Honda NSX

The Acura NSX answers the question "What if a big company took engineering seriously?"

Most big companies have engineers, to be sure, but that doesn't mean they are valued. Think about it: if a big company is losing money, the president will never say "I wish we had engineers like those guys at Toyota who figured out how to make cars that don't break." No, it is always "we need better advertising, better marketing, fancier financing, higher salaries for executives", i.e., "we need more MBAs just like me."

Honda simply has better engineers than most other car companies, which is how they went from zero to moderately huge in just two decades. The Accord and Civic are the benchmarks in their respective categories. A few years after they entered Formula One racing, Honda dominated the sport. The NSX is basically the street car built by the Formula One folks.

The NSX removes almost all barriers to heroic driving. Late for an appointment and need to go 80 mph around mountain curves? You won't hear the tires squeal. Getting a call on your cell phone? Nudge the transmission into full auto and the car will shift for you, smooth as a Lexus. Don't want to downshift while descending the Sierra mountains? Good luck getting the ventilated foot-diameter rotors to heat up enough to make the brakes fade. Worried that your $85,000 car and cell phone aren't enough to attract a partner and anxious to get a tan? Take the top off your NSX-T and store it in the ingenious spot above the engine that doesn't rob you of any luggage space.

I wish I could be like one of those studs from Car & Driver magazine and tell you that "the NSX accelerates nicely up to 155 mph when the limiter kicks in harshly" or "the NSX steers neutrally until 0.95 g but then starts to oversteer slightly." But I can't. I'm too old. I'm 32 and believe that I'm going to die one day and I hope it won't be soon. I drove the NSX from Los Angeles to San Francisco and back, about 1000 miles total. Adjusted for the twisty roads along the coast and in the Sierra, I drove faster than I've ever gone in my life. I never came close to any limit imposed by the NSX. I would be scared to test the limits of this car on a public road.

The first thing you notice when you get into the NSX is the comfort. This is not a Porsche or a Ferrari. Nothing is weird, there is no penalty for all the extra capability. After ten minutes, the controls feel as natural as on a car you drive every day. Visibility is superb in all directions and the low cowl prevents claustrophobia. Considering that the engine is about a foot from your ear, the car is reasonably quiet; wind noise is unobtrusive (at least up to 100 mph). Set the temperature you'd like and the automatic climate control system delivers it (I've always hated these systems, but the NSX's works).

The second thing you notice is the balance. If you haven't driven a mid-engined car, then you owe it to yourself. Whether it is an old Lotus Europa, a Toyota MR2, or the NSX, they all share a delightfully neutral feel. A big part of it is the low polar moment of inertia. Porsches and Corvettes manage to achieve a balanced weight, more or less, by putting heavy stuff on both ends of the car. However, with all that weight so far from the center of mass, the car ends up with a high polar moment of inertia and will resist twisting. Mid-engined cars keep the weight in the middle and are much easier to guide through twisty sections of road.

The third thing you notice is that they got everything right. The factory alarm turned itself off when you unlocked the car with the key (and didn't go off in the middle of the night every night, like my old Clifford). The headlights are clearer and sharper than any you've ever been behind. Your passenger is marveling at the craftsmanship of the leather stitching.

Transmission
You can get the NSX with a 5-speed manual or 4-speed Formula One-type automatic tranmission. My testosterone-poisoned psyche yearned for a manual transmission, but rationally I knew that all race cars these days have "semi-automatic" transmissions. The console-mounted shifter in my automatic NSX-T had four settings: 4, 3/M, 2, 1. In "4", the car behaves like any other with an automatic transmission: it chooses the best gear from 1 through 4. Shifting into 3/M from a stop, the car starts in first gear. You can accelerate until just before redline and the transmission will not shift. All control has moved into a little stalk by your right index finger. Tip it up and the car will instantly shift into second gear. Another tip up and you're in third gear. Tip it down and the car will shift back to second, assuming that won't result in overrevving the engine.

Over 10 days, I grew to love this transmission. No matter how powerful the car, automatics never felt really powerful to me. If you want to move, you have to mash the accelerator to the floor and wait a split second for the kick-down switch to engage and the transmission to downshift. I always miss the instant throttle response of a manual. With the NSX, you can quickly tip the car down into second or third gear. With the revs kept high, the throttle response is every bit as good as any manual.

My one complaint with the system is that downshifts are rather harsh and involve some engine braking and weight transfer. This will never be mistaken for a skillfully executed double-clutched downshift. It doesn't seem to keep Formula One drivers from winning, though, so I guess this isn't a serious complaint. Nonetheless, it sticks out like a mustache on the Mona Lisa in a car so otherwise smooth. {|

Engine
While other car companies whined that the new California emissions standards were impossible, Honda figured out how to meet them with minor valve timing and induction system tweaks. The same kind of engineering brilliance was applied to the NSX's all-aluminum 3.0-liter V-6. It produces 270 hp and 210 lbs-ft of torque, which is ample considering that the car only weighs 3100 lbs. 
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Warts
The sample I drove had 20,000 miles on it and nothing was broken. Nor did anything seem ready to break. When you design a car to handle competently at 180 mph, you end up with a remarkably solid-feeling car at 70 mph.

The BOSE sound system was a disappointment. For the first couple of days, I thought it was great. Voices and music were intelligible above the roar of the engine and the wind, even with the top off on the freeway. Then I noticed that the sound was all midrange and "one-note bass". The high frequencies were missing (I never did find any tweeters in the car) and all kinds of low-frequency sounds were homogenized into a general-purpose quasi-low note. The "one-note" bass is characteristic of ducted woofer systems, which have the advantages of low cost, small size, and light weight, but are not really audiophile material.

"If you don't get laid every day that you're in Los Angeles with that car, I'll never have any respect for you," a physicist friend of mine said. I can't say that I made a serious effort to win his respect, but I did notice in 10 days that men were far more interested in the car than women. This would be the ideal car for a single woman.

Luggage space is advertised as "5.0 cubic feet." Acura helpfully translates that into "two golf bags" for their target market. I managed to get my enormous camera backpack, a Macintosh PowerBook, books, and clothes for a week into the trunk.

Conclusion
I try not to covet material things. I try not to be envious of rich people. When I've gotten expensive cars for a few days to take pictures, I've always been relieved to give them back. $85,000 of sheet metal is a burden. But if I had $85,000 to spare, I would rush out and buy an NSX-T. It is a bargain. I never thought I would say that about an $85,000 car, but it is.

"What's an NSX?" all of my New York friends asked. "It's like a Ferrari, but engineered by people who went to college."