[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/new-honda-nsx-supercar-to-be-engineered-in-america-oh-dear\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/new-honda-nsx-supercar-to-be-engineered-in-america-oh-dear\/","headline":"New Honda NSX supercar to be engineered in America. Oh dear!","name":"New Honda NSX supercar to be engineered in America. Oh dear!","description":"It\u2019s not new news that Honda is to resurrect their highly respected NSX supercar moniker, with the new hybrid NSX scheduled to go on sale in 2015. What is news however is that the all-new car will be engineered and built at the firm\u2019s new Performance Manufacturing Centre in Ohio, U.S.A. Cue sucking of air through teeth! Now we can all make Clarkson-style gags at the Yanks\u2019 expense when it comes to cars, but, fair play to them, in (very) […]","datePublished":"2013-05-16","dateModified":"2013-05-16","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/author\/isabelle-lawrence\/#Person","name":"Isabelle Lawrence","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/author\/isabelle-lawrence\/","identifier":30,"description":"Max Wheeler is a leading motoring journalist and classic car specialist at Smart Motoring, renowned for his sharp insight and infectious passion for all things automotive. With years of experience covering motoring news, supercars, and the enduring legacy of classic cars, Max brings stories to life with style and authority. Whether it\u2019s the roar of a Lamborghini, the elegance of an Aston Martin DB5, or the cultural impact of vintage motoring icons, he delivers expert commentary that inspires enthusiasts and collectors alike. Dedicated to celebrating the heritage and future of driving, Max Wheeler is your trusted voice for classic car news and beyond.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d331506e3c530b5ec4930c30a01ed8cc29b0537227573ae5da98f559e681401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d331506e3c530b5ec4930c30a01ed8cc29b0537227573ae5da98f559e681401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Smart Motoring","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/smart-motoring_news_logo_g-e1765846726493.webp","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/smart-motoring_news_logo_g-e1765846726493.webp","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Honda-NSX.jpg","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Honda-NSX.jpg","height":"577","width":"577"},"url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/new-honda-nsx-supercar-to-be-engineered-in-america-oh-dear\/","about":["Cars","LATEST CAR NEWS","Sports \/ Performance & Prestige cars","Sports, Performance & Prestige Cars"],"wordCount":1063,"keywords":["Chevy Camaro","ferrari","ford mustang","Honda","Honda NSX","lamborghini","McLaren","Ohio","Sport Hybrid SH-AWD"],"articleBody":"It\u2019s not new news that Honda is to resurrect their highly respected NSX supercar moniker, with the new hybrid NSX scheduled to go on sale in 2015. What is news however is that the all-new car will be engineered and built at the firm\u2019s new Performance Manufacturing Centre in Ohio, U.S.A. Cue sucking of air through teeth!Now we can all make Clarkson-style gags at the Yanks\u2019 expense when it comes to cars, but, fair play to them, in (very) recent years, cars like the Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang have delivered some pretty tasty thrills for not too much dollar; mixing V8 grunt ‘n\u2019 bark with a lively rear axle, bad-ass styling and at least respectable cornering ability.But supercar-building in Ohio? And not just any supercar \u2013 one of the most respected and loved supercars of the modern age – the eagerly awaited new model of the super-high-tech-for-its-time Honda NSX. But, before we talk more about the new NSX \u2013 with its mid-mounted V6 petrol engine and new Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive \u2013 so Japanese!) four-wheel drive system \u2013 can I just say that I\u2019m just not that mad on the old NSX.Yes, I said it, and yes I understand why people love \u2018em, but having driven a brand new one from London to Le Mans and back a few years ago, I have to say that it didn\u2019t blow me away like I thought it would. It was just too good\u2026Too much grip to be scary and too composed to be lairy; too refined to be exciting – it just didn\u2019t feel like it was doing 0-60mph in 5 and a bit seconds. I had 150mph out of it and it was easily as cool as a well-dressed cucumber, and while I don\u2019t want a car to constantly threaten to kill me every time we touch the ton-and-a-half, I want to feel fast and a little edgy when I\u2019m going quick. The NSX felt welded to the road.As for the 3-litre, 270bhp, V6 VTEC (variable valve timing) petrol engine that still red-lines at a still-heady-to-this-day 8,000 rpm, it didn\u2019t feel racy enough to me, even though it’s packed with racing goodies like forged pistons and titanium connecting rods. It didn\u2019t seem to spin up that quick as I blipped the throttle \u2013 like a sweet naturally aspirated engine should – and the airbox note was too muted and mumbling for my liking.All of this is perhaps not the old NSX\u2019s fault. I\u2019ve been a passenger in an NSX driven by a man who really knows how to drift, and while even he sometimes struggled to get the grip-tastic NSX to slide on a dry track, he did coax some pretty decent sideways action out of it. You see, for an average driver like me that can get a bit lairy on the track from time to time, getting an NSX to play up requires too much on-the-limitness to be fun.However, to defend a car that almost everyone loves \u2013 a shabby used one will still cost around \u00a320k! \u2013 I think it looks great \u2013 just like I\u2019d imagine a Honda supercar of that era would and should \u2013 and the engineering inside did the Honda boys very proud indeed. At the time, all-aluminium bodies and suspension (saving over 200kg over steel), titanium bits, an 8k rev-limit, and racecar-like handling were simply unheard of in mass market cars. Sure, the NSX when new wasn\u2019t exactly cheap, but you got so much tech, engineering and exotic material for your money that the car immediately became a legend. The fact the Ayrton Senna advised with the handling and chassis development helped in this regard, too.So what of the all-new NSX? Well, of course, it\u2019ll be 25 years between the old and the new NSX by the time the next model hits the dealers, and much has changed in that quarter-century. The new car keeps a similar silhouette to its predecessor, with its forward-loaded cabin and mid-mounted V6 engine, and the materials are again said to be light in weight and exotic in origin.But, we don\u2019t know how much power the V6 petrol motor will make, or indeed what sort of grunt the three electric motors in the all-wheel drive hybrid system \u2013 one working with the petrol motor driving the rear wheels and two up front that can instantly send a negative or positive response to the front wheels (torque vectoring) to help \u2018pull\u2019 the new NSX through the corners – will bring to the power party either.The new car will doubtless be much more efficient than the old NSX – where you had to rev the engine hard to find decent power and torque \u2013 and with a raft of complex electronics and a new extra angle on luxury, it\u2019ll likely be more relatively expensive than the 90s NSX too.Can such an NSX capture the enthusiasts\u2019 imagination like the old car did? Well, it\u2019ll need to be a ground-breaker for a start, and in the modern era of Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren supercars, much of the revolutionary automotive excitement of late has already been seen. Honda know plenty about incredible engines, innovation and engineering, but up against the new 903bhp McLaren P1 hybrid, for example – that makes the Space Shuttle look like paper aeroplane for technology \u2013 the new Honda will have to be pretty science-fiction-fast to wow the supercar-savvy-crowds.As for engineering it in Ohio, goodness knows. The thing that usually captivates me about Honda products is that they are engineered with incredible detail, by Japanese engineers. Committed and tireless individuals that think of nothing but innovation and excellence, with form following function, and that function usually dictating an all-business, distinctly hardcore form that\u2019s pure razor-sharp technology in the eyes of this petrol head. Can an American engineering facility pull off a new Honda beast from the east? I\u2019m not convinced it\u2019ll have the racer\u2019s edge that I\u2019d want from a new Honda supercar, but I expect it\u2019ll corner like it\u2019s on magnetic rails. American heads will roll, Samurai-style, otherwise!The original NSX in facelift form with ‘revealed’ headlightsSeries\u00a0one NSX with pop-up headlights. The\u00a0original\u00a0Japanese supercarNSX-R – lighter, faster; much more expensive By Dan Anslow\u00a0 "},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Latest News","item":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Honda NSX supercar to be engineered in America. Oh dear!","item":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/latest-news\/new-honda-nsx-supercar-to-be-engineered-in-america-oh-dear\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]