How do you pay homage to a super sportscar with a rich history and cult-like following? For Honda, and specifically the NSX team, it’s about creating an engine that is truly worthy of its name.
In a video released by Honda’s luxury vehicle division, Acura, NSX global development chief Ted Klaus shares his idealogy behind the beating heart of the mid-ship sports car.
Hand built in Honda’s Anna Engine Plant in Ohio, USA, the bespoke hybrid twin-turbocharged V6 engine is not something that you’d naturally expect from an NSX, given its heritage – the original NSX used a 3.0-litre naturally-aspirated V6 engine that was derived from an existing product from the Honda line-up.
However, Klaus said that “The development leaders of the original NSX told us not to copy what they did. NSX is all about pushing into the future and going beyond.”
The engine was developed and built with racing in mind with the get go, from the engine placement, to the angle between the pistons – exactly 75 degrees. Sure enough, the same engine powered the NSX GT3 race car to multiple victories in “almost bone-stock” form.
The video also goes more in depth into the engine’s place of origin – a 4,000 square foot room in the Anna Engine Plant, where each engine is hand-built from start to finish by a single craftsman.
We car enthusiasts are a weird bunch who can argue about almost everything – but if there’s one thing that can pique everyone’s interest, it’ll be watching an engine being built in an almost tranquilising manner; a master demonstrating his craft.
