Audiences caught a first glimpse of the NSX concept car at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, where little was revealed. But it was the car’s appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2013 – the last time the NSX will appear as a concept car – that truly whetted the appetites of supercar fans worldwide.
Design
From a design perspective, the NSX is everything you would expect from a Honda sports car. On the outside, the NSX is finished with clean lines and a sleek, aerodynamic style that’s easy on the eye, while the interior is built very much with the driver in mind. The cab is visually stunning, offering the driver a strong driving position, excellent visibility and a ‘simple sports interface’.
Performance
While the design features of the new Honda NSX are plain for all to see, although likely to undergo some tweaks in the manufacturing stage, we know comparatively little about how the NSX will perform, with Honda refusing to release any definitive information that pertains to expected performance.
The online rumour mill, fuelled by inferences derived from reputable sources, such as Chief designer Ted Klaus, does at least give us some idea of what we can expect.
The NSX, Honda confirms, will be powered by a mid-mounted, V6 injection engine, paired with Honda’s Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All-Wheel Drive) system. It’s expected that Honda’s under-the-bonnet technology will be capable of producing a power output somewhere in the region of 400 and 500bhp, fuelling an acceleration of 0-62mph in under the four-second mark.
There is, however, a little conjecture surrounding these expected performance figures.
While Honda did indeed spend a week in Los Angeles earlier this year testing the Ferrari 458 Italia, Audi’s R8, the Nissan GT-R, Porsche 911 and Corvette Z06, all of which have a power output of around the 500bhp mark, Honda are keen to emphasise that they want to prioritise driver experience and lap times, not sheer power and speed. Although it’s a fair bet that we can expect something similar.
The countdown has begun
The petrol-electric hybrid supercar, which will also be available in convertible form, is being pitched as more affordable than the Ferrari 458 Italia, with Honda confirming that they will be looking to launch at around the £100,000 mark, putting it on a par with an Audi R8.
While Honda has been understandably vague about the design and performance details of the new NSX, a picture is slowly starting to form. And it’s a picture that we can expect to see more clearly in the coming months.
The first shipment of Honda’s new NSX may not be until 2015, but the gentle bubbling over of pre-launch excitement is already being felt throughout the motoring world.
Article written by: Chris Anderson
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