The ultimate sports car let down by a few points, the performance of the NSX Type-R nothing short of amazing. The car has been around for 16 years or so. It created such a buzz when it first stunned the world with its exotic Japanese styling, and its technological advances in being built in complete aluminium and of course sporting Honda's trademark, advanced high-revving engines, a V6 in this case with fibre reinforced metal plus VTEC variable valve timing.

 

 

The fastest NSX the Type R faced the debate on whether it was worth introducing into the UK car market in 2002. However shortly after this Honda took the chance, and if they hadn't you could have had a the car imported. So all was not lost.

Has it really been 12 years!

 

Back in 92 the Supercar took the world by storm with it's ahead of the time Jap styling, the car has been subjected to slight changes over the years however in 2002 there was a switch from the pop-up headlamps to faired-in headlamps. The idea behind this is to reduce drag co-efficient drag from 0.32 to 0.30, as for looks, well you decide, it has been described as looking frog eyed.

Interior

 

For some reason Honda has never really prided its self with sleek & stylish interiors and the NSX is no exception even over the years of production there were very few interior changes. The best description agreed by many is 'Very Black' even the headliner - however these are minimal problems compared to cars real calling position, handling and overall driving. As you are seated you feel like you are in a very low feeling super car, the seats provide support at both hip and shoulder and laterally. The position for the pedals are directly ahead, and are complimented by a footrest, it has height and reach adjustable steering column, the low roof also has been catered for due to fore/aft seat adjustment, making it perfect for many people and above all very comfortable.

 

There is a lack of space in the NSX as you would expect from such a small sports car, the front of the car is fitted with a spacesaver therefore the little space there is already taken up, the rear however due to its length allows approx storage for a couples holiday cases. Usually with mid engined cars such as MR2's and the Countach , however the Honda NSX has high visibility ratings. When in the driving seat you can see both front wings from the driver's seat, the low level rear spoiler isn't a problem either, reversing is no problem with wraparound rear window.

Suspension, driving & performance

 

The Honda car is fitted with speed sensitive electric assistance steering but has a steering circle of 3.2 turns lock to lock. The six-speed close ratio gearbox is helped by a light clutch with slick precision shifts - the VTEC V6 is so torquey it can run at 20mph in top gear.

 

Like you would expect the car is equipped with racing car suspension, the revised 2002 model has front uprated springs uprated anti-roll 10mm increased track, the car comes with 17 inch rims and 215/40 and 255/40 low profiles front and rear. This gives the NSX a stiff ride, much like lowered and uprated suspension kits fitted to other cars such as the Golf GTI. There is ABS and traction control to help in bad conditions, air con, cruise control and other electrical gadgets. A real country roads car, it is truly built and setup superbly for rural roads with its wide stance and 3.2 litre V6 will, easily pulling from tickover, its capable of producing 276bhp @ 7,300rpm and the torque peaks at just over 5,000, like all VTEC engines the model has to be driven hard to experience maximum affect. The VTEC system is clearly evident from 6,000rpm up to redline limiter at 8,500rpm, the car can only be described as making a roar / wail.

 

A real noise for a car lover. Like all Honda performance cars, to maintain maximum performance the car needs to be permanently driven in the VTEC range. Ideal for shifting from 4th to 3rd and 2nd when needed. A real Japanese high performance and high reliability sports car.