The (new) Honda NSX, or Acura NSX for you North Americans out there, has been with us since 2015 and is a cracking car to drive as reported by fellow motoring journalists. But the NSX seems to be one of those greats who isn’t given the recognition it rightly deserves.
Honda has had enough of that and while they aren’t making a huge song and dance about the NSX to drum up interest, they have however opened up their Engine Plant in Anna, Ohio. But why? you might ask. The famed Japanese manufacturer hopes to give people an insight as how the beating heart of an NSX is made.
“It’s here at the Anna Engine Plant, where the heart of the NSX gets to beat for the very first time,” said Jim Mankin, who served as the engine quality project leader for production of the NSX engine. “The NSX engine room is staffed with the best-of-the best talent from our assembly department who hand-build the engine that powers Honda’s American-made supercar and who help the NSX make its mark on the world of manufacturing.”
The NSX’s engine is constructed not at the Honda Performance Manufacturing Centre in Marysville, Ohio where the car is assembled and shipped out from, but rather in a specialised facility at the Anna Engine Plant. There, each engine is meticulously constructed by a single master builder. This manufacturing process is reminiscent of how the Nissan GTR’s engine is built, and just like the GTR plant, only the creme de la crème get to build engines.
As the video explains, the twin-turbocharged V6 lump takes up to five hours to construct in what appears to be a ‘cleanroom’ only James May could appreciate. Each engine, as Mankin points out, has 547 fasteners and every single one is started by hand before being torqued down precisely. Speaking of which, each torque wrench is GPS-tracked and will not allow the builder to go on to the next stage of the build if the right amount of torque isn’t applied to the fastener.
It’s because of these exacting standards that Honda chose to build the NSX GT3’s powerplant under the same roof as their road car. Honda claims the power unit’s ability to handle both road and race duties in virtually “bone-stock” guise is a testament to the engine’s design, durability and engineering. Recently, two NSX GT3 EVO race cars completed the gruelling 24-hours of Daytona, covering a total distance 4,366 km – at race speeds.
As a quick refresher, the dry-sump 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged, 75-degree V6 along with three electric motors, are capable of generating a combined total output of 427kW and 645Nm of twist. The power unit is mated to a 9-speed dual-clutch transmission and can catapult the NSX from standstill to 100 km/h in 2.9seconds. Keep your right foot planted on the loud pedal and the NSX will hit a top speed of 307 km/h.
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