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101 Cars: Acura NSX
Honda's Exotic Benefited from F1 Passion
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SPEED Staff  |  Posted July 07, 2008   Charlotte, North Carolina
The NSX aged well and remained on the market for 15 years. (Photo: Barrett-Jackson)

At the dawn of the 1990s, Japanese car companies were all about going places they'd never been and proving they could build any sort of automobile they set their mind to. Lexus proved this by clobbering the luxury sedan market with the first - overbuilt and underpriced - LS400. Honda also broke molds, launching a true exotic car, sold under its upscale Acura brand in the United States. From a company best known for motorcycles and lawnmowers came this midengined wedge with an aluminum chassis/body structure, a high-winding V-6 engine, and an interior full of luxury touches and electronics. It was way ahead of its time when launched and a far better car than the clunky and more expensive Ferrari 348. The NSX aged well and remained on the market for 15 years - an eternity for a production car, especially a Japanese one. Even at the end, its performance was still relevant, although it began to lag in light of 300-horsepower Subaru STis that cost about a third as much. More than anything, the NSX was all about superb balance, and its high build-quality set standards that other exotics chased for years.

Specifications
Engine: 3.0-/3.2-liter V-6
Horsepower: 280 - 2005 model, manual transmission
0–60 mph: 5.0 seconds
Top Speed: 170 miles per hour
Price New: $89,000 - 2005 base
Value Now: $25,000 and up
Acura NSX Photos

Claim to Fame

Ayrton Seena, the mercurial F1 driving sensation, helped develop it


Soundtrack

One of those "Sounds of Formula One" CDs


Perfect Passenger

If we could only have Senna back, so he could sit in the right seat and give you driving tips


Behind the Wheel
They built these things for a decade and a half, so there are plenty of good used ones around.


Did You Know?
The all-aluminum chassis/body structure preceded Ferrari's use of the same by about a decade.


The Perfect Drive
Honda's Tochigi, Japan, proving grounds track



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