2016 Honda NSX first drive

That 0-60mph time, by the way, ought to start with a two. The top speed is 191mph. A test of performance, and the handling too, is my first chance to try the NSX, in a dozen laps of a circuit. You can’t judge its external size easily here – though at 4470mm long it’s about 1cm longer than, and at 1940mm precisely the same width as, an Audi R8 - but you can sense it’s built to accommodate. The seats don’t adjust for height, which is a pity, but there’s plenty of space between the driver and passenger, and the driving position is fundamentally sound. 

The interior’s mostly good, but there are a few niggles; a few things that give it away as a Honda: a distinctly average infotainment touchscreen, some plastics masquerading unconvincingly as metal, a shortage of storage cubbies. Stuff that Audi gets right, but stuff that’s easily forgotten when you thumb the starter and roll down the pit lane.

That’s accompanied by a soundtrack of the 3.5-litre V6. It’s quite a rich sound – not as soulful as an original NSX’s, but that’s no surprise – a fairly smooth sound, overladen with wastegate chatter but no noise from the electric motors. They’re fairly modest in capacity but Honda’s engineers say they fundamentally affect the NSX’s cornering balance once you’re near the limit. 

The NSX rides on two-stage magnetorheological dampers, but even in their firmer setting, it feels compliant over bumps and kerbs. They’re not ‘road’ and ‘track’ settings; more like ‘any road’ and ‘smooth road’. So you have to give a thought to body movements, but I don’t suppose more than you would in, say, an R8. 

And the NSX is capable of pulling a) huge speeds in a straight line and b) significant cornering forces. Although you can’t hear the motors doing anything, you can sense their work in either case. At low revs they fill the torque gap while the turbos spool, so acceleration at any revs feels supercharged-strong. Not 488 GTB-fast, obviously (that’s lighter and almost 100 horsepower more powerful), but there’s sonority to the noise and real purpose to the acceleration. Gearshifts are fast both up and down – the electric motor actually helps pull up the revs quickly during downshifts under braking, which is spectacularly cool. 

Given there’s so much tech to the drivetrain, it would be easy if it felt non-linear. Even the brakes are by-wire because there’s energy recovery from the motors. But everything feels utterly integrated: the digital supercar feels entirely analogue.

It does in its handling, too. The steering is, at 1.9 turns, almost as quick in ratio as a Ferrari’s but far less nervy. There’s little in the way of feel, but it’s pleasingly weighted (in either of its settings) and nicely accurate. 

If you trail its brakes – which are infinitely powerful enough in optional carbon ceramic form – into a corner, the rear becomes mobile, helping the car turn, while nicely supported by the rear suspension, so it doesn’t fall into a drift like, say, a Toyota GT86. There’s more agility than in an R8 or Lamborghini Huracan, though. That power goes to the front too, mind, means that traction is strong.

So although it’s possible to steer the NSX on the throttle – there’s a mechanical rear limited-slip differential and it’ll drift if you turn off the ESC, whose operation is too strict on track – it’s at its happiest when driven very smoothly, very quickly, with reduced steering inputs and where I suspect it’ll be shockingly quick against a stop watch (or “extremely competitive”, as the phrase has it). I doubt much this side of a 911 Turbo will accelerate out of a corner as rapidly; and the NSX does it without the 911’s ever present mass behind the rear axle so you can be more confident giving it the lot. 

They’re right. It’s a terrific track car.

On the road? Actually, it’s lovely, too. I think the NSX will ride just about well enough in the UK, and I’m hopeful that, even though the ‘with mirrors’ width is a gulpworthy 2217mm, it won’t feel too unwieldy. It would be a shame if it did because it’s otherwise very easy to find a natural flow and rhythm to NSX’s chassis. You find yourself clicking the gearshift paddles a lot because the ratios are so close but, hey: what else are you going to be doing anyway? It just sucks you into its way of doing things.