Honda NSX 2002 Review

The road out of Kinglake winds precariously along the mountain side, a treacherous ribbon of black threading the needle between car-crunching rock and instant flight. The corners come quickly, linked without straights and tightening sharply at the apex. Sunlight dapples through the trees, clearing away the early morning mist.

The muted scream of the NSX's high-revving sixpot echoes back from the cliff face, reverberating through the once quiet countryside. A wedge-shaped burnt orange blur against the harsh Aussie landscape, sometimes visible through the trees as it chews up corner after corner with disdain. Throttle, brake, turn, throttle, brake, turn. There's no gearchanges here, it's all second gear point and shoot. And the NSX loves it.

There's a saying: all good things must end. The NSX, critically acclaimed as 'the supercar you could live with' when launched in February 1991, should have bowed out gracefully five years ago. Still, not everyone knows when to retire, just ask Tony Lockett...

Regardless of its decade-plus blasting the bitumen, the NSX turns heads like a freshly weaned supercar. And why wouldn't it, with that aggressively wide, low body that even the diminuitive Tattoo from Fantasy Island (the plane, boss, the plane!) would tower over. Add to that a quartet of 17inch alloy wheels with super-thin strips of Dunlops finest road-sucking licorice and you've got a car that oozes intent.

Step inside the wedge-shaped body and the dream bursts deafeningly in your ears. Archaic, bulbous switchgear swim in a sea of black surfaces, broken only by a bland silver centre console, show the NSX for the last century supercar that it is. No banks of electrics or wall-to-wall airbags here. No secondary driving systems like electronic brake force distribution (EBD) or Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) - antilockers and switchable traction control was state of the art back in the NSX's formative years.

Turn the key and 3.2 litres of VTEC V6 bursts into song, mounted at ear level behind the occupants - for your aural pleasures, of course. Select the first of six from the short-throw manual gearbox, release the clutch and the NSX turns emotion into motion.

It's ironic that the greatest surprise the NSX supercar delivers is not its blistering performance, rather how easy it is to pilot around the built-up streets of a bustling city. The heavier than usual clutch and firmer steering do take a bit of acclimatising to, but within five minutes all is hunky and perhaps even dory.

True, you're never going to call an NSX practical, though it does offer a decent size boot behind the engine. Cabin storage space is restricted to the passenger footwell or the ashtray, because the glovebox barely has enough room for the vehicle manual, and two pop-up compartments in the central arm rest would fill up on a credit card each.

But practical is what you call the other car in the garage, and the NSX is what you call to have fun, to have a blast. And though it doesn't have the latest technology or the myriad of electronic assistants that jam 21st century supercars to their glittering alloy rims, the NSX does have that one all-important ingredient - performance.

From a standing start 206kiloWatts of Honda VTEC six slingshot the rear drive NSX from rest to 100km/h in 5.9 seconds with just one slick, quick gearchange. Two more ratios and you're double tonning your way to an Australian prison, though if that doesn't faze you the NSX will happily explore the mid-270s on a long enough straight.

In gear acceleration is forceful enough to snap your head into the snugly fitting sports seat over 5000rpm, and surprisingly strong below it. Honda's reputation for free-spinning, high-revving, 9000rpm engines suggests there's little reward down low, but the NSX responds strongly even with just 1500revs onboard in fifth.

It's a no brainer that the 3.2-litre VTEC engine delivers more rewards the higher you spin it, which makes the short throw six speed 'box - which drops 2-3000rpm between changes - a perfect match. It takes plenty of driver willpower to keep the NSX reined in, to not give in to the NSX's intoxicating howl as it relentlessly reels in the horizon.

The NSX displays that typical mid-engined cornering trait of pushing the nose wide under power, requiring a firm hand to keep it hunting the apex. The Porsche 911 is like that, and the NSX, too, rewards unwavering commitment over a limp-wristed, touchy-feely driving style.

Hustle it through a sweeping corner and the NSX will hang on tighter than a Pit Bull with lockjaw. Tightening radius corners are a great way to learn the NSX's limits, it takes a certified lunatic to estimate a corner speed the Honda can't match. Until it lets go... in one hell of a hurry. But that's not really a problem because Honda's engineers bred a sizeable dose of communcation into the chassis, every bump in the bitumen tingling through the seat of your pants.

The NSX is a rollercoaster of emotion. First impressions of that sleek, ground hugging shape excite, second impressions of the interior deflate, but once you turn the key, all visual pros and cons are left behind.

There's two reasons why the NSX will no longer sell well. One: it doesn't have enough cylinders for the supercar slanging match. Honda missed the boat with six when it should have cashed in on its F1 involvement and dumped 10 or 12 pots in the back. Yes, a Porsche 911 does have six cylinders, it also has a heritage and reputation for building supercars that Honda can't match.

And two: it costs far too much. Launched in 1991 for $159,000, the NSX today requires a cheque in excess of $245,000 for a ticket to ride. Ante up for the Targa roof version we tested here and you're looking at $256,100.

Either way you're paying $60,000 more than a Porsche 911, which has more power, accelerates faster, handles better and comes with ten years worth of safety and luxury advances.

As much as we enjoyed the Honda, it's clear the NSX is long overdue at the Sunny Acres supercar retirement home. Say good night, it's time to put this old timer to rest.