Car and Driver did a side by side comparison of 5 supercars for their cover story in July of 1995. They took a Dodge Viper RT/10, Porsche 911 Turbo, Lotus Esprit S4S, Ferrari F355, and an Acura NSX-T through their paces. This is how they were ranked from worst to best and their comments on the Acura NSX-T.
5. Lotus Esprit S4S [81 points]
4. Dodge Viper RT/10 [83 points]
3. Ferrari F355 [91 points]
2. Acura NSX-T [93 points]
1. Porsche 911 Turbo [96 points]
How can this happen? Here's how: track numbers tell you zip about a car's usable performance in Ann Arbor traffic, and they tell you little about making nine-tenths passes on the blind, downhill, off-camber turn just outside Burr Oak Lodge.
The Acura NSX is as user-friendly as the tumblers on a Mosler vault. Check out the expansive view from its low, forward cockpit. Try finding a clutch and shifter combo that so telepathically slides gears into place. See if you can locate any seats that are both this comfortable and this adept at distributing side forces. Locate a steering rack that delivers this much feedback sans kickback. Identify a removable targa top that can be stowed onboard without reducing cargo-carrying capacity by one cubic inch.
Built with the same monumental attention to ergonomic detail as a Honda Accord, the NSX sometimes takes a knock or two for being too familiar, at least inside, where some of the switchgear is pedestrian and the cockpit is an unnecessarily dour arena in which to celebrate so much fun underfoot. On this trip - for the first time - editors fantasized openly, if not vociferously, about obtaining more power, especially when the car was asked to launch itself out of tight uphill esses and switchbacks. One editor suggested a supercharger, another wanted a 3.0 liter V-8, a third asked whether a streeable version of Honda's racing V-10 might fit. Which, in turn, made us wonder whether a six-speed gearbox, rather than the mandatory five, might also make life easier.
At $86,642, the NSX is no longer the striking bargain it was 60 months ago. Still, where the Viper offers a huge bang for the buck, the NSX is big civil subtlely for the buck. This is the brain surgeon's approach to go-fast operations. From its bird-bones suspension bits to its lacy aluminum skin, the NSX delivers supercar precision without beating up its owner.
But beware: Although you can throw it around; you can also throw it away.