NSX gets $420K pricetag

Honda has put a $420,000 price on the head of its new NSX hybrid supercar. And it’s worth ever penny.

As predicted by motoring.com.au, the pricetag pitches the Honda supercar between cars like Audi’s R8 V10 Plus ($389,900) and the Porsche 911 Turbo S ($456,500) and above even cars like McLaren’s 570S.

It also makes the NSX the most expensive series production car ever from a Japanese brand. Only Lexus’ LF-A has been more expensive, however, that was a limited production car that was produced for just over one year.

Honda says the NSX (actually hand-built in the USA, not Japan), will be part of its ongoing line-up. It has even hinted at additional variants, not the least of which a Type-R with even better performance and, eventually, an all-electric version.

But the good news is that the turbocharged V6 hybrid all-wheel-drive two-seater is every inch the supercar Honda promised it would be. Our drive impressions are embargoed until this time tomorrow, but we’ll let the cat out of the bag – it’s good. Very good.

Australia will get just one variant of the new NSX for the time being and that one is optioned to the hilt. Honda says it has “ticked almost every box” in finalizing the Australian spec.

By way of example, full interior and exterior aero carbon-fibre packs (the latter including a carbon roof) will be standard equipment Down Under. So too is a carbon-ceramic braking package (a $25K plus option on some competitors) which strips 23.5kg from the car’s unsprung mass.

Just five Honda dealers have been appointed to sell the NSX in Australia. The car’s purchase price will include three years free servicing.

Honda Australia will offer the NSX in eight exterior colours and combination of four interior trims. Three of the paint choices are metallic and attract a $1500 premium, while two Andaro pearl paint finishes are an extra $10,000.

Although the car is already sold out for two years in the USA and close to 12 months in Europe, early Australian production slots are locked in, say Honda Australia sources. The car will, however, be built to order. Don’t expect to be able to buy one from a showroom floor, they say.

The NSX features a full LED exterior lighting package comprising head and tail lights and daytime running lamps, tail-lights.

Staggered 19/20-inch forged alloy wheels are standard and will be shod with Continental ContiSport Contact5 high performance tyres in local spec. A track-spec Pirelli option may be offered later.

Inside the cabin there’s a choice of full leather or leather/alcantara packages and heated sports seats are standard. Touchscreen navigation is included as is Apple Carplay and Android Auto connectivity.

The normal suite of safety features is also included, however, autonomous functions such as auto emergency braking and lane-keeping functions are absent – even as options.

Honda claims the NSX is the first hybrid supercar on Australian roads.

“The all-new Honda NSX brings hypercar technology to the supercar category… It
challenges perceptions about what constitutes a supercar, just as the original [1991 model] did,” Honda Australia sales and marketing boss, Stephen Collins told motoring.com.au

“With an extraordinary breadth of ability, the Honda NSX offers scintillating track performance, along with unsurpassed everyday usability,” he said.

The NSX is powered by a combination of a bespoke dry-sumped twin-turbo 3.5-litre petrol V6 rated at 373kW and 550Nm and three electric motors. It features Honda’s own nine-speed dual clutch gearbox and a sophisticated torque vectoring all-wheel drive system.

Total maximum hybrid output is pegged at 427kW and 646Nm.

The company wont specify the NSX’s 0-100kmh stats citing “too many variables” but do warrant that the real world time is “sub-3.0 seconds”. It claims a top speed of 308kmh for the NSX.

Key to the versatility of the NSX is a four-stage drive mode selector. Dubbed Integrated Dynamics System, by Honda, the system offers a choice of four driving modes: Quiet (semi EV), Sport, Sport+ and Track.

The system not only changes the characteristics of the all-wheel drive system but in addition changes ‘tunes’ steering, brakes (via their regenerative characteristics), engine and electric drive, throttle, gearbox, suspension (via adaptive dampers) and, of course, stability and traction control.

In its most economical setting, Honda’s new hybrid supercar can be driven up to 3km at speeds up to 80kmh in pure EV mode.

Honda says the NSX’s combined fuel economy is 10.0L/100km.

The two-seater gets a relatively small 59-litre fuel tank and storage is also limited. Despite the mid-engine configuration there is no front storage (a trait in common with the original NSX) and just 110-litres in the truncated boot.

Check out motoring.com.au's drive impressions of the new Honda NSX here.