Great collumn in paper about NSX

[yellownsx]

There is a wonderful Collumn in the Chicago Sun Times about the NSX.
you would think that he owns the car, or a great fan. I never knew that the NSX was faster than The Corvette ZR-1!

http://www.suntimes.com/output/auto/...ws-clas29.html

BY DAN JEDLICKA AUTO REPORTER


Few cars become instant classics, but the slinky-looking 1991 Acura NSX exotic sports car is one of them. It was a wonder.

Acura dealers were charging customers up to double the price of the hand-built NSX when it arrived for 1991. Some customers were laying out $20,000 just to be put on a waiting list. The car's first year was its best sales year, with 1,940 sold.

The innovative two-seat NSX was the world's first aluminum production car, with an aluminum engine, body and suspension. Honda knew high fuel economy and lower emissions from light cars would be top priorities in the future and thought it could meet those challenges by making a light exotic sports car, which also would improve Acura's image. So it came up with the NSX.

"Auto writers at the 1991 NSX media preview in Japan wanted to know about things such as the car's top speed and handling, but Honda really wanted to talk about such things as the car's innovative use of lightweight aluminum and its fuel-saving design,'' auto analyst Maryann Keller told this reporter after attending the preview. "The NSX was fast and sleek and all that, but that wasn't what the car was really all about.''

The styling of the NSX initially grabbed the most attention. The low-slung car had a canopy-forward design inspired by the F-16 fighter jet. A driver sat in a race-style cockpit well organized around him in a supportive buttery soft leather-covered seat while looking through a sharply raked windshield. There were plenty of comfort and convenience items, including automatic climate control.

The NSX had a race-style mid-engine design and competition-style 24-valve V-6 with variable valve timing and a variable volume induction system for sharp throttle response. The engine had titanium connecting rods used in Grand Prix race engines and whisked the NSX to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds and took it all the way to 165 mph.

The NSX was the first car with electronically driven power steering. Light and quick, it offered the sensitive road feel of race car steering. A traction control system eliminated wheel spin on slippery roads.

The NSX could compete with sports cars from established exotic automakers such as Italy's Ferrari and Lamborghini and England's Lotus. Car and Driver magazine found on a race track that the NSX outdid most of the world's top exotic cars: Ferrari 348, Porsche 911 Carrera 4, Lotus Esprit Turbo SE and the special Corvette ZR-1, which had a unique hand-built engine largely designed by Lotus.

The NSX came from Honda's upscale Acura division. It had a list price of $60,000 with a five-speed manual gearbox, making it the most expensive Japanese car ever sold in America. (The posh Acura Legend sedan had been the first Japanese car to break the $20,000 barrier.)

Some industry observers thought the NSX really should have been priced at more than $100,000, considering its technical sophistication and performance.

"Just look at the NSX's exquisite aluminum suspension components -- even Ferrari doesn't have them,'' said Chicago area Acura and Ferrari dealer John Weinberger.

Other high-performance 1991 sports cars with exotic nameplates weren't meant to be driven daily because they lacked reliability, quality and civility for such use. That wasn't the case with the NSX; it came from Honda, which wasn't about to sell a car that couldn't be used on a daily basis without fuss.

Fuel economy of most exotic cars was awful, but the NSX provided an estimated 18 mpg in the city and 24 on the highway.

Besides its weight-saving goals, Honda set out to make an exotic mid-engine sports car that would establish new levels of prestige, performance, refinement, driveability and reliability.

"The NSX is not only extremely fast, but also smooth, refined, comfortable, surprisingly quiet and easier to drive than most high-performance cars,'' Consumer Guide said. "It doesn't require the driving skills of Mario Andretti to enjoy [but] if you're a highly skilled driver, you'll probably find the NSX is just as rewarding to drive as any of the European exotics.''

The NSX changed the way people viewed exotics. If the Japanese NSX could compete with Ferrari and Lamborghini and still be practical, why couldn't high-performance European sports cars?

This reporter found the car wasn't perfect, with a small cargo area and special tires that helped provide outstanding road grip but only lasted about 15,000 miles. It was hard to find inside door handles and power window controls in the dark and aluminum-intensive construction meant costly repairs.

The NSX also had high steering effort when parking with the five-speed manual gearbox because power steering came only with the four-speed automatic transmission model, which cost an extra $4,000.

The manual-transmission version had a 270-horsepower V-6, while the automatic transmission model had a 252-horsepower version of the engine because Honda lacked an automatic to handle 270 horsepower.

Still, I gave the NSX high marks in nearly all areas. The manual transmission version was the most fun, with its nifty short-throw shifter, light clutch and higher horsepower. The automatic-transmission NSX was plenty fast, but that transmission seemed out of place in such a high-performance sports car.

The NSX continues to be sold, although the lack of an exotic nameplate has made it fall far short of sales expectations. The 2004 model remains essentially the same as the 1991 model. The manual transmission version now has 290 horsepower, and the retractable headlight covers were dropped in 2002, when front and rear styling were slightly revised.

The price remains reasonable at $89,000 for both manual and automatic-transmission versions. A 1991 model in top shape is valued at $35,875. That's more than half its original list price, but it's worth every penny.

[YogsVR4]

Excellent article. Thanks for posting it













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