Greatest Cars of All-Time: Honda NSX
When the Japanese put their minds to something, they don’t just do it well, they do it with near perfect execution. When engineers at Honda were tasked with building a supercar they relished the challenge and produced a machine that truly deserves a place in our “Greatest Cars of All-Time” list. The result of a lot of hard work, intelligent design and basing R&D right next to the famous Suzuka race track was the NSX.
First introduced in 1990, the supercar with a fighter jet inspired field of vision was not only quick, but preserved Honda’s reputation of building bullet proof cars. Powered by a 3.0 litre VTEC V6 engine, this car was the first in the world to feature an all-aluminium monocoque. Helping develop the chassis of the NSX was none other than three times Formula One World Champion and racing legend Ayrton Senna. Producing 270BHP and getting from 0-60MPH in just 5 seconds, this car had the big supercar players worried. In fact in 1991 Motor Trend proclaimed “Ferrari, Porsche and Jaguar had been put on notice.”
The Honda NSX was not only faster than its rivals, cheaper than its rivals, more reliable than its rivals, but also drove better than its rivals. It has often been commented just how supremely balanced this mid-engined marvel is. Everything from how nimble it was on track to the extremely satisfying manual shift, the NSX delivered in bucket loads.
In 1992 the Honda NSX Type-R was introduced to the world. This machine was a more track focused version of the already astonishing standard model. The car was put on an extreme diet with it losing everything from air-conditioning to its electric seats. Total weight saving came to 120KG making the NSX-R just 1,230KG in total. The suspension was also reworked for even more responsive handling. It final drive of the engine was tinkered with resulting in a sub 5 second 0-60MPH time.
In 1995, a full 15 years after its introduction, the Honda NSX came to an end. Leaving a very big mark on the pages of supercar history, it has been sorely missed… At last, 2015 sees a successor.
