Quick drive – Honda NSX

Does the Honda NSX live up to it reputation? Yes – in more ways than one. Credit: Newspress

The Millbrook Proving Ground’s Hill Route has everything you need to explore a car’s handling talents. Hairpin bends, off-camber sweepers, double apexes and even a jump or two – they’re all contained within four miles of delicious asphalt.

And on this particular occasion in 2012, I had an automotive icon at my disposal: the Honda NSX.

Built from 1990 to 2005, Honda’s mid-engined supercar took the fight to Ferrari’s 348 and boasted 270bhp at launch from its screaming three-litre V6. The year 1997 saw power increase to 290bhp, and a facelift in 2002 dropped the famous, pop-up headlamps for more modern fixed items, among other things.

Five- and six-speed manual gearboxes were available, although my test hack – owned by Honda UK – had the infinitely less desirable four-speed slush ‘box.

I’ll be honest, the auto robbed a touch of my enthusiasm, but it proved a positive addition in some respects as I was able to focus on things other than changing gear, and appreciate them more deeply.

The steering, for instance, is surprisingly light and dead around the straight ahead, but – coming from a time before speed sensitive power assistance – it gets purposefully heavier when you’re into the meat of the lock and that’s when your confidence grows. It reminded me of my grandad’s MkII Golf GTi, in fact.

The NSX may have been developed by Ayrton Senna, back then a McLaren Honda Formula 1 driver, but some have found it difficult to extract the maximum from the chassis when you’re really pushing. I can understand why. That mid-engined layout makes the nose incredibly pointy, but the rear is not always willing to follow, meaning opposite lock is never far away.

Fun? Absolutely. Fast? Nope. There’s a reason Senna was so spectacularly sideways during much of those Suzuka on boards…

Given my conveyance had been completely restored by Honda UK, and there was something of an on-track speed limit to abide by (yes, really), I wasn’t going to take liberties behind the wheel.

But there was one moment (captured in the video below at around the 2min 40sec mark), where a quick change of direction downhill made the rear step out ever so slightly, requiring the slightest straightening of the wheel to counteract it. Going at three times the speed, I imagine that yaw effect increasing likewise.

Having never driven a NSX before, I fantasised about what its V6 went and sounded like. I wasn’t far off, although it’s amazing how leisurely 270bhp now feels. The next Honda Civic Type-R is rumoured to develop more than that from its two-litre four!

Unsurprisingly, it’s the way the engine revs that defines it, rather than absolute power. There isn’t the zizzy-zingyness found in today’s best engines, but Honda’s three-litre V6 is still a masterpiece, its internals revolving faster and faster – seemingly without end or concern for integrity – while a fantastically deep induction note emanates from somewhere ahead of your feet.

The NSX may not be the most powerful supercar in the world, and never was, but it’s still got that almost bespoke feel that separates it from most other cars on the road. With a relatively high driving position and massive, angled dashboard made of a little too much black plastic, it definitely feels like a product of 1990s. But thanks to what lies under the skin, it is far from your average Honda.  

Gearbox and all, I came away utterly satisfied that it was – and still is – the real deal.

See the video of this drive at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cWZsLUpzCo. Please excuse the banter with the Honda PR chap.