NSX History

This is a look at the production of the Honda NSX. There is first an overview of the different revisions of NSX and then a more detailed look at particular versions, such as the NSX-R.

Development

Honda gave clues of a forthcoming super car with the HP-X concept car which was displayed at the 1984 Turin Motor Show. It was designed with a light weight body and V6 engine, as was the NSX. The concept car was designed by the famous Italian styling house Pininfarina.

Development of the NSX started later that year. It was rumoured Honda tried about 20 different versions of cars with various layouts before settling on what we now recognise as the NSX.

The NSX was first concieved in the mid-80s, with many platforms and drivetrains tried before settling on a mid-ship RWD with a V6. The project was led by Shigeru Uehara, Executive Chief Engineer at Honda R&D.

One issue in Japan was the tax laws, so Honda even considered a 4 cylinder engine so the NSX wouldn't be to expensive to run. One mule was a tiny 1.0 litre mid-engined Honda City! with a However, to really compete with it's global rivals, Honda soon realised it would require a bigger engine.

Weight was a big issue for the Honda team as after all, it affects everything; performance, handling and braking. They realised to achieve stiffness a light weight material would be needed for the construction of the car. At this time, carbon fibre was hugely expensive, so aluminium was the answer. This decision was a major one, as it significant impact on build cost and subsequent cost to owners.

Despite some labelling the NSX as a Ferrari clone, the major influence on it's designers was the Porsche 911. They liked the form over function ethos and combined this with their admiration for the F16 fighter jet.

The Honda NSX team used many other cars to help the development of the car, including the:

Ferrari 308
Corvette
Toyota MR2
Porsche 911
Peugeot 205 GTI
Lancia Delta Integrale
Audi Quattro
Fiat X1/9

Honda NSX NA1

The NSX featured an all-aluminium chassis, body, and suspension, a first for a production car. Total weight of the entire bare aluminium monocoque was only 200 kg.

Arguably the most beautiful thing about the NSX is something you don't see: the suspension arrangement. The exquisite double wishbone suspension, made from forged aluminium, provided low unsprung weight which was the base of creating such a great handling car.

Well before the Nurburging became fashionable, Honda built a R&D centre at the German race track to test the developmental NSX mules. As is well known, the late, great Ayrton Senna took a hand in developing the cars.

The NSX was to be built in a purpose built factory, the Tochigi Plant. The car was largely handbuilt, taking 40 man hours to build

The '91-'96 5-speed NSX has gearing that is not ideal for fast launches. First gear is very low, and the next four gears are very high. The idea was to provide a low starting gear and four higher driving gears like a race car. Unfortunately, this creates a "blind spot" between 40 and 60 mph during acceleration. When upshifting from first to second there's a big drop in rpm and the engine falls out of the high-rpm VTEC mode.

The Japanese gears have more evenly spaced gear ratios and hence don't have this problem. However, the gearing is still tall.

JDM cars could get some cool options including satellite navigation, carbon Recaro seats as featured in the NSX-R as well as the lightweight Type S BBS wheels. Japanese buyers could also have some interesting exterior and interior colour combinations with a custom order programme. Latterly, you could even get your NSX completely refreshed to be in as new condition. Needless to say, this was very expensive.

Honda NSX NA2

A revised NSX came in 1997. Despite not looking massively different, there were hundreds of changes under the skin. The most major change to the NA2 NSX were with the drive train, notably the engine and gearbox. The engine increased in size from 3.0 to 3.2 litres thanks to a 3mm bore increase to 93mm. Gains in power and torque to the NSX were fairly minimal (up a alleged 20bhp to 290bhp and 224lbs/ft), but the engine also weighed 2.4kg less than the 3.0.

Despite the many changes, the real benefit in power/torque seems to be down to the manifold design. People who have swapped

The NSX's gearbox changed to a 6 speed unit. 6th speed was electronically actuated, yet Honda did well to disguise this as it still retained the same superb action. The clutch was a dual mass flywheel, built to easily cope with the torque of the NSX. Some owners have complained about it's weakness, but in reality this simply isn't true. A thread on the NSX Prime forum revealed some people had even exceeded 100,000 miles on a stock clutch!

There were many other detail changes to the NA2 NSX including the, traction control, differential and ABS braking system. Externally, the wheels grew to 16" front and 17" back and had a new clear coat finish. There was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it front spoiler reshaping and also the alloy panels were made lighter thanks to a new construction method. Even so, the NA2 weighed in 2kgs heavier than the earlier cars.

Honda NSX-R


Honda NSX-R	Honda NSX-R GT	Honda NSX-R

Honda NSX-R	Honda NSX-R	Honda NSX-R

There were two NSX-Rs produced within the NSX's lifespan. The first arrived in 1992 whilst the second, based on the facelift car, was introduced in 2001.

There were just 483 first generation NSX-Rs, all built for customers in Japan. Being an early car, it had no power steering and retained 15"/16" wheels as with the standard NSX. The car differed with stiffer suspension and anti roll bars as well as improved brakes and chassis strengthening. There was a blueprinted engine, removed sound proofing and a close ratio gearbox also. These changes resulted in a significantly lighter car, weighing in at just 1230kg. The production run ended in 1995. Demand afterwards resulted in a Type S-Zero, sharing the NSX-Rs suspension but it was slightly heavier (1280kg).

The 2001 NSX-R (still only sold in Japan) carried on where the old left off, utilising more lightweight carbon fibre parts combined with a race car inspired interior. Rare hardcore cars exist without air conditioning or even airbags. Again, the engine is also blueprinted but there is often speculation on whether the NSX-R had more power to keep up with more modern rivals which had far more than 300bhp! The car weighed in at 1270kg, a bit more than the first NSX-R, but with a further 10 years of development behind it, it is considered the faster car. There was also focus on aerodynamics, with the rear spoiler being re-profiled, and both flat under floor and rear diffuser installed.

As hardly any NSX-Rs are outside of Japan, some dedicated NSX owners in the Western World have spent huge sums converting their cars to NSX-R spec. It is of course very difficult to build an exact replica as there are many tiny differences between the cars.

It is known that two later NSX-Rs were imported by Honda UK for assessment. One was a pure JDM car, the other had a few options and lacked the special tyres. The NSX-R got a positive review, except on Top Gear where Richard Hammond described it as too little, too late. Honda shipped one NSX-R back to Japan, the remaining car is owned by an NSXCB member.

Another NSXCB member owns a privately imported early NSX-R.

In Germany there was also a couple of NSX-Rs imported, current whereabouts are unknown.

Honda NSX-R GT


Honda NSX-R GT	Honda NSX-R GT	Honda NSX-R GT

Honda NSX-R GT	Honda NSX-R GT	Honda NSX-R GT

This NSX wasn't a race NSX, but a homologation special so the Super GT NSXs could make necessary changes to be competitive. This proved worthwhile, as despite being out of production, the Super GT car won the 2007 series.

On the face of it, the NSX-R GT road car was ridiculously over priced, at �250,000. You could get pretty much any other super car for that, but it would be missing the point. Honda only made 5, of which all went to unknown Honda collectors before they were even officially for sale.

The car was clothed in full carbon fibre body parts which were stretched for the sake of the Super GT homologation. The result was an ugly, ill proportioned car as it still remained a near standard width. There is very little details know about it, but the engine is supposedly still a stock NSX-R engine.

Of the pictures above, some may not be actual NSX-R GTs. Route KS in Japan do a very convincing body kit. Route KS NSXs have been shown in many BMI dvds over the years.

� 2010 Rob Fenn