Honda E-NA1 NSX (1991)

With the goal of meeting or surpassing performance of western rivals, at a lower pricepoint with enough reliability and comfort to be used as a regular car, Honda developed the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina eXperimental) which would later evolve into the NS-X (New Sportscar eXperimental).

The NSX featured an all-aluminum monocoque chassis, a world's first on a mass production vehicle which was the result of extensive design and materials development. The layout was mid-engine, rear wheel drive, a radical departure from the popular front-engine, front wheel drive layout, but offered new possibilities for frame design, packaging and performance.

Power was delivered by a 3.0L V6 naturally aspirated engine C30A, featuring VTEC variable valve timing and lift, variable volume intake and titanium connecting rods. Mass was kept low via an aluminum head and block and the engine was mounted transversely behind the driver. Power delivery was performed via a 5-speed manual gearbox or later in 1994 onwards optionally via a 4-speed automatic gearbox.

With the aim of reducing understeer during cornering, the early NSX used a limited slip differential design that performed locking via preload only, minimizing activation in undesirable situations such as corner-entry, although it had a...