Few cars on the market can combine explosive thoroughbred performance with dependable reliability and user refinement. If you want one of these elements, you usually compromise by losing another. The truth of owning a supercar is that you sacrifice having most of the qualities of regular cars in the pursuit of performance and wow factor.
But with the Honda/Acura NSX, there are no such compromises; it does it all. It looks and performs as a serious supercar should, but doesn’t come with the savagery that you’d expect from one when you take it into the real world. It is one of the few supercars that is a true all-rounder, and one of even fewer that do everything to such a high standard.
The Honda NSX Revolutionized High-Performance
There are two generations of the NSX. The original is a true icon that was designed with help from Pininfarina and assisted in development by one of Formula 1’s greatest drivers, Ayrton Senna. It was in production from 1990 to 2005 and left a legacy of simplicity, lightness, elegance, and an unbeatable driving experience. It was capable of beating Ferraris while being a fraction of the price.
These were huge boots to fill upon its much-anticipated return in 2016, and there were doubts, but the second generation was another excellent car, albeit for very different reasons. Weighing 3,878 pounds, being all-wheel-drive and powered by a hybrid engine, it was a spaceship compared to its predecessor. However, much of its spirit and philosophy very much stayed the same, as you’ll see below.
16 Cheapest Supercars You Can Buy
Discover the ultimate combination of style, performance, and speed with our list of 16 relatively affordable supercars
The NSX Has Exceptional Reliability
The NSX is made by Honda, so it’s no surprise to hear that it has a reputation for exceptional reliability. RepairPal shows that the NSX has an average annual repair cost of just $354. This makes it the cheapest supercar to maintain by a massive margin; it’s even cheaper to maintain than a Mazda MX5 Miata, which, according to RepairPal, costs $429 annually. The low repair costs are down to exceptional engineering and, being a Honda, having cheap and available spare parts that are fitted to other models.
Acura also sold the NSX with a four-year/50,000-mile warranty and a six-year/70,000-mile drivetrain warranty. The NSX’s hybrid components are additionally covered for eight years or 100,000 miles.
It’s Highly Dependable By Supercar Standards
It can’t be stressed enough that this is a 190-mph supercar, and a rare one, with only around 3,000 second-gen units being sold globally. Such machines usually spend their lives tucked away in warm garages under a cover. But even with its exclusivity, the NSX can, and should, be enjoyed as a daily driver. It’s nicely understated and is very unlikely to go wrong — but even if it does, you won’t need to pay for exclusive supercar parts and service. The NSX even has a fairly reasonable combined fuel economy across cities and highways of 21 mpg; both the battery and its 15.6-gallon tank will let it cover 328 miles between refuels.
The Fastest Honda Sports Cars Ever Made
What names come to mind when you think of the fastest Honda sports cars ever made? Here are ten that stand out and top the list.
The NSX Is A Track Weapon
Cheap to maintain and usable it may be, but do not for one minute believe that the NSX is boring. The figures are crazy: the NSX’s powertrain is a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 hybrid (charged by the V6) that has three electric motors. All of this combined produces 573 horsepower and 476 pound-feet of torque (600 horsepower and 492 pound-feet in Type S guise), which, despite the car’s hefty weight, makes it go from zero to 60 mph in a neck-breaking 2.9 seconds and onto a top speed of 191 mph.
The NSX isn’t a hybrid like a BMW i8 or Lexus LC 500h. Those are fat, gentle cruisers in comparison.
It shines even more in the corners, thanks to its SH-AWD (super-handling AWD) system that keeps it completely gripped into the tarmac. The steering is incredibly precise, and the NSX also has an active vector system that can manage the power individually for each wheel, keeping the traction consistent. Weight distribution is a massive strength of the NSX, too, as two of its electric motors are located at each front wheel, while the other is at the rear. This sheer ability to cling on in the corners is kind to less experienced drivers, and those who know how to push a car will need to go a long way to find this car’s limit.
Performance Specifications
|
Engine |
3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 hybrid |
|
Horsepower |
573 |
|
Torque |
492 lb-ft |
|
Top Speed |
191 mph |
|
0-60 MPH |
2.9 seconds |
10 Cheap Performance Hatchbacks That Deliver Sports Car-Level Fun
While sports cars typically command higher prices, several affordable hot hatches provide a thrilling driving experience without breaking the bank.
It’s User-Friendly And Versatile
There are different driving modes to choose from when driving the NSX; once this hybrid monster is done tearing up the track in Sport Mode (regardless of talent level), it can be switched into Comfort, where it reverts to being a near-silent, semi-practical car for the road. The steering gets lighter, the throttle less sensitive, and the suspension softer. On your journey home, it will be relatively easy to see out of, and it even has a cargo space of 4.4 cubic feet between the rear bumper and engine compartment. It had to be there because the front space is taken up by electric motors. The space isn’t large, but it’s more than many supercars offer.
Comfort In The Real World
Inside the NSX, it feels just like any other premium Honda. The seats are well capable of keeping you in place as you pull high G-forces, but are still comfortable on any commute. There are many items equipped as standard, such as front and rear parking sensors, dual-zone climate control, power-adjustable front seats, and a multi-view rear vision camera. There’s a multitude of leather for the seats and much of the interior, but the Honda feeling may be a bit too prominent. While it isn’t filled with carbon fiber or a roll cage like many supercars, drivers may desire more of a premium, differing aesthetic for their purchase.
Value For Performance
With its production ending in 2022, the NSX can now only be bought on the used market. But this means that it will be even cheaper than its original MSRP of $169,500, a price that was already an excellent value for such a supercar. A reasonable price to pay now would be between $135,000 – $160,000.
Performance cars in a similar price range are the Porsche 911 Turbo and the Audi R8 V10. Both of these offer similar performance stats and are renowned for their practicality and usability. But the real unique selling point for the NSX is its sophistication. Its hybrid power unit and active torque vectoring are the sort of technology found in hypercars such as the McLaren W1, a car that is thirteen times the price of the NSX. The NSX makes high-performance hybrids more attainable and bridges the gap between the technology being available solely for world-beating hypercars and non-performance commuters.
Find 2022 Acura NSX and more cars for sale on our Marketplace
The NSX Is Very Likely To Appreciate
The first-generation NSX is well and truly a car for the ages, and its successor may not be as legendary, but it is likely to be highly memorable. The newer NSX is very much an anomaly and a future collector’s item — and now is an excellent time to buy one, with its fairly recent production end and used price tag. Already being a rare car, its exclusivity will only grow along with its value.
Source: Kelley Blue Book, RepairPal