2008 Acura NSX: No More Picking on the Little Guy
The Acura name has been around for a long time… it was Honda’s luxury flagship back in the 80’s and has gained due respect with its quality automobiles that seem to last for many years with very little problems. Well, there has been perhaps one small problem with some of us…
These cars are not known for their horsepower that is for sure. In fact, in the mid eighties muscle car era… a lot of Chevy and Ford fans would consider the Acura as closer to that of a lawnmower than a daily driver. And this is coming from a time in history when the Chevy Camaro Z28 was pumping out a meager 185 horsepower or so through its big V-8.
But over the past few years there has definitely been a staging of a new respect for the Acura name. It is not just a luxury flagship anymore… no, not since the NSX has been around. But even with it respectable 300 or so horsepower, the NSX has still undergone a lot of criticism for being underpowered. Underpowered for that of a $75,000 plus import that is.
This is where it became quite common for buyers of the Acura NSX to buy a turbo kit to compensate for the lack of pep. Many would just hardly get the car off the lot and they would be pulling into the closest performance tuner and ordering a Garrett turbo with the works. A set-up like this would really wake up the six cylinder NSX to read dyno numbers above the 400 hp mark and this is with a car that is relatively light (3,000 lbs or so, give or take a few seats and stereo equipment pieces).
All of this is about to change according to talk over at Acura for the new 2008 NSX. Their experience with F1 has given them the inspiration to propose a new 4.5 liter V-10 version. Can you say Viper, in the body of a go-cart as compared to the lumbering Dodge. They will also feature a decent 3.6 liter all-wheel-drive, but for the price tag of $100,000, the best bang for the buck is looking to be the potent V-10.
Yes, you heard right, an all-wheel-drive. This means that your chances of talking the wife into such a dream super car have gone up at least a half of a percent… Good Luck!
