The Creator of the NSX

[drmanny3]

I was unable to make the beach party, because we were preparing for a number of Honda R&D people coming to our home. In total we had ten R&D Design people visit. They setup cameras and asked questions about my/our life style. We also walked around my car and discussed what I liked and disliked about the design. It was near the end that I found out that the creator of the NSX was present. Mr. Shigeru Uehara is the Senior chief Engineer for Honda. He presented me with a framed picture of the NSX with his signature. It was really an interesting and exciting opportunity to discuss the car. They asked me my opinion of the Viper, Aston Martin, Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini Murcielago, Ferrari Modena, Porsche 911.

They asked me my thoughts on a V8 in the NSX. They also asked me if it was important to have a mid engine layout versus a front mounted engine layout. I asked if they planned on introducing a new car soon. They were of course very vague. They did say that while it takes only about three years for a normal car design from concept to delivery the NSX is no ordinary car!

Frankly, I was very honored that they took the time to ask my input. As I understand it they visited with one other NSX owner and also a former NSX owner.

Honda is a great and proud company. I would not be surprised to see another supercar come out of their design center. It will definitly be an exotic. Honda will do the industry one better by creating a car that is the best of all worlds.

I know that in the past the NSX has been looked down upon because it does not have the "visceral" attitude of some of the exotics. Many years ago I worked with a Japanesse company that prduced precious stones. They were synthetic (made in a controlled lab) and perfect without flaws. In Japan perfection is highly valued. The gems were not a great success in the US, because people generally want the original stone (out of the ground) with as few flaws as possible. I personnaly have always respected the Japanees for their pursuit of perfection. I see this in the NSX. It is a car that an "OK" driver like myself can take to high levels of driving performance. I would much rather drive a car I can control rather than brag about a car that is difficult to drive well without a lot of practice. I guess it comes down to personal preferences. I love my NSX. I started with a 91 kept it for 5 1/2 years and now have a 01 which I really love. I cannot wait to see what comes out of Honda in the future. I think they will surprise us all.

 

[POWERED by HONDA]

Great story!

This shows that Honda is doing something about a replacement... at least they are thinking about one!

 

[Autophile]

Wow, these guys all came to your home, to talk to you as an NSX owner? I'm impressed!!!

Very nice post, BTW.

 

[drmanny3]

Here is a picture of the group

 

[supergreen125]

this is great news!
thanks for posting!
what was your response to the v8 question?
i only hope i can afford the end result of all this research.

 

[POWERED by HONDA]

That's a nice framed picture of the NSX he gave you!

I really like the sound of this question:

"They asked me my opinion of the Viper, Aston Martin, Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini Murcielago, Ferrari Modena, Porsche 911."

Excluding the 360 Modena... these cars sounds like the performance benchmark that Honda wants to beat!

Can I dream of a 2nd Generation 450+hp V8 NSX?

Dreaming,
--Conrad

 

[drmanny3]

V8 question

We agreed that for a V8 to supply more torque that it would need to be larger (cubic inches). Consequently this would change the entire car. Everything would change. Again, they are not going to produce a car with just more horses and foot lbs. They will only produce a whole car. As far as price goes-good point. However if you consider that most of the current competition for the NSX is considerably more expensive, I think they can do it. I told them I liked the Astin Martin and the Ferrari 360, and the Porsche 911 C4S.

 

[Hrant]

Great post!

Now I hope someone did mention NSXPO 2003 somewhere, somehow, right? .......

I tell you, you SoCal folks are lucky, you always get these kind of treats ...... LOL!

 

[Taj]

I met the whole group at the beach and they were giving out T-shirts and Type-R key chain but I rather have a signed poster.

This is a group of marketing people from local American Honda and Japan looking for ideas to develop a new Honda supercar. We shared our NSX thoughts with them. I asked them about a V8 but they told me that Honda does not have a V8 and their philosophy was "V6 performs like a V8" such as the Acura 3.5 RL.

Hopefully there will be a concept car out in the near future.

 

[POWERED by HONDA]

I asked them about a V8 but they told me that Honda does not have a V8 and their philosophy was "V6 performs like a V8" such as the Acura 3.5 RL.

Hopefully there will be a concept car out in the near future.

Well... for a supercar, I think we need a "V8 that performs like a V10 or V12."

 

[NetViper]

Well... for a supercar, I think we need a "V8 that performs like a V10 or V12."

Agreed.

Supercharged 4L V8 with 550HP.

 

[cmarsh90]

I don't think people are going to pay 100K+ for a Honda, they are having a hard time getting them to pay 80K for them now.

The only hope for significant sales of a future Honda sports car is to price it correctly, the market at 50-60K is much larger than at 80K (witness the number of Vettes, M3s and Vipers (cost a little more) running around.

Personally I think a car with 400+hp is a must, however Honda seems bent on fuel efficient cars, so a supercharged 6 seems more likely than a big V8, IMHO.

 

[PHOEN$X]

Awesome story, this should be moved to the General Discussion forum for everyone to read.

 

[drmanny3]

Move this story to main board

Now that you mention it I probably should have written it to the general forum. How do we move it?

 

[PHOEN$X]

You have to ask Lud to move it for you.

 

[MvM]

drmanny3

What can I say
I am jealous that you actually got the chance to meet and talk to mr. Uehara himself. I would feel deeply honoured about being asked my opinion about this particular car and what its follow-up should be like.
I hope you did point him out (if that was necessary in the first place of course) to NSXPrime as being THE foremost NSX-related website on this planet.

As for the power-level of the next gen NSX, at about 3000 lbs of topped-up weight (I take mine as an example) the current NSX can needs about 372 flywheel-HP to keep up with it's competition like the F360 (about 328 RWHP). And any available SC-equiped NSX can do that as of now. That works out to around 7.75 lbs/HP.

Most people don't realise that cars like the Murcielago and GT2 have about 6.91 lbs/HP. For that, keeping the weight, the NSX would need 434 FWHP or 382 RWHP. These are levels Honda is certainly able to match if they would use an engine that is not that much bigger.

 

[BITeR]

Great story.

I don't know how this thread started, but why did they show up at your house? NSXPO??

 

[Soichiro]

I hope you had Mr. Uehara sign your car. This is what we did when he visited a small group of NSXers in Atlanta. Mine was signed in two places, the metal inner fender near the trunk side and the passenger sun visor.

 

[hondaholic]

drmanny3,

Was this some sort of elaborate research group? part of their consumer insight information gathering?

-Pat

 

[Gokwi]

i think they should just make a +3.5 L engine

and go the forced induction route if it comes to that

too many car enthusiast criticize the NSX for a V6

unless they go the inline 6 route like the supra and skyline

and that will bring crazy HP to the engine with forced induction

but that aint Honda style..

 

[drmanny3]

Signing my Car

I hate to say it but I did not think of having my car signed. I was happy that he gave me a signed picture of the car. Oh well it is like a sales call --sometimes your best sales presentation occurs after the sale in the car as you drive away. I was choosen not because I am special but because I responded to an email on NSXPrime that asked if anyone who purchased their car new would be interested in talking about life styles. As a marketeer I thought it would be fun. I did not know ahead of time who would come over. They (Honda) know that NSX owners are fanatics about their car.

One thing I pleated for was a full leather option. I also asked if they could make a targa top that was out of tinted glass. And of course so you all won't flame me I asked for more torque and horsepower. Frankly, when driving this car around curves and bends it has plenty of power for me. I admit that I am not the greatest driver around, so maybe this is nothing. For straight ahead acceleration you can never have enough power. Just my input

 

[Smoothaccel]

Turbo

Interesting that Honda did that. Drmanny, did you mention NSXPRIME to get the best information?

Why dont they do a turbo instead of a V-8. You can tune a turboed V-6 for a lot more than 550 HP. What is all your thoughts on a factory turboed V-6 3.2L?

 

[vegasnsx]

WOW, great great news! I really think they are gonna stick a v8 in the next nsx, which is of course my dream. Also the fact they are shooting for the Modena, Aston and Lambo means we arent lookin at a 60k next generation Nsx to take on the Corvette, THANK GOD.

 

[drmanny3]

Next Generation

I did comment that I did not like the corvette because it was so common in additional to the poor fit and finish. They seemed to agree. I believe they will only consider a car that is within the definition of exotic. Honda is that type of organization.

 

[Silver F16]

I hope Honda intends to keep the 2nd gen NSX formula the same. Low weight, mid-engine, and agile. The discussion about Front engine indicate Honda may go down this path for cost reduction purposes (Platform sharing). I hope I'm wrong because mid-engine is a very unique layout which screams exotic.

V8 sounds like a possibility. However, Honda isn't about to make a 550 horspower car. The NSX is about balance and 400hp should put it in the right ball park. Take the Mugen 4.0 V8 engine as a starting block or consider using S2000 engine design/comonents in a V8 block. By all means, the most important aspect of the V8 is a 180 degree crank for more power and character in engine sound.

One change I hope Honda address is cost reduction. Honda's not going to be happy if Generation 2 have the sales volume of 91-03 NSX. And building something with 550 HP and increasing the price to over 100K will not increase annual sales. In order for a company like Honda to make the NSX successful from a business standpoint, they need to increase volume to take advantage of economy of scale. In order for that to happen, vehicle cost will have to drop so you can get more customers. This is not something most NSX owners want to hear because owners enjoy the limited availability of their cars. However, for the 2nd generation to be viable, this need to happen.