In the late 1980s, Honda decided to create a supercar that could compete on equal terms with similar cars from Italian and German manufacturers. The Honda NS-X prototype was first introduced in February 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show, and in 1990, sales of the Honda NSX serial coupe began in Japan. In 1991, the car entered the American market under the name.

The design of the coupe was traditional for cars of this class: an engine located in the base, rear-wheel drive. Due to the fact that the body of the car was made of aluminum, it was possible to achieve a low weight of the car - the curb weight of the coupe was 1.3-1.4 tons. The Honda NSX was driven by a three-liter V6 engine with a VTEC variable valve timing system. The highly accelerated engine could spin up to 8000 rpm, and its power reached 274 hp. from. Gearboxes - five-speed manual or four-speed automatic.

In 1992-1995, several hundred Honda NSX-R coupes were produced specifically for the Japanese market. The car was lightened by 120 kg due to the rejection of the audio system, air conditioning, spare wheel, sports seats and a stiffer suspension.

In 1995, a targa version appeared - with a removable roof section. And in 1997, the range of engines was replenished with a more powerful power unit: the V-shaped “six” 3.2 developed 280–294 hp. from. and was completed only with a six-speed “mechanics”.

The Honda NSX is a mid-engined sports car with a very rich history. The development of this model began in 1984, and legendary personalities took part in its testing, including Ayrton Senna, Satori Nakajima and Bobi Rahal.

The first working prototype of the NS-X (New Sportscar eXperimental) was first shown to the world public in February 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show. The car made a splash. It was a major breakthrough in Honda engineering and design, and had a strong impact on the future development of sports cars.

In particular, Gordon Murray, the creator of the iconic hypercar, said that his British company changed its focus when creating its car under the influence of the NXS.

Serial production of the Honda NSX began in 1990. The car received a unique all-aluminum body, first used in the automotive industry. But the main pride of the Japanese was the range of engines.

About motors

Initially, the Honda NSX was offered with a 3.0-liter 256-horsepower DOHC engine. It is aggregated in tandem with a 4-speed automatic transmission, or with an adaptive "automatic" hydromechanical type with switches on the steering wheel. The maximum speed of the sports car reached 260 km / h.

In 1997, Honda began to install a V6 engine with a displacement of 3.2 liters on the NSX. Its return has grown to 280 horsepower. Working in tandem with the new 6-band mechanics, this power unit provided a maximum speed of 270 km / h.

Three machine versions

In total, there are three modifications of the car: the NSX coupe, the NSX-T with a targa body (produced since 1997) and the lightweight modification NSX-R (produced since 1992).

In 2005, the Japanese manufacturer said goodbye to his legend. Serial production of the machine was officially discontinued. The NSX lasted fifteen years on the assembly line. It is also worth noting that in the US and Hong Kong, the model was sold under the name Acura NSX.

About prices

It is not so easy to buy an Acura / Honda NSX on the Russian market now - there are very few offers. Depending on the technical condition of the car, the presence / absence of tuning elements and the year of manufacture, the cost of the NSX varies from 500,000 to 2.5 million rubles.

To be continued…

At the motor show in Detroit 2012 was presented to the generation. The all-wheel drive car is equipped with a hybrid power plant, consisting of a V6 gasoline engine and three electric motors. According to preliminary information, mass production of new items will begin in 2015.

Maybe not as fast in extreme conditions, but this is a real Gran Turismo, almost an ideal car for long trips at high speeds. Nissan, Toyota and Mitsubishi created cult models, today not many will remember the Honda NSX car, but when creating the NSX, Honda created a competitor not for the aforementioned high-speed Japanese, but for Ferrari and Porsche. Why Ferrari and Lamborghini install engines in the base? - in order to more evenly distribute the weight distribution, such a car will be faster in corners - the Hondas did the same. The Honda NSX engine is located in front of the rear axle, the wheelbase of the coupe is not too long, so the engine was placed transversely. Initially, the project to create a high-speed mid-engined coupe Honda was called HP-X, which means Honda Pininfarina Xperiment. Introduced in 1984 concept The HP-X, whose body was designed by Pininfarina, was very aerodynamic, with a drag coefficient of just 0.25. Subsequently, Honda ceased cooperation with Pininfarina on the construction of a super coupe. After the refusal of Pininfarina services, the design of the Japanese woman was handled by Ken Okuyama. In 1989, a pre-production NSX was shown in Chicago, the drag coefficient of the serial Honda NSX was 0.32.

For the construction of Super-Honda, a new factory was built, to which the best Honda employees were invited. Each NSX took 40 hours to build, and the motor was assembled by hand, one motor, from and before collected by one master. NSX is also notable for the fact that it is the world's first mass-produced car with a monocoque body made of aluminum, the better-known aluminum did not yet appear. The talented racer Ayrton Senna helped with the chassis settings, already after the tragic accident at the Formula 1 race, Honda's head of development said - "without Ayrton Senna, we would not have been able to create such an amazing car." In the US, the NSX was sold under the name Acura. The NSX stood out with a record low curb weight, but there was also an NSX - R version, with the same engine, the weight of the car was reduced, more on this below.

External review of the Honda NSX

Honda NSX was produced in coupe and targa bodies, NSX Targa was designated as NSX - T. Targas were mainly intended for the USA, so their suspension was made softer. In addition, the Targa is 45kg heavier than the coupe, which also makes it less suitable for high-speed cornering. Honda's flat bottom significantly increases downforce. Coupe Honda shoes in tires dimension: 245/40 R17.

Salon equipment

If for the NSX leather seats with adjustments and air conditioning were the norm, then Recaro sports seats were installed in the lightweight NSX-R, air conditioning was available as an option, the NSX-R is notable for the lack of sound insulation. All these measures made it possible to reduce the already record low curb weight by another 120 kg.

Technical equipment and Characteristics

Unlike the most powerful modifications of the Toyota Supra and Nissan Skyline, the NSX engine is not equipped with a turbocharger, its torque is somewhat lower, but due to the speed (cut-off of the standard engine at 8,000), the power is comparable to the turbocharged Japanese.

Initially, the Honda NSX was equipped with a 3.0-liter V6 under the C30A index. The motor is equipped with Honda's proprietary phase change system - VTEC. The block, which is reinforced with a composite material, houses forged titanium pistons and connecting rods. NSX engine power - 273hp, tractive effort - 285N.M. Docked with a five-speed mechanics, the engine, according to passport data, helps to reach one hundred kilometers within 5.9 seconds. It is a known fact that journalists managed to accelerate the NSX to hundreds in just 5.03 seconds. If the car was equipped with a four-speed automatic, the C30A engine was derated to 348 horsepower. The compression ratio of the C30A engine is 10.2:1. The manual NSX does a quarter mile in 13.47 seconds. A set of two hundred kilometers was carried out within 20.2s, the maximum speed of the HSX coupe was 270 kilometers per hour, cars with a gun reached a speed of 260 kilometers.

In 1997, the C32B engine appeared, as can be seen from the index, the volume of the Honda V6 was increased to 3.2l, the power was 280hp, and the pulling force was 304N.M. The C32A motor was mated with a six-speed mechanics. These innovations made it possible to improve the dynamics declared in the passport data by 0.2s, the set hundreds on the NSX C32B is 5.7s.

Let's pay attention to the technical characteristics of the Honda NSX with the C30A engine. Gearbox - mechanics.

Specifications:

Powerplant: V6 3.0 petrol

Volume: 2977cc

Power: 274hp

Torque: 284N.m

Number of valves: 24

Honda NSX performance:

Acceleration (0 - 100km): 5.9s

Limit speed:270km

Average consumption of gasoline: 10.3 (passport data)

Fuel tank capacity:70L

Dimensions Honda: 4425mm*1810mm*1175mm

Wheelbase:2530mm

Curb weight:1425kg

Ground clearance (clearance): 120mm

Price

It should be understood that the Honda NSX is a very rare car, of which there are no more in the CIS than thoroughbred Italian supercars. The price of the first generation Honda NSX usually ranges from $35,000 to $50,000.

It is worth saying that at the time when this car was sold new, it cost $ 100,000! And this is in the nineties…. So the $40,000 price tag for an NSX in the used car market shouldn't sound outrageous to you.

Honda NSX

Honda NSX

common data

3.2-liter, 6-cylinder with a V-shaped arrangement of cylinders, 280 hp at 7300 rpm, torque 31.0 kg/m at 5300 rpm.

5 manual transmission, 6 manual transmission

Characteristics

Mass-dimensional

dynamic

Acceleration to 100 km/h:

5.7 sec.

On the market

Development

According to former head of development department Nobuhiko Kawamoto (Nobuhiko Kawamoto), the start of the Honda sports car project was given to Mr.. Such legendary personalities as Satori Nakajima, Bobi Rahal and Ayrton Senna took part in its development and testing. In 1984, Honda commissioned Pininfarina to design the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina Xperimental), with a mid-mounted 2.0L V6 engine. The design of the NSX was handled by a team of engineers led by Chief Designer Ken Okuyama and Executive Chief Engineer Shigeru Uehara, who was also responsible for the Honda S2000 design. The NSX was first introduced to the public at the Chicago Auto Show in February 1989, and at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1989. The fact that the NSX was introduced had a huge impact on automakers in its sector. So McLaren F1 designer Gordon Marie mentioned in an interview that Honda's breakthrough in the development of the NSX had a huge impact on him, and after a test drive, he forced him to completely change the guidelines when designing the McLaren F1. At first glance, the Honda NSX seems a little odd: on one side, an all-aluminum body, and on the other, a 6-cylinder engine that sits across the body in order to leave room for a rear rack, in which you can put a bag with accessories for playing in golf. In fact, this is nothing more than a delusion, which is explained by the fact that at that time there were many such experts who believed and wrote that Honda designers, instead of consistently achieving the main goal - increasing the efficiency of their car, were distracted by all sorts of secondary little things. To the question about the use of a 6-cylinder engine in the NSX, the chief engineer of the project, Mr. Uehara, gave an exhaustive answer at one time. He said that it could not be otherwise, since the NSX is a middle-class car, nothing more.

Production

Serial production of the NSX was established at the Takanezawa plant in Tochigi, built specifically for this project. In serial production of the NSX, a body of a monolithic design was used, made entirely of aluminum. Most of the components of this machine are assembled by hand. When organizing production, about 200 experienced specialists from other Honda plants were involved in the plant.

Characteristics

For comparison, the NSX accelerated from 0 to 60 in 5.03 seconds, and the Ferrari in 5.2 seconds. The NSX's best quarter mile time was 12.6 seconds. And this despite the fact that the Ferrari was more powerful by 20 hp. (300 for Ferrari versus 280 for NSX). It was possible to achieve such an effect only on the condition that the engine that was planned to be installed on the car should not only be powerful, but also be compact enough and not too heavy. And at that time, Honda had already developed the original VTEC system (variable valve timing system), which made it possible to achieve the desired speed characteristics from just a 3.2-liter engine. The transverse arrangement of the engine also has its own explanation. The bottom line was that it was important for the designers to press the engine as close to the ground as possible, but it was impossible to increase the wheelbase, because it was no less important to ensure that the car on the go gave the impression of a monolith. There was only one thing left - to place the motor right in the middle between the front and rear axles. And how was it to be done if you did not turn it 90 degrees and put it not along, but across the body? In order to achieve the same dynamics with a longitudinal engine, it would be necessary to increase the wheelbase, and this was highly undesirable.

Since when designing the NSX, engineers were able to achieve a 50:50 weight distribution between the right and left sides of the car, and because of this, she was able to achieve excellent results in wheel races (Red Ring, Le Mans, Moscow Ring).

In 1992, the Type R modification appeared, which still remains on the wave of great popularity.

Technical characteristics of the car Honda NSX-R

Full length: 4 430 mm. Full width: 1,810 mm. Overall height: 1,160 mm. Wheelbase: 2530 mm. Machine weight: 1,270 kg. Drive: rear wheels. Engine: 3.2L 6-cylinder V-cylinder, DOHC valve timing, power output 206 kW (280 hp) at 7,300 rpm, maximum torque 304 Nm (31.0 kg- m) at 5,300 rpm. Transmission: 6-speed manual

First Generation NSX-R (JDM)

In early 1992, Honda produced a limited run (483 units) of the NSX-RTS exclusively for the Japanese domestic market (JDM). Major changes included a 280 hp stock engine. (209 kW), gearbox refinement, more powerful braking system and extensive weight reduction from 1350 kg to 1230 kg. The NSX-R was sport-oriented as much as possible, sacrificing soundproofing, sound system and air conditioning in the pursuit of weight reduction. All these components are no longer included in the basic delivery, although they remain available as an option. Production of this model ended in 1994.

In 1997, as a result of a partial modernization on trim levels equipped with a manual gearbox, the engine capacity was increased to 3.2 liters, and thanks to the improvement of the suspension, the driving characteristics of the car were significantly improved. In 2001, partial changes were also carried out with the machine. For the first time, the exterior design was changed, in particular, the body received a new front optics. There is another new modification. After all of the above, we will again return to the assessment of driving performance itself. And then it turns out that the Honda NSX is a completely unique project. The model has existed for more than 18 years, and, nevertheless, it still has not lost its relevance, and even against the background of modern analogues, it is able to captivate and charm. After all, if you make a new model, following the old concept, then only by improving the "aluminum" technology, you can reduce the weight of the car to 1,100 kg. This is if you do not change its size. Of course, if you increase the size of the machine and equip it according to modern requirements, then the weight will increase in it, however, in this case, everything can be limited to 1,300 kilograms. For a car with a similar weight, a 6-cylinder V-shaped engine with a displacement of 3.5 liters and power from 300 to 350 hp. would be more than sufficient. And fuel consumption would remain low. It is even possible that with an increase in the size of the body, the engine could be placed not across, but along the car. Well, further - further, of course, there are even more tempting prospects associated with the appearance of an 8-cylinder engine in service. All this does not at all contradict the NSX concept, which was chosen back then, in previous years, but which even now turns out to be quite suitable for the production of a modern sports car.

In short, if Honda designers set themselves the task of developing an ultra-fast sports car based on the NSX, they would have succeeded in the best possible way. For Honda, this would be all the more important because it simply did not have another such impressive car left.

Literature

1. "Honda HS-X". History and Models - Pininfarina Models. Pininfarina. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.

2. Honda Worldwide | July 12, 2005 "Honda to Discontinue Production of the NSX Sports Car"

3. a b St. Antoine, Arthur. "The Asphalt Jungle: Ayrton's Car." motor trend.

4. Honda - The Power of Dreams.

5. "Sports Car International - December 1990." NSX Prime, 1997-2005.

6. "Sports Car International - August 1990" NSX Prime, 1997-2005.

7. "Sports Car International - December 1998." NSX Prime, 1997-2005.

8. "Acura NSX Zanardi Edition." Car & Driver, July 1999.

9. 24 Hours of LeMans, 1994.

10.24 Hours of Le Mans, 1995.

11.24 Hours of Le Mans, 1996.

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