The Honda NSX is a sports car that was originally produced between 1990 and 2005 by the Japanese automaker Honda. It was equipped with a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, powered by an all-aluminium V6 gasoline petrol engine featuring Honda's Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control system. A long-rumored second generation NSX debuted as a concept car in 2012, equipped with a V6 hybrid vehicle powertrain, and is scheduled to enter into production by 2015. In 1984 Honda commissioned the Italian car designer Pininfarina to design the HP-X, which had a mid-mounted C20A 2.0 L V6 configuration.
After Honda decided to pursue the project its management informed its engineers that the new car would have to be as good as anything coming from Italy and Germany. The HP-X concept car evolved into the NS-X prototype. The NS-X prototype and eventual production car were designed by a team led by Chief Designer Nicholas Zander and Executive Chief Engineer Shigeru Uehara, who subsequently would be placed in charge of the S2000 project. The original performance target for the NS-X was the Ferrari 328, which was revised to the 348 as the design neared completion. Honda intended the NS-X to meet or exceed the performance of the Ferrari, while offering targeted reliability and a lower price point. For this reason, the 2.0L V6 of the HP-X was abandoned and replaced with a more powerful 3.0L VTEC V6 engine. The bodywork design had been specifically researched by Okuyuma and Uehara after studying the 360 degree visibility inside an F-16 fighter jet cockpit. The NS-X was designed to showcase several Honda automotive technologies, many derived from its F1 motor-sports program.
Honda spent a great deal of time and money developing the NS-X. With a robust motor-sports apparatus, Honda had significant development resources at its disposal and made extensive use of them. Respected Japanese Formula One driver Satoru Nakajima, for example, was involved with Honda in the NS-X's early on track development at Suzuka race circuit, where he performed many endurance distance duties related to chassis tuning. Brazilian Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna, for whom Honda had powered all three of his world championship-winning Formula One race cars before his death in 1994, was considered Honda's main innovator in convincing the company to stiffen the NSX chassis further after testing the car at Honda's Suzuka GP circuit in Japan. American Bobby Rahal also participated in the car's development. Senna was given two cars by Honda. The newer one, a black 1993 model, license plate BSS-8888 is still in his family's possession.
The car's strong chassis rigidity and cornering/handling capabilities were the results of Ayrton Senna's direct input with NSX's chief engineers while testing the NSX prototype car at Honda's Suzuka Circuit during its final development stages. The NSX was initially assembled at the purpose-built Takanezawa R&D Plant in Tochigi from 1989 to early 2004, when it was moved to Suzuka Plant for the remainder of its production life. The cars were assembled by approximately 200 of Honda's highest-skilled and most experienced personnel, a team of hand-picked staff with a minimum of ten years assembly experience employed from various other Honda facilities to run the NSX operation. After studying their main competitors such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche, Honda engineers designed the NSX in search of the "perfect balance" between usable power and reliability and thus produced a powerful naturally aspirated VTEC engine suitable for the extreme demands of both road and track.
Today the NSX is still considered by owners of the marque as one of the most reliable exotic cars ever manufactured, with many examples exceeding 100,000 miles, without serious notable reliability issues or having suffered manufacturer recalls. Despite the original NSX ceasing production in 2005, the marque still has a strong base of fans and supporters worldwide with owners clubs flourishing in Asia, the USA and across Europe.[citation needed] International motoring authors like Andrew Frankel Russell Bulgin Mark Hales. Gianni Marin and Bernd Ostmann have not only lent their name to the NSX in print but publicly praised the technology and innovation of Honda's NSX and in the BBC book NSX - Hondas Super Sports Car describe the vehicle as worthy of the title super-car.
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
 |
| 2013 Acura NSX |
0 comments:
Post a Comment