Please enjoy this article from the San Jose Mercury News 03/27/2010
Seeing it in pictures is nothing like driving it in the flesh
———————————————————————
By Jeff Melnychuk
Acura’s NSX has run circles around some of the best sports cars in the world. That this Japanese marvel, even five years after its departure from Acura’s showroom floor, remains a technological tour de force and still turns heads nearly two decades after its creation is one of the Seven Wonders of the automotive world. The two-seater has earned the distinction of being not only one of the greatest spor ts cars in history, but also a major influence on some, if not all, the high-performance vehicles that followed it. Roll the clocks back to the mid-1980s when Honda — Acura’s parent company — set about to create an image vehicle that r eflected its blossoming technical prowess on the race track. What resulted was a culmination of pretty much everything the company had lear ned to that point about engineering and construction. The hype surrounding the NSX’s arrival in the fall of 1990 was immense. Never before had a Japanese car company dared challenge the leading Italian and German exotics such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche. Honda had its sights set on what it believed to be the weaknesses in those traditional mega-buck machines. The company sought to improve performance in just about every aspect as well as fit, finish and build quality, all the while reducing maintenance costs and hammering the competition’s bottom line. The cornerstone of the project was weight: the less of it the better. A strict diet gave the car lightning-quick steer ing and chassis response.
Within that framework, Honda chose to drop in a high-revving, high-horsepower, flyweight V6.
Keeping the weight down meant bucking convention when it came to the use of metals.
Because the chassis would be of the monocoque variety (no frame, but an integrated structure that included the roof), non-structural polymers and fiberglass were out of the question.
Instead, engineers developed a special highstrength aluminum alloy for the internal structure and all the body panels.
Even the suspension parts were cast from aluminum. Through spaceage engineering and the use of supercomputers, the resulting chassis weighed just 452 pounds, about 40 percent less than a comparable steel chassis and just as strong.
Like the comparable Ferrari, the NSX’s powerplant was slotted behind the passenger compartment and in front of the rear wheels. In the NSX’s case, the V6 was mounted east/west and was connected to the driver via a five-speed manual transaxle.
Compared to Ferrari’s cantankerous lever, however, the NSX’s gear box was butter smooth and quick. The V6 was brought to 270 horsepower with the aid of Honda’s trick VTEC variable valve timing that increased the top-end horsepower and rev range. It kicked in at about 5,000 r pm, just when other domestic vehicles were gasping for an upshift. At 5,000, the NSX was just coming into its own. You had to be quick with the shifter in first gear as the engine howled its way to 8,000 revs in a hear tbeat.
Besides its ultra-slick skin and cat-like moves, the beauty of this car was its ability to make anyone capable of piloting a basic econobox feel like they could lead the Formula One pack.
The ergonomics were superb as engineers spent as much time on the human condition as they did on raw performance.
Occupants were coddled in tautly drawn leather, given a high-powered Bose stereo, climate control and enjoyed a panoramic view through the F-16-fighter-jet inspired co ckpit. The NSX gave confidence to the driver and was nearly foolproof to operate.
Perhaps a little known fact is that every NSX was hand-built in a factory especially constructed for the car. Each NSX was painstakingly pieced together by the 200 elite workers who were required to have a minimum 10 years’ experience assembling cars.
Even the leather interior was hand sewn.
As well, the NSX was one of a few vehicles to offer different diameter wheels front and back.
Forged aluminum billets were whittled into lightweight 15-inch wheels for the front and 16 inchers for the rear. Yokohama was contracted to supply a tire that was unique to the NSX and its performance characteristics. Dubbed the AO22, the tires — a separate model had to be ordered for each wheel — wore quickly, but stuck like glue. And there it was, the new performance benchmark.
Per haps sensing the NSX’s abilities, Ferrari, in par ticular, pulled up its socks. It is widely thought that the introduction of the F355 in the mid-1990s was due in no small par t to the new standard established by the NSX. And even a decade later, engineering feats pulled off for the NSX, such as variable valve timing, found their way into cars such as the Honda Civic. In fact, the NSX changed very little over the years. In its final incarnation, it spor ted integrated headlight pods, slightly larger wheels, a six-speed manual transmission and 290 horsepower from an updated 3.2-liter V6.
— Wheelbase Communications
Seeing it in pictures is nothing like driving it in the flesh
———————————————————————
By Jeff Melnychuk
Acura’s NSX has run circles around some of the best sports cars in the world. That this Japanese marvel, even five years after its departure from Acura’s showroom floor, remains a technological tour de force and still turns heads nearly two decades after its creation is one of the Seven Wonders of the automotive world. The two-seater has earned the distinction of being not only one of the greatest spor ts cars in history, but also a major influence on some, if not all, the high-performance vehicles that followed it. Roll the clocks back to the mid-1980s when Honda — Acura’s parent company — set about to create an image vehicle that r eflected its blossoming technical prowess on the race track. What resulted was a culmination of pretty much everything the company had lear ned to that point about engineering and construction. The hype surrounding the NSX’s arrival in the fall of 1990 was immense. Never before had a Japanese car company dared challenge the leading Italian and German exotics such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche. Honda had its sights set on what it believed to be the weaknesses in those traditional mega-buck machines. The company sought to improve performance in just about every aspect as well as fit, finish and build quality, all the while reducing maintenance costs and hammering the competition’s bottom line. The cornerstone of the project was weight: the less of it the better. A strict diet gave the car lightning-quick steer ing and chassis response.
Within that framework, Honda chose to drop in a high-revving, high-horsepower, flyweight V6.
Keeping the weight down meant bucking convention when it came to the use of metals.
Because the chassis would be of the monocoque variety (no frame, but an integrated structure that included the roof), non-structural polymers and fiberglass were out of the question.
Instead, engineers developed a special highstrength aluminum alloy for the internal structure and all the body panels.
Even the suspension parts were cast from aluminum. Through spaceage engineering and the use of supercomputers, the resulting chassis weighed just 452 pounds, about 40 percent less than a comparable steel chassis and just as strong.
Like the comparable Ferrari, the NSX’s powerplant was slotted behind the passenger compartment and in front of the rear wheels. In the NSX’s case, the V6 was mounted east/west and was connected to the driver via a five-speed manual transaxle.
Compared to Ferrari’s cantankerous lever, however, the NSX’s gear box was butter smooth and quick. The V6 was brought to 270 horsepower with the aid of Honda’s trick VTEC variable valve timing that increased the top-end horsepower and rev range. It kicked in at about 5,000 r pm, just when other domestic vehicles were gasping for an upshift. At 5,000, the NSX was just coming into its own. You had to be quick with the shifter in first gear as the engine howled its way to 8,000 revs in a hear tbeat.
Besides its ultra-slick skin and cat-like moves, the beauty of this car was its ability to make anyone capable of piloting a basic econobox feel like they could lead the Formula One pack.
The ergonomics were superb as engineers spent as much time on the human condition as they did on raw performance.
Occupants were coddled in tautly drawn leather, given a high-powered Bose stereo, climate control and enjoyed a panoramic view through the F-16-fighter-jet inspired co ckpit. The NSX gave confidence to the driver and was nearly foolproof to operate.
Perhaps a little known fact is that every NSX was hand-built in a factory especially constructed for the car. Each NSX was painstakingly pieced together by the 200 elite workers who were required to have a minimum 10 years’ experience assembling cars.
Even the leather interior was hand sewn.
As well, the NSX was one of a few vehicles to offer different diameter wheels front and back.
Forged aluminum billets were whittled into lightweight 15-inch wheels for the front and 16 inchers for the rear. Yokohama was contracted to supply a tire that was unique to the NSX and its performance characteristics. Dubbed the AO22, the tires — a separate model had to be ordered for each wheel — wore quickly, but stuck like glue. And there it was, the new performance benchmark.
Per haps sensing the NSX’s abilities, Ferrari, in par ticular, pulled up its socks. It is widely thought that the introduction of the F355 in the mid-1990s was due in no small par t to the new standard established by the NSX. And even a decade later, engineering feats pulled off for the NSX, such as variable valve timing, found their way into cars such as the Honda Civic. In fact, the NSX changed very little over the years. In its final incarnation, it spor ted integrated headlight pods, slightly larger wheels, a six-speed manual transmission and 290 horsepower from an updated 3.2-liter V6.
— Wheelbase Communications
