jaytip
26-01-2008, 06:29 AM
It seems more probable that a smidgeon of covert head and inlet tract work, plus revision of the headers and an ECU of a more modem vintage has done the trick. It hasn’t knackered the fuel consumption, though. Calculations involving how much of the £60-worth in the tank was gulped over how many miles result in an overall fuel-thirst figure in the mid twenties. Not bad, considering that I was ‘appraising’ the car half the time.
And what did my hard work glean? That you can do just about anything you want to in the NSX. It has immensely available power, making it easy to lope across country in. The gear lever hardly has to move off sixth, apart from occasional dips for junctions. In this mode, the Honda will sit on motorways at 85mph, just pretending it doesn’t have anything better to do, with the engine whispering away for all the world like a limousine. Drop a ratio, however, and floor the throttle, and the motor rewards you by bellowing forth a fantastically rich, oath-besmirched racket and producing huge dollops of power and torque. The tacho needle darts round to a rev limit somewhere over 8000rpm. Wander back up the gears, repeating the trick, and you’ll soon be travelling indecently rapidly.
The NSX is two cars in one. It’s a civilised machine that can be used every day without fatiguing its pilot in the slightest, and it’s a supercar capable of bringing immense fulfilment and pleasure to all but the most jaded of palates. The only drawback I encountered concerns the reactions of the, ahem, common herd. There’s something about the NSX’s beautiful, lissom lines that inflames the aggression of our nation’s pond life. I kid you not, but during my time with the car it was squared up to by various individuals, including one in a Renault Laguna and-even more ridiculously – a chappie in a Mercedes A-Class. You couldn’t as they say, make it up.
If you feel the Honda NSX hasn’t enough ‘soul’ for you, then may I invite you to spend double the £59,995 price tag (Targa £3000 extra) and get yourself a Ferrari? But bung a bit more in the pot while you’re at it, as you may as well retain the services of a trusted mechanic on a permanent basis. Should, however, the combination of utter usability, top-drawer handling and a joyous, marvellous engine grab you, ring Honda and place your order now. Just remember to quote the company’s power figure to your insurance agent.[/I]
Article by Phil White
Below is another article that was included in the write up.
New NSX – More Then a Facelift
I have to admit to being old enough to remember when the Honda NSX first appeared some ten summers ago. Back then, as an Autocar test-pilot, I would drive a different car every day and it took something special to gain more than a nod of approval. But Honda’s fabulous all-aluminium supercar struck a chord. Right from the first, it was a love affair.
As one of the first Brit journos to drive the NSX, I somehow managed to commandeer the NSX for a weekend. Early on the Sunday morning, I grabbed the keys to the flame-red NSX and headed for the Black Mountains in Wales – my favourite driving road. The NSX excelled itself. It would do so again a year or so later when I had the opportunity to drive the NSX at Castle Combe race circuit for lap after lap. Later, I was shown its true potential by ex-F1 driver Derek Warwick. Its capabilities were truly astonishing. The one dynamic weakness was with the engine. It just wasn’t quite responsive or gutsy enough to warrant the supercar label. The chassis, however, was sublime, and still is.
So when the new revised NSX arrived on my drive, it was greeted like an old friend. The changes, we are told, are minor revisions, focusing on the suspension and tyres, although the engine is marginally up on power and torque.
Before I’d driven half a mile I knew that there was rather more to the story we were being led to believe. Booted hard from around 4000rpm, the old NSX would wind itself up before powering forward as the rev-needle climbed towards the red zone. The gear-lever needed frequent stirring to keep the smooth 3.2-litre V6 right there in the pleasure-zone.
Floor the throttle in the new NSX from 4000rpm and it’s a different story. This one responds with a startling immediacy that continues up the rev range in a tidal wave of torque. It’s a continuous flow, and a ferociously powerful one at that. The same power as before? I think not.
Perhaps I should have smelled a rat when Honda’s own figures claimed a standing quarter-mile time more than two seconds quicker than before, while the top speed has been raised a significant amount, too. Not the gearing then. The only conclusion is that the new NSX has a good deal more power than the 280bhp claimed.
Article by Martin Vincent
Now I know that there are a number of points in the first article that are wrong, but then I’m yet to read an NSX article in any mag where there are no mistakes.
What I want to know is this. Two different testers come to the same conclusion and that is that the facelifted NSX is way faster than the one’s before.Now we have pretty much established on the board with Noel’s dyno printout that the power is the same on pre and post 02 cars so surely this is proof that the press cars are not standard.
Thoughts gentlemen please.
Oh and I hope you enjoyed the article.
Cheers,
Ivor.
And what did my hard work glean? That you can do just about anything you want to in the NSX. It has immensely available power, making it easy to lope across country in. The gear lever hardly has to move off sixth, apart from occasional dips for junctions. In this mode, the Honda will sit on motorways at 85mph, just pretending it doesn’t have anything better to do, with the engine whispering away for all the world like a limousine. Drop a ratio, however, and floor the throttle, and the motor rewards you by bellowing forth a fantastically rich, oath-besmirched racket and producing huge dollops of power and torque. The tacho needle darts round to a rev limit somewhere over 8000rpm. Wander back up the gears, repeating the trick, and you’ll soon be travelling indecently rapidly.
The NSX is two cars in one. It’s a civilised machine that can be used every day without fatiguing its pilot in the slightest, and it’s a supercar capable of bringing immense fulfilment and pleasure to all but the most jaded of palates. The only drawback I encountered concerns the reactions of the, ahem, common herd. There’s something about the NSX’s beautiful, lissom lines that inflames the aggression of our nation’s pond life. I kid you not, but during my time with the car it was squared up to by various individuals, including one in a Renault Laguna and-even more ridiculously – a chappie in a Mercedes A-Class. You couldn’t as they say, make it up.
If you feel the Honda NSX hasn’t enough ‘soul’ for you, then may I invite you to spend double the £59,995 price tag (Targa £3000 extra) and get yourself a Ferrari? But bung a bit more in the pot while you’re at it, as you may as well retain the services of a trusted mechanic on a permanent basis. Should, however, the combination of utter usability, top-drawer handling and a joyous, marvellous engine grab you, ring Honda and place your order now. Just remember to quote the company’s power figure to your insurance agent.[/I]
Article by Phil White
Below is another article that was included in the write up.
New NSX – More Then a Facelift
I have to admit to being old enough to remember when the Honda NSX first appeared some ten summers ago. Back then, as an Autocar test-pilot, I would drive a different car every day and it took something special to gain more than a nod of approval. But Honda’s fabulous all-aluminium supercar struck a chord. Right from the first, it was a love affair.
As one of the first Brit journos to drive the NSX, I somehow managed to commandeer the NSX for a weekend. Early on the Sunday morning, I grabbed the keys to the flame-red NSX and headed for the Black Mountains in Wales – my favourite driving road. The NSX excelled itself. It would do so again a year or so later when I had the opportunity to drive the NSX at Castle Combe race circuit for lap after lap. Later, I was shown its true potential by ex-F1 driver Derek Warwick. Its capabilities were truly astonishing. The one dynamic weakness was with the engine. It just wasn’t quite responsive or gutsy enough to warrant the supercar label. The chassis, however, was sublime, and still is.
So when the new revised NSX arrived on my drive, it was greeted like an old friend. The changes, we are told, are minor revisions, focusing on the suspension and tyres, although the engine is marginally up on power and torque.
Before I’d driven half a mile I knew that there was rather more to the story we were being led to believe. Booted hard from around 4000rpm, the old NSX would wind itself up before powering forward as the rev-needle climbed towards the red zone. The gear-lever needed frequent stirring to keep the smooth 3.2-litre V6 right there in the pleasure-zone.
Floor the throttle in the new NSX from 4000rpm and it’s a different story. This one responds with a startling immediacy that continues up the rev range in a tidal wave of torque. It’s a continuous flow, and a ferociously powerful one at that. The same power as before? I think not.
Perhaps I should have smelled a rat when Honda’s own figures claimed a standing quarter-mile time more than two seconds quicker than before, while the top speed has been raised a significant amount, too. Not the gearing then. The only conclusion is that the new NSX has a good deal more power than the 280bhp claimed.
Article by Martin Vincent
Now I know that there are a number of points in the first article that are wrong, but then I’m yet to read an NSX article in any mag where there are no mistakes.
What I want to know is this. Two different testers come to the same conclusion and that is that the facelifted NSX is way faster than the one’s before.Now we have pretty much established on the board with Noel’s dyno printout that the power is the same on pre and post 02 cars so surely this is proof that the press cars are not standard.
Thoughts gentlemen please.
Oh and I hope you enjoyed the article.
Cheers,
Ivor.