The Acura NSX premiered at the 1989 Chicago Auto Show 30 years ago. In celebration of the car’s anniversary, Honda published a touching video with parts of the original commercials that aired 30 years ago. At the end of the video, the two generations of NSX drive side by side, showing the progress after a 14-year gap.
1989 Acura NSX
The Acura NSX is a two-seat, mid-engine sports car. It was Honda’s first shot at competing against European supercars. The car needed to come at a relatively low cost for its class, and not compromise on driving comfort. But most important of all, the NSX needed to give Ferraris a run for their money.
That was a tall order for Chief Designer Masahito Nakano and Executive Chief Engineer Shigeru Uehara. They recruited Formula One champion – Ayrton Senna – to help with the development.
The result was a very forward-looking sports car that packed a number of technological breakthroughs and world firsts.
The Acura NSX came with a 3.0-liter, V8 engine with VTEC technology. It produced 270 hp and 210 lb/ft of torque. This was the first production engine with titanium connecting rods and forged pistons. They reduced the weight of the rotating assembly and allowed the engine to rev up to 8,300 rpm.
The power was slightly less than that of a Ferrari 348, but the NSX was also 500 lbs lighter, sitting at around 3,000 lbs.
The low weight came courtesy of an all aluminum semi-monocoque, frame, and suspension. In fact, the Acura NSX was also the first all-aluminum production vehicle.
The first generation model was produced between 1990 and 2005, selling over 18,000 units worldwide. Honda developed a couple of concepts over the years, but it took a full decade before the NSX would return again.
2015 Acura NSX
In 2015, Honda unveiled the second generation Acura NSX, designed and developed entirely in the US. Like its Japanese predecessor, it offered phenomenal performance and cutting edge technology in a package that cost half that of a Lambo. A fully specced Acura NSX set you back $200,000.
It comes with a 3.5-liter, twin-turbo, V6 engine, good for 500 hp and 406 lb/ft of torque.
It’s then mated to a Super Handling-All Wheel Drive system (SH-AWD). A proprietary full-time, fully automatic, all-wheel-drive system, developed by Honda.
It features a hybrid powertrain. One electric motor is coupled to the engine at the flywheel. Each of the front wheels also gets its own, independent electric motor for a total of three. The setup is similar to the Mercedes-AMG One and allows precise delivery of torque to each of the four wheels.
In total, the car’s power output stands at 573 hp and 476 lb/ft.
The chassis utilizes a space-frame design. Honda engineers used a healthy mix of materials – high strength steel, aluminum, and some world-first materials. However, even with aluminum subframes and suspension, the new NSX model weights 3,800 lbs. That’s more than a 25% increase in weight.
That said, the new Acura NSX is properly fast. The hybrid powertrain provides excellent acceleration and low-end torque.
| Performance metric | 1990 Acura NSX | 2015 Acura NSX |
| 0 – 60 mph | 4.8 seconds | 2.9 seconds |
| ¼ mile run | 13.3 seconds | 10.8 seconds |
| Top speed | 175 mph | 191 mph |