Editorial : November 12, 2008

The NSX.

First off, back to basics. We all know the Mid-engine NSX (“New Sportscar eXperimental”) was rare to begin with, and with a price of 85,000 greenbacks, it wasn’t exactly in everyone’s price range. The Acura NSX was set to be the everyday supercar.

The NSX had a cutting edge ultra-rigid and ultra-light aluminum monocoque chassis, aluminum suspension, titanium rods, forged pistons, and not only that but it had rock solid reliability as well. Although the price was a little steep, most consumers didn’t realize what the NSX was capable of.

With a suspension directly tuned by the legendary Ayrton Senna, and a high output Naturally aspirated V6, the NSX had a Ferrari rivaling performance for a much cheaper cost. While it already had scalpel-sharp handling and the instant power response you would find in an everyday supercar, Acura saw room for improvement.

Along came a universal idea: take what’s already good and make it better. In 1992, Acura decided to roll out the NSX-R. While the NSX was intended to be a ultra high end sports car, engineers had to make some compromises to make it suitable for daily driving, taking away some performance edge.

The NSX-R cut out the slack. Starting out with a base NSX, the sound deadening, audio system and A/C were the first to go. The heavy leather seats were next, replaced by a carbon fiber Sparco racing seat. Next up were the stock rollers. Although not heavy to begin with, the stock wheels were replaced by aluminum Enkei wheels.

All of this weight reduction shaved 264lbs off of the NSX, bringing weight to a scant 2700lbs, however, this NSX wasn’t just stripped. Honda replaced the original springs and dampers with new ones with stiffer rates to reduce a common mid-engine problem of snap oversteer.

One of the last and most important things done was a final drive ratio change. With a higher final drive that meant the high revving V6 could stay in its powerband longer, at the expense of top speed. Production was limited to 482 examples, and was only produced for the Japanese market.

The legendary Honda tuner Spoon decided to skip the already limited NSX, and take an even more limited NSX-R as its base. How do you make a car that has everyday supercar ability and TRULY make it special? Not too much is known about this car, as it is shrouded in secrecy, but one thing for sure is known. Forget that lowly 270hp, Spoon decided to take things to the next level and strap a large turbocharger to the motor to produce a rumored 420hp.

[Photo Credit to: Robert Kerian]

This NSX has been sighted at Twin Ring Motegi tearing up the track. The aggressive styling of the bodykit is sure to produce a huge amount of downforce. Spoon is rumored to be producing a copy of this car for consumers soon for a starting price of $150,000. Not a big price to pay for an everyday supercar, in my opinion.