Japanese Cars, Australian Cars, Other Cars Cool


The new Honda Acura NSX looks interesting. Apparently has a revolutionary new AWD system that places or reduces precise torque to the front wheels with the electric motors. Seems all this stuff makes a car very heavy.

https://vine.co/u/958867235932377088

Looks like a pretty interesting car though.

Holdens have always been a great car in Australia and I drive a Commodore myself. Unfortunately their South Australia plant is shutting down though.

Pictured is the Holden Commodore HSV(Holden Special Vehicles) GTS Gen-F. It’s powered by the same 6.2 litre 640 horse power LSA engine that the Cadillac CTS-V uses. And most the stuff you’d find on a car twice its price. But admittedly, the interior and fit and finish isn’t up to the standards of luxury German or even American car manufacturers. But again, that’s why they’re cheap in comparison.

The drivetrain is a 75-degree twin-turbocharged dry-sumped V6 mated to a nine-speed dual clutch transmission. On top of that there are three electric motors - one for each of the front wheels and another to fill in the torque gap when the engine’s turbos are spooling up. All very McLaren P1-esque.
Talking of which, if you think there’s a link between this engine and the new F1 unit that will power the McLaren team next year - there are some heavy similarities - it’s all purely coincidental, according to Honda.
Or not. The NSX concept changed powerplants mid stream - one of the reasons it’s so late. Perhaps this was because Honda had decided it was going to rejoin F1 and wanted the road car to be like the racers. It would be worth delaying to have that crossover, wouldn’t it?
Anyway, as complicated as the power generation sounds, it’s just the beginning of a long journey before it gets to the tyres. There are three active systems onboard: ?Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive’, which finesses your ham-fisted braking, steering and throttle inputs to keep the car heading in the right direction; ?Agile Handling Assist’, which applies the brake on the inside front wheels to make the car turn faster; and ?Integrated Dynamic System’, a four-mode dial that allows you to choose the car’s character.
There is also a launch function that gives the NSX ?zero delay’ performance from rest. This is said to be bordering on frightening, according to one spokesperson. The benchmarks were the Tesla Model S and the Nissan GT-R. The new NSX beats both of those comfortably, they say.
The company isn’t going to reveal the total power output of the car until closer to its launch this summer, but has admitted that the max power output is ?over 550bhp’. It will need to be if it’s going to stay with its intended sparring partners: the Ferrari 458, Porsche 911 Turbo and Audi R8 V10.
The new car has a mixed material - aluminum, steel and other stuff so secret they won’t tell us - space frame anchored by a carbon fibre floor that together reduce body flex. The body panels are formed out of both aluminium and composite.
Packaging has been key to the NSX’s performance, they say. By concentrating as much of the mass towards the middle of the car, it has, what Honda claims is, the lowest centre of gravity in its class. There is fully independent all-aluminium suspension front and rear acting on 19-inch front and 20-inch rear wheels.
It’ll cost around $150,000 in the US when it goes on sale there this summer. so expect a similar number in Sterling when the UK price list goes live.
We are still none the wiser, then, about any of its performance numbers - or weight - but at least we now know the above, which should keep us going for now.
Why is it badged as an Acura, not a Honda? Acura is Honda’s posh brand in the US - like Lexus is to Toyota and Infiniti is to Nissan. Controversially, the new NSX is going to be built in the US at a new facility in Ohio, not the hallowed facility in Tochigi, Japan where the original NSX was built. - Top Gear

That’s pricey. Still, it’s a supercar / hybrid thing that sounds awesome.


Gotta love the NSX. New one looks cool, but the original is a classic in it’s own right. Was a major influence on the McLaren F1.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/gordon-murray-on-the-honda-nsx-1495548371

Maybe the new one won’t be as conservative in the power department. Electric motors are heavy, but atleast they can be slung right down low to keep the center of gravity low.

The problem with driving in Australia is wildlife all over the roads. Even in suburban areas. And get out into rural areas and you start getting huge big red kangaroos that can weigh 450 lbs at least; feral bulls(scrub bulls) that are aggressive and have been known to chase vehicles; feral camels in the inner regions; huge wombats in some areas. But lots of kangaroos and foxes in many places. A lot of people get bull bars and metal screens over the windscreens even in the outback. But I’ve never seen bull bars on anything other than big Fords, Holdens and Japanese 4WDs and utilities.

I’ve driven most of Highway 1 which is the longest public highway system on earth at 14,500 kms, it circumnavigates Australia hugging the coast for much of the Eastern half. It also includes the longest, straight section of road in the world at Lake Eyre on the Nullabor Plains. That’s really hostile terrain and I’ve mentioned before how scarce water is there and the blistering temperatures for hundreds of kilometres on end just a straight line. There’s enormous big road trains as we call them - articulated trucks often in four sections or carriages linked. And because of these excellent truckies’ hamburger and mixed grill diners. Interesting places and I look forward to seeing them again when I get a big cruiser. I was thinking of the 5.0 litre Mustang GT in six speed manual perhaps because I’ve heard the price will be very competitive and that the 2015 with the coyote engine is a nice ride. Still pondering though.

[quote]Broncoandy wrote:
Gotta love the NSX. New one looks cool, but the original is a classic in it’s own right. Was a major influence on the McLaren F1.

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/gordon-murray-on-the-honda-nsx-1495548371

Maybe the new one won’t be as conservative in the power department. Electric motors are heavy, but atleast they can be slung right down low to keep the center of gravity low.[/quote]

Probably great when it works but there’s so much that could go wrong with the two extra motors and systems to integrate them into the AWD system and everything. Give it four or five years to iron out any bugs and get the price down; add some more features to improve open the original concept and it will be even better. Hopefully not temperamental though.

Normally I’d say it’s a honda and reliability should be the least of your worries… but apperently they’re being built in Ohio.

0-60mph in 2.9 seconds? Can you imagine cars with launch control everywhere doing this in public roads? These cars are crazy when you use them for what they’re built for.

What do you guys think of Subaru’s? My coworker just got a brand new WRX (not STI). He said the STI was $8k more ($42k) and only had 30hp more. He paid $35k for the WRX.

I think they are cool cars, and the AWD would be really nice to have in the winter, but man are they pricey for what they are! Also, it’s really hard to find a Legacy with the 3.6L 6-cylinder, or the GT 2.5 Turbo.


The Holden Monaro. The classic Australian “hoon” car. I grew up in the backseat of one of these. My cousin got one in the early 80’s (he’s a lot older than me) and he still had it last time I heard. We had the Crysler Valiant at that time too. A classic car.

For those not from Australia, Monaro is a region of the inland South East of the Southern Highlands and Snowy Mountains. The Snowy Mountains National Park is there as is my great grandfather’s and grandfather’s homestead in Numeralla. I was there last about 18 months ago driving through the mountains and doing some fishing for rainbow and brown trout. I often go skiing in the Snowy Mountains too.

[quote]carbiduis wrote:
What do you guys think of Subaru’s? My coworker just got a brand new WRX (not STI). He said the STI was $8k more ($42k) and only had 30hp more. He paid $35k for the WRX.

I think they are cool cars, and the AWD would be really nice to have in the winter, but man are they pricey for what they are! Also, it’s really hard to find a Legacy with the 3.6L 6-cylinder, or the GT 2.5 Turbo.[/quote]

They’re great value. They filled a niche in a market here that was previously only Nissan Skylines for cheap performance. But now they’ve come into the 21st century too and are a great performance car. Before the Skyline here there was the Datsun which is actually Nissan too. They made some fast four cylinders that were popular track cars in the late 70’s / early 80’s.


I currently drive a 2006 mazda 6s…which is a lot like a ford fusion. Now that mazda is completely independent of Ford, they can now be considered true Japoanese Cars (manufactured exclusively in Japan).

I think the new 6’s look the best among all competition in its class, and it would be my first pick if I was looking for a new car…with a 4-cylinder. Good for most people in the market, but I need either a turbo or a V6, 250+ HP and preferably AWD. Basically, they need to redo the Mazdaspeed 6. Throw a turbo, and AWD on the new 6 and I’m sold. They are still chasing a 2.2L Diesel, but it may not come till the next millennium.


I currently drive a 2006 mazda 6s…which is a lot like a ford fusion. Now that mazda is completely independent of Ford, they can now be considered true Japoanese Cars (manufactured exclusively in Japan).

I think the new 6’s look the best among all competition in its class, and it would be my first pick if I was looking for a new car…with a 4-cylinder. Good for most people in the market, but I need either a turbo or a V6, 250+ HP and preferably AWD. Basically, they need to redo the Mazdaspeed 6. Throw a turbo, and AWD on the new 6 and I’m sold. They are still chasing a 2.2L Diesel, but it may not come till the next millennium.

The Mazda MX 5 is incredibly underpowered but they’re light, low centre of gravity and handle really well. It’s a shame they didn’t do a turbo version. Pictured is the first gen which I drove a lot back in the day because two of my friends had them. They’re the lightest with the current ones being about the same weight as the first gen.


The only foreign car I’ve ever owned was my first one. A 1987 Honda Prelude. I drove the piss out of that thing. Drove everywhere with the moon roof open and my head sticking out (even in the winter with a 4 foot long toque flapping in the wind). At the time it was awesome… In retrospect… what a piece of junk ! lol

That’s not mine in picture btw. All my pics of mine are actual developed / analog type, not digitals.

I’d like to see an all electric car with four motors each putting out 250hp to each wheel independently with a whole range of different settings for suspension, throttle control, a dual clutch and that comes in hatchback.

[quote]Broncoandy wrote:
The only foreign car I’ve ever owned was my first one. A 1987 Honda Prelude. I drove the piss out of that thing. Drove everywhere with the moon roof open and my head sticking out (even in the winter with a 4 foot long toque flapping in the wind). At the time it was awesome… In retrospect… what a piece of junk ! lol[/quote]

I loved the Prelude; one of the few cars that looked good in yellow. Girl in my HS had one with 4 wheel steering.

“In 1987, Road & Track published a test summary that shows the 1988 Honda Prelude 2.0Si 4WS outperforming every car of that year on the slalom, with a speed of 65.5 mph (105.4 km/h), even besting exotics such as Porsche and Ferrari. For reference, the 1988 Chevrolet Corvette C4 took the same course at 64.9 mph (104.4 km/h).”


Datsun 510 aka the poor man’s BMW 1600.