked oval smoother than a cherub's bottom. So, while Honda's Tochigi test track in Japan looked simply lovely in the autumn light, there was no time to admire it, just to get into the new NSX and drive.
Over hyped and horrendously delayed, the second-generation Honda NSX supercar has been subject to many false starts, with one concept deep sixed before this painstaking American/Japanese program got off the ground.
The original NSX sold mostly in America, and US media have already driven the car on public roads, but Honda, in its wisdom, decided we could have just 1¾ laps; like it or lump it.
Sitting inside the car, my heart beats loudly. Too loudly, in fact; why has the engine stopped? Turns out the NSX is in “Quiet” mode, where the engine is stilled at traffic lights and the exhausts fall silent. There are three other modes: Sport, Sport+, and Track, but I'm allowed to use just three of them and, in spite of being on a track, Track is the one that’s not permitted – doh!
The shape of the new NSX is just terrific, swooping where it needs to, air intaked and angular; supercar sexy. Project leader was Michelle Christensen, the first woman to have charge of a supercar project and what a fine job she and her eight-strong team have made of it.
There are still numerous unknowns, but what we do know is that the NSX has a 500bhp/406lb ft, twin-turbo, all-alloy 3.5-litre V6 with the fabulously bonkers angle of 72-degrees between the banks of cylinders.
Over hyped and horrendously delayed, the second-generation Honda NSX supercar has been subject to many false starts, with one concept deep sixed before this painstaking American/Japanese program got off the ground.
The original NSX sold mostly in America, and US media have already driven the car on public roads, but Honda, in its wisdom, decided we could have just 1¾ laps; like it or lump it.
Sitting inside the car, my heart beats loudly. Too loudly, in fact; why has the engine stopped? Turns out the NSX is in “Quiet” mode, where the engine is stilled at traffic lights and the exhausts fall silent. There are three other modes: Sport, Sport+, and Track, but I'm allowed to use just three of them and, in spite of being on a track, Track is the one that’s not permitted – doh!
The shape of the new NSX is just terrific, swooping where it needs to, air intaked and angular; supercar sexy. Project leader was Michelle Christensen, the first woman to have charge of a supercar project and what a fine job she and her eight-strong team have made of it.
There are still numerous unknowns, but what we do know is that the NSX has a 500bhp/406lb ft, twin-turbo, all-alloy 3.5-litre V6 with the fabulously bonkers angle of 72-degrees between the banks of cylinders.
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| Honda has given the new NSX anguar lines that look great from any angle |
The engine is mounted longitudinally behind the two seats, with a nine-speed, twin-clutch, paddle-shift gearbox behind that, and between the two, a 109lb ft electric motor. At the front are two more electric motors, producing 54lb ft each, and the entire driveline produces a peak of 573bhp at 6,500rpm and 476lb ft at 2,000rpm.
It's a hybrid system and the lithium-ion battery pack is small at just 1kWh, but it's designed to release and store energy quickly. Range in pure electric mode is 1-2km at low speeds and modest acceleration loads.
What the new Honda NSX does is juggle electrical power between its three electric motors to pull and push the nose through corners, protect the driver from his worst errors, stabilise the car and recharge its battery.
The rear motor acts as an electrical supercharger, filling in the torque curve on the relatively unsophisticated and occasionally peaky turbo engine. "The turbos are only single-scroll units," admits Ted Klaus, chief engineer. "But by 2,500rpm the system output is 476lb ft and you are not going to be spending a lot of time under 2,500rpm in this car."
How fast will she go mister? Klaus is guarded, saying it's the light switch throttle response that gives him bragging rights. Scuttlebutt says it'll dash from 0-62mph in under three seconds and will top out at 191mph. Klaus says the fuel economy is better than a Porsche 911 Turbo, so expect an official average of about 30mpg.
The body and frame are made of aluminium alloy, with high-strength steel for the windscreen pillars. Suspension, again, is aluminium, with double wishbones at the front, a multi-link setup at the rear and adjustable dampers all round. Meanwhile, the brakes are massive aluminium Brembo callipers (six pot at the front, four at the back).
It's a hybrid system and the lithium-ion battery pack is small at just 1kWh, but it's designed to release and store energy quickly. Range in pure electric mode is 1-2km at low speeds and modest acceleration loads.
What the new Honda NSX does is juggle electrical power between its three electric motors to pull and push the nose through corners, protect the driver from his worst errors, stabilise the car and recharge its battery.
The rear motor acts as an electrical supercharger, filling in the torque curve on the relatively unsophisticated and occasionally peaky turbo engine. "The turbos are only single-scroll units," admits Ted Klaus, chief engineer. "But by 2,500rpm the system output is 476lb ft and you are not going to be spending a lot of time under 2,500rpm in this car."
How fast will she go mister? Klaus is guarded, saying it's the light switch throttle response that gives him bragging rights. Scuttlebutt says it'll dash from 0-62mph in under three seconds and will top out at 191mph. Klaus says the fuel economy is better than a Porsche 911 Turbo, so expect an official average of about 30mpg.
The body and frame are made of aluminium alloy, with high-strength steel for the windscreen pillars. Suspension, again, is aluminium, with double wishbones at the front, a multi-link setup at the rear and adjustable dampers all round. Meanwhile, the brakes are massive aluminium Brembo callipers (six pot at the front, four at the back).
First impressions? The NSX is an easy car to get into, but pretty cramped once you’re inside. The tall centre console pushes your elbow and there's a waterfall of gearbox option selectors cascading down the bright aluminium and leather dashboard.
In front of the driver, the digital binnacle is slightly confusing, with a lot of weird lights and figures. The driving position is low and the thick-rimmed steering wheel sits high like a race car’s. But the windscreen pillars obscure cross views and the door mirrors are filled with images of rear air intakes.
There's not much storage space inside, either, although you can squeeze a couple of carry ons into the boot.
Select Sport, and the sound of the engine is piped into the car. At idle it has a hunting quality similar to old Saab turbos; not unpleasant, but more zoom than boom. Then when you first pull away, there's a slightly divorced sensation as the engine revs harder than it should for our walking speed so that it can bung a bit more charge into the battery.
Line up the slip road and floor the accelerator and the Honda NSX bolts like an electric hare. It's quick, without being dizzyingly so, although with a big electric motor pushing the engine revs up to 7,500rpm, you have to be quick with the paddle shifts or you are on the rev limiter.
While the engine note doesn’t have the resonant clarity of a naturally aspirated unit, it still sounds pretty good, even if it isn't "an audible tacho" as Klaus claims. But by the time we're in fourth and going for fifth it's clear there's something wrong with the gearbox, which isn't obeying the paddles at high revs and is instead allowing the engine to bounce on the limiter.
In front of the driver, the digital binnacle is slightly confusing, with a lot of weird lights and figures. The driving position is low and the thick-rimmed steering wheel sits high like a race car’s. But the windscreen pillars obscure cross views and the door mirrors are filled with images of rear air intakes.
There's not much storage space inside, either, although you can squeeze a couple of carry ons into the boot.
Select Sport, and the sound of the engine is piped into the car. At idle it has a hunting quality similar to old Saab turbos; not unpleasant, but more zoom than boom. Then when you first pull away, there's a slightly divorced sensation as the engine revs harder than it should for our walking speed so that it can bung a bit more charge into the battery.
Line up the slip road and floor the accelerator and the Honda NSX bolts like an electric hare. It's quick, without being dizzyingly so, although with a big electric motor pushing the engine revs up to 7,500rpm, you have to be quick with the paddle shifts or you are on the rev limiter.
While the engine note doesn’t have the resonant clarity of a naturally aspirated unit, it still sounds pretty good, even if it isn't "an audible tacho" as Klaus claims. But by the time we're in fourth and going for fifth it's clear there's something wrong with the gearbox, which isn't obeying the paddles at high revs and is instead allowing the engine to bounce on the limiter.
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| The new NSX combines a 3.5-litre V6 with three electric motors and will cost about £120,000 |
With just one lap left, I switch to auto mode and into Sport+, whereupon the driveline starts to behave, although it disconcertingly shuffles torque around in a way that leaves you wondering whether you are driving too close to the chassis' limits or not.
A couple of 70mph lane changes show the NSX to be stable and the electronically assisted steering is meatily direct, but divorced from even this super-smooth Tarmac. Again, you can feel the front motors stabilising the car in these extreme manoeuvres, but we never really had time to discover whether it was something we liked or not. The brakes and grip are strong, although you can feel the 1.725-tonne weight as you turn into corners.
My drive over all too soon, I'm back in the pits and hauled out so fast I don't even get to explain the gearbox fault to the engineer.
Honda trots out the line that was true a quarter of a century ago, that the NSX is the most useable sports car you can buy, but most modern supercars are useable and there's a bigger prize here.
Electric motors used on each wheel give the possibility for four-wheel steering, torque and brake vectoring, traction control, automatic braking distribution and a great deal more besides simply by adding another line of software code. No one has yet quite managed it and if Honda has pulled it off with the NSX, this engineering-led company will have found a new route up an automotive Everest.
What a pity this mean little launch hasn't given us a chance to find out if they're up there on the summit with their flag.
A couple of 70mph lane changes show the NSX to be stable and the electronically assisted steering is meatily direct, but divorced from even this super-smooth Tarmac. Again, you can feel the front motors stabilising the car in these extreme manoeuvres, but we never really had time to discover whether it was something we liked or not. The brakes and grip are strong, although you can feel the 1.725-tonne weight as you turn into corners.
My drive over all too soon, I'm back in the pits and hauled out so fast I don't even get to explain the gearbox fault to the engineer.
Honda trots out the line that was true a quarter of a century ago, that the NSX is the most useable sports car you can buy, but most modern supercars are useable and there's a bigger prize here.
Electric motors used on each wheel give the possibility for four-wheel steering, torque and brake vectoring, traction control, automatic braking distribution and a great deal more besides simply by adding another line of software code. No one has yet quite managed it and if Honda has pulled it off with the NSX, this engineering-led company will have found a new route up an automotive Everest.
What a pity this mean little launch hasn't given us a chance to find out if they're up there on the summit with their flag.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/honda/nsx/
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