{"id":28660,"date":"2012-10-18T17:21:30","date_gmt":"2012-10-18T16:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.influx.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=28660"},"modified":"2025-03-27T12:21:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T12:21:47","slug":"honda-nsx-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/cars\/honda-nsx-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Honda NSX: The First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

You never forget your first time.<\/p>\n

Since my first drive in a Honda NSX 15 years ago I\u2019ve driven maybe half a dozen others: earlier 3.0-litre cars; the raw, empty, fabulous NSX-R; the post-2002 cars that lost the pop-up lights.<\/p>\n

But that week in an early 3.2L, black with the manual \u2018box and the targa-top, will remain one of my seminal motoring experiences.<\/p>\n

I remember every detail.<\/p>\n

\"Blue<\/a><\/figure>\n

I remember the excitement every time I walked up to it, keys in hand, knowing this thing was mine to get into and drive. I remember the proper supercar looks; the pop-up lamps, the waist-high roofline, the wedgy, cab-forward stance and that lovely line where the tail sinks under the subtle spoiler.<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t scare like a supercar: Honda forgot to make the NSX a pain in the ass to drive in town, or snappy and unpredictable at the limit or in the wet like other mid-engined supercars of the era, and particularly Ferraris.<\/p>\n

Instead the visibility was great and the drivetrain about as challenging to drive smoothly as a Civic\u2019s at town speeds.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n

It wouldn\u2019t make you look stupid trying to park or nurse it through traffic. But when you were alone on an empty road: oh, dear Lord, it was just electrifying as it howled towards that 8000rpm redline, every gearchange snapping home with machined, oiled precision despite the forces at work, and your brain a little freer to enjoy it all because you knew that the car was working with you, and that if you made a slight misjudgement and had to back off mid-bend it wouldn\u2019t throw you off.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n

And even though this wasn\u2019t my car, there was a satisfaction in knowing that unlike the NSX’s rivals, there was probably no limit to the number of times you could nail that redline: it felt as reliable and unburstable as a Civic too, and you never feared a shower of sparks from the back end and a pricey engine rebuild. Which makes a used one all the more appealing.<\/p>\n

Which reminds me, haven\u2019t checked Pistonheads for a while\u2026<\/p>\n\n\t\t