THERMAL, Calif. — A car that you can drive to work on a Friday, then take to the raceway on a Saturday.
It's not a new concept in the auto business, but Honda has found a way to take it to the extreme.
Acura
is about to start deliveries of its new NSX supercar. Its designers
envisioned it as being as much at home at the drive-thru window at
Wendy's as it is tearing through hairpin turns.
Well, not quite.
That may be the theory, but clearly a $156,000 supercar is all about
performance. Honda took speed so seriously that, at one point after the
initial version had been unveiled in Detroit, the car was
re-engineered to add horsepower.
The NSX is basically a rolling
showcase of all the engineering prowess that Acura — Honda's luxury
brand — could possibly pour into it. It's a follow-up to the original,
sold from 1991 to 2005, that shook up the auto world with a unique
premise: the notion that a supercar could be made more reliable and
usable every day than the beauties that Italy was dishing out.
Unlike
the past NSX, the new one is a hybrid, using the battery power to
enhance torque and acceleration. It has the latest twin-turbocharged V-6
engine coupled to a nine-speed dual clutch transmission. The car has
Acura's "super-handling all-wheel-drive" system that, among other
things, adds power in the wheels in a way that makes cornering tighter
and faster.
The result is what Acura hopes will be viewed as a
wondercar, a NSX that will present the best of Acura and raise interest
in the brand, even if it's monster price tag means Acura doesn't sell
many.
NSX "is exactly the representation of what we're trying to do," says Acura's U.S. brand chief, Jon Ikeda.
I
spent most of a day in the Acura at a private raceway here and driving
around Palm Springs, an oasis for the wealthy where a supercar is right
at home. On the track, the horsepower and handling stood out. And the
sound.
The 573-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6 engine, in combination
with three electric motors, put on its greatest display in flat-out
acceleration. Like some other cars, the NSX has a feature called "launch
control." In "track model," you press and hold the brake, push the
accelerator to the floor, then let go of the brake for a
push-you-back-in-seat experience.
The inescapable conclusion:
It's fast. Just how fast, Acura hasn't been saying -- although it has
been targeting the Audi R8 V10 and Ferrari 458 as competitors. When it
comes to dishing out performance numbers, about all Acura is saying is
that the top speed pegs at 191 miles per hour.
On the track, the
car indeed held a tighter inside track on sharp curves. When at one
point the wheels started losing their grip in a turn — my fault — the
car seemed guide me out of trouble as soon as I let up on the gas.
Crisis averted.
In street driving, the NSX becomes a pussycat.
Performance is there if you need it, but when you don't, you just cruise
around town in a car that looks completely out of place — a sleek, low,
supercar among the ordinary.
Part of the attraction of NSX is the
roar of the engine, tuned to perfection and literally piped into the
cabin. It's left up to the driver to decide how much the world should
hear. The car has four settings: track, sport plus, sport and one called
"quiet." The quiet setting reduces noise both in the cabin and outside,
the premise being that you'll want to sneak out of your neighborhood in
the morning on the way to work. There's a 25-decibel span between quiet
and track mode.
Just be clear: With those race-car looks, there's no sneaking around unnoticed in the new NSX.
What Stands Out
Looks: Looks as if it belongs on the raceway starting line.
Handling: Tight in the curves.
Price: Sky-high.
2017 Acura NSX
What? The second-generation two-seat supercar from Honda's Acura division.
When? Production starts this month.
Where? Built in Marysville, Ohio.
How much? Prices start at $156,000 plus $1,800 in delivery charges
What makes it go? A 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 engine plus electric motors teamed with a nine-speed transmission.
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