So, at last, we know how the new
Honda NSX
drives. Took a while didn't it! But there's a lot gone into it, as you'll see.
We've already done a PH Meets with project boss Ted Klaus, so for this deeper dive we'll work from the conversation we had with his colleague Nick Robinson. Based at Honda's American HQ, Robinson's job title is vehicle dynamics project leader but he's clearly got a great feel for the whole car and speaks with enthusiasm on all aspects of its development.
Basics first; although the car is built in the US it is a truly global project. Powertrain comes from Japan where it meets American built body and frame; it's also where initial set-up was carried out. Meanwhile much of the final calibration was done in Europe, a certain German racetrack figuring highly, if not exclusively, in tuning the character of the NSX. No, lap times are not being quoted and Robinson says they were so wary of the project becoming defined by the Nurburgring they never referred to it by name internally, simply referring to it as 'Mullenbach' after the adjacent industrial park where the test centre is located. Bumpy, twisty Californian canyon roads were also used, along with various tracks in America and Japan. Although objective targets like (as yet undisclosed) 0-62 times and the rest were important initially, Robinson says these became secondary to the subjective chassis tuning his department managed.
This is what we meant about the 'tache!
But let's begin with the foundations. The NSX's body combines a very Japanese aesthetic with some proper aero. The vents on the front deck are, for instance, fully functional for extracting air as well as helping cooling and front downforce. Robinson describes them as a "request from engineering to styling" that was accepted. Similarly the smaller vents on the top of the front wings, these reducing pressure in the arches while the shape of the front bumper controls the airflow along the side of the car. Mirror supports were moved up onto the A-pillar to help keep this undisturbed. The large side vents are incorporated into the flying buttress style C-pillars, the premise similar to that of the Ford GT if not as dramatic in execution. Like the Ferrari 488 GTB the lower half of the vents draws air to the intercoolers - there are 10 heat exchangers of various types throughout the car - while the top half sucks air over the engine cover to help with cooling and airflow. Like Ferrari's 'base bleed' there are vents at the rear lights to suck air over and through the back of the car. Naturally the underbody is flat and ends in a diffuser, vanes beneath helping speed the air up with class leading downforce at the front - Robinson claims rivals are "neutral at best" in comparison. In a very Honda bit of nerdery, weight distribution matches the original NSX at 42:58 front to rear.
Predominantly aluminium in construction, steel is used in certain points like the '3DQ' (for three-dimensional quenching) tubes that stretch from the base of the A-pillar to the top of the B-pillar to provide rollover protection but maintain slim pillars for good visibility. Aluminium castings provide rigid hardpoints for suspension, a technique called 'ablation' casting meaning the support structures maintain rigidity but can crush in a controlled manner to absorb crash energy - something traditionally rigid cast components don't do.
One of the two Ferrari 458s Honda bought during the NSX's development was taken apart to the bare shell as the team compared construction techniques; apparently it still resides in parts in a store room somewhere. The sacrifice was worth it though, Robinson claiming static torsional rigidity is 300 per cent better than Ferrari's comparable aluminium spaceframe and 200 per cent stiffer dynamically.
Powertrain comes in from Japan
For the dynamic set-up Honda was initially set to benchmark the 911 Turbo but, after reading the press reviews of the 991 GT3, Robinson pressed for one of those instead. The bespoke front axle design used by the GT models clearly impressed his team, Robinson recognising that GT3 customers accept a lot more steering 'noise' than regular 911 drivers and this gives Porsche scope to create a more extreme setting than most mainstream rivals. The NSX is dialled back somewhat but is informed by this at least; the steering on the car is relatively conventional with a mechanically variable rack going from a quick 12.9:1 around the centre to 11.07:1 - a Ferrari 488 GTB's rack (considered among the quicker on the market) is somewhere in the middle of that range. It's fast, accurate and - as a whole - the car has a real sense of agility. Feel? It's better than an R8, if perhaps not as natural and predictable as a 570S. Good enough though.
Of course, the mechanical steering gear is only one element in turning the car into the corners, the front axle Twin Motor Unit able to induce yaw by over- or under-speeding respective wheels when required. At the back Agile Handling Assist uses brake inputs to the same end while a conventional mechanical limited-slip differential distributes power across the back axle. Although there's no longer any mechanical link between the front and rear Honda's familiar Super Handling All-Wheel Drive branding is applied to the system.
The beauty of there being no mechanical link is that yaw control can be carried out even when coasting. Traditional torque vectoring only works when the driver is on the throttle; the TMU works independently, harvesting regenerative energy under braking into the corner, working with the Agile Handling Assist to initiate the yaw into the turn and then switching to stabilising tractive power as you get back on the throttle. At the same time the Direct Drive Motor mounted between flywheel and gearbox fills in any holes in the torque curve to make sure there's no hesitation when you do. It's a basic 'mild hybrid' layout shared with previous Honda hybrids, from the Insight to the CR-Z. Just a bit more so.
And with it all stripped back...
As we've already discussed, the bespoke 3.5-litre V6 is an interesting unit in its own right. Two single-scroll turbos with Inconel turbines, a wider than usual 75-degree vee angle, dry sump, direct injection, variable valve timing and a specific output of 145hp per litre all stack up, the overall figures 507hp and 406lb ft with a redline at 7,500rpm. Does the wider vee angle compromise refinement, compared with the usual 60-degree angle used by most V6s? Powertrain lead engineer Yasuhide Sakamoto doesn't think so. OK, given it's got the electric power to fill in the torque curve without them would it be a laggy, peaky mess on its own? Again he says no - variable valve timing and boost management mean it could be tuned how you'd like. And, on its own, it'll power the GT3 racer. And you wonder why we're pondering what a Type R stripped of the hybrid bits would be like?
Nobody's saying anything about that now, Robinson smiling the fixed smile of someone who's been asked the same question any which way many times over. As it stands the graphs tell you the main Direct Drive Motor does the 'torque fill' stuff while the TMU at the front adds "additional force" and steepens the already impressive acceleration graph. At the wheel the response to the throttle is, well, electric. And, despite the 'how much?!' 1,800kg+ kerbweight the NSX never bogs down. The electric motors may well fill in the petrol engine's gaps, but the character of the V6 dominates.
Meanwhile managing the brake-by-wire system to balance deceleration through the TMU and conventional disc brakes proved a real challenge; the system has to try and predict how hard you want to be on the brakes and achieve maximum battery charging without compromising the predictability of the pedal feel. Arguably on circuit there were times when this wasn't entirely consistent, the brakes sometimes grabbing harder than you wanted. But, on the whole, it's been carried off successfully and, bar a whine from the TMU as it switches to generator mode, most of the time you don't notice the difference.
75-degree vee an odd layout for the V6
An interesting titbit? Although carbon ceramic brakes are a £8,400 option the cooling was designed around them, their design requiring more air due to the material not conducting heat away through hub and chassis components like steel ones. Every day a school day and all that.
Moving on, we've got some comparisons with the obvious rivals below and one that stands out somewhat glaringly is an 'approximate' top speed of 191mph. Given R8, 570S and 911 Turbo S are all bona fide 200mph+ cars will this matter? For some buyers it may well, despite the relevance (or lack of) to how many of these cars actually hit these kind of speeds. If kids these days still play Top Trumps the NSX isn't going to be a card you'll be confidently holding.
Delving into the spec sheet also reveals the £137,950 starting price is exactly that. Adding the Carbon Fibre Exterior Sport Package of the cars we drove on track is £7,100 extra, the fixed carbon rear wing pushing that to nearly £10K in total. Add the carbon ceramic brakes and some further carbon dressing in the engine bay and cabin (£2,900 and £2,300 respectively) and you can see how that price will quickly rise if you get busy on the configurator. No different from the competition of course. But worth considering when attempting bottom line comparisons. Surely it'll lead the field in fuel consumption and emissions then? Erm, not quite. 228g/km is beaten by the 911 Turbo S and the official 28mpg is hardly stellar. If you want your sleek junior supercar with tree-hugging numbers an i8 is still the thing.
But the NSX isn't aiming for that. For Honda the NSX's hybrid element is about making it faster, not eco posturing. Which should help offset any cynicism you may have about the extra weight and complexity it adds to the package.
People are already talking about the NSX off the back of the review - join the conversation here!
Honda NSX versus the rivals...
HONDA NSX
: 3,493cc V6 turbocharged with direct-mounted electric motor/generator, 2x front axle motor/generators
: 9-speed DCT, rear-wheel drive, independently driven front axle
: 507@6,500rpm (petrol engine only), 581hp total
: 406@2,000-6,000rpm (petrol engine only), 476lb ft total
: from 1,763kg (with fluids, not including driver; c. 1,836kg with 75kg driver)
MCLAREN 570S
: 3,799cc, V8, twin-turbo
: 7-speed SSG, rear-wheel drive
: 1,440kg (DIN plus driver)
AUDI R8 5.2 V10 PLUS
: 7-speed dual clutch, four-wheel drive
: 1,630kg (EU, including 75kg driver)
PORSCHE 911 (991.II) TURBO S
: 3,800cc, flat-6 twin-turbocharged
: 7-speed PDK, four-wheel drive
: £145,773 (cabrio £154,614)
