8 Things You Didn’t Know About the New Honda NSX

2016 is a year in which a whole host of new and exciting supercars hit the UK and European market. One of those cars which we are getting very excited about here at Cox Motor Parts, is of course, the brand new Honda NSX.

Honda has always been known for their forward thinking. In fact, the first NSX was seen as somewhat of an automotive trailblazer, being the first mass produced car to have a body entirely made from aluminium.

However, a lot has changed since the first NSX back in 1990, and the expectations of a super car are a lot higher than they once were.

Luckily, Honda has stepped up to the plate once again to deliver a forward thinking, creative and exciting supercar which includes a hybrid engine.

While there are plenty of easily attainable stats out there like speed and price (see our handy infographic here), there’s a bunch of really interesting, geeky and downright bizarre facts you might not know about the new NSX. Here’s our top 8.

1. Chance of Rear Wheel Steering

During the lengthy development process of the new NSX (ten years), Honda considered fitting the super car with rear wheel steering, however, decided against it. This is assumedly down to the extra weight it would add.

While not many cars have all wheel or at least rear wheel steering, there have been some notable exceptions in recent years, check out this from Yahoo for some of the most interesting examples.

2. Rigorous Testing

Honda like to make sure no matter the model, that it can endure the trials and tribulations of good, bad and ugly road services as well as even the most extreme weather conditions.

That’s why before each NSX is ready for sale, it is placed on a four-post shaking rig for up to 20 minutes. The shaker is supposed to simulate the ugliest of pot holed bumpy roads to ensure the car will be able to hack it once it hits the road for real.

It also gets test driven through what they call the ‘monsoon test’ which produces a downpour to the equivalent of twice the highest ever recorded hurricane rainfall.

3. Buckets of Paint

For anyone who’s had their car re-sprayed in the past, you’ll know that it takes a couple of coats to get the right look sharp.

You’ll appreciate then that Honda has gone to new extremes to get their paint right, spraying over four gallons of paint applied in 11 layers on each of the new NSX models.

4. Welding the Chassis

The intricacy of the paint work is replicated in the way they put together the chassis. Between 850 and 900 welds go into the completion of the skeleton of the new NSX.

To put that into words more of us might understand, that is essentially 35 metres of welding material.

5. Pace of Production

It is common knowledge that Honda has been working on the next generation supercar, however, it is not common knowledge at what speed they will be putting them together.

In a Honda factory in the US, once full production begins Honda will be creating just eight models per day.

This figure seems irrelevant when you know little about car production, but when you compare it to the 850 Honda Accords they will be putting together every day in the factory next door, it really puts it into perspective!

6. Impressive Production Line

Until production begins over in Europe (the main Honda factory is based here in England), the majority of the new NSX’s will be produced in the US factory.

Situated in Marysville Ohio, the purpose built NSX production line set the Japanese back manufacturer a crisp $70million and is named the ‘Performance Manufacturing Centre’.

7. Prototypes

The first glimpses of any new car we see are usually in the initial press shots or when they are launched at one of the big motor shows.

But what becomes of these stage cars or prototypes which wet our appetite for the real thing?

Well in the case of the Honda NSX, more than 250 prototypes were created, the majority of which will be confined to the crusher. A small number will survive for the purpose of display models.

8. Measuring The Body

As mentioned earlier, Honda has always been seen as a forward thinking and innovative car manufacturer, and you don’t earn that tag without being at least a little bit geeky.

To get the structure and style of the cars body panels just right, each part of the car was measured to within the accuracy of one-third of a human hair’s width, yes width!
There has been plenty of talk surrounding the new NSX and what else Honda might release off the back of it.

Thankfully we now know that a Type R model will be released next year which is obviously a mouth-watering prospect. There is also plenty of rumours circulating that a smaller engine, cheaper model will be released, making the NSX slightly more accessible, but we will just have to wait and see for that.

Combining the raw specs of the NSX with these thoroughly interesting bunch of stats, its fair to say we are well within reason to be extremely excited for the brand new NSX and will hope that you are too.