(engine roars) - What could you do with
60 thousand dollars? Well, you could put down
a payment on this house in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Nice house. You could start investing
and grow a portfolio like a grown-up. You could pay off your
student loans, maybe. Or, you could buy this. (party horn) That's right baby, it's
time to go Bumper 2 Bumper on the Ferrari-fighting
Japanese supercar legend, the Acura NSX. (yell) (energetic rock music) This episode was sponsored by Audible. Look, reading is super
important, I do it every day. But if you're a busy
tier 2 celebrity like me, you don't have time to read. That's why Audible is tight. Audible has an unbeatable
selection of audiobooks that rival the library of Alexandria. That is a big library. Audible members can choose 3 titles every month to listen to on any device. I recommend Go Like Hell, it's about Ford versus Ferrari at Le Mans. Get your free 30 day trial and download your audiobook at
audible.com/bumper2bumper and listen for a change. That's audible.com/bumper2bumper or text bumper2bumper to 500500. In the mid-80s Honda was
getting ready to launch their Acura luxury brand in the US. To make people take them seriously Acura needed a halo car. Around the same time
Honda was also involved in Formula 1 racing. Basically, long story short this right here was the result. (bright dance music) Honda had a goal, they
wanted to show the world that their humble company
could build an F1-inspired car for the street and
hang with the big boys. Honda believed they could build a car like Ferrari better than Ferrari. (Japanese race commentary) Unlike pretty much every
other Honda of the time the NSX is rear mid-engined,
meaning the engine is between the passenger
compartment and the rear wheels. Just like the F1 cars that Honda
was working on at the time. What a mid engine setup does is distribute the car's weight to all
four tires more equally or improve weight distribution. Honda developed an entirely
new powerplant for the NSX. This 3 liter, all-aluminum
C30A V6 makes a respectable 270 hurs-purs and 210 pounds durs. Honda achieved this with
forged pistons and special titanium connecting rods that
decrease rotational mass. But the coolest thing about
this engine is denoted by a simple four-letter word
molded onto the intake manifold (grunt) VTEC. (scream) You Honda fanboys already know
what I'm talking about but VTEC stands for variable
valve timing & lift electronic control, or VVTLEC. What this means is that
as the engine goes higher and higher into the
revs a little robot man on the engine is sensing engine
speed and throttle position. On the NSX, VTEC kicks in around 5800 RPM. When VTEC kicks in, (engine roars) you gonna get more power baby. Also, this oil catch can
right here is not stock. The transmission has
also been switched out with a multi-plate
clutch, which distributes the engine load over more surface area making for smoother shifts. Solid upgrade. Let's go see how it feels. I'm gonna play with the shift knob. (bright dance music) The interior is classic Honda. If you've driven a 90s Honda, you'll feel right at home in the NSX. It's weird because despite
being a groundbreaking sports car, you can tell
that somewhere along the line this thing is cousins with a Civic. The stock seats have been
replaced these Recaro fixed back racing seats
and let me tell ya, they are snug. If I got this car I
probably would get some fixed backs like this, but
I would get bigger ones because I'm a bigger boy than
the last owner, apparently. There's an aftermarket Alpine radio because it's a Japanese
sports car from the 90s. (skidding tires) Aftermarket MOMO steering
wheel with the Honda button. This shifter has some
of the cleanest action I have ever felt in a car. Everything in here is
extremely driver-focused, to the point where most of
the controls for the interior are on the driver's side door. Like, (smack) "No, don't
touch it, you can't. It's not for you, it's for me!" That's what I would say if I had friends. The cool little thing right here, the vents are on the doors,
which I think is neat. And it has one of the coolest door handles I've ever seen. The column is a really cool design. The hazard lights are up here, got defrost right there, so I don't have to look around for it. (eurobeat) "Ooh, I'm on the touge, and I better put my blinker lights on, my hazard lights on 'cause I gotta go save my friend Takumi. He's gone over the edge!" Pull over, throw my hazards on, hop out. "TAKUMI!" (grunts) "Ah, you really scared us,
buddy, let's get outta here." (makes engine sound) "The Japanese police are coming, Takumi" (engine sound) "Let's go to your dad's house, and eat some tofu." (laughter) This car also has a
really cool piece of kit, it's called the Donut
air-freshener you can get one at donutmedia.com. This thing feels fast on the inside and it looks fast on the outside. Honda modeled the bubble canopy after the shape of an F-16
Fighting Falcon fighter jet. That's right, this car is
inspired by a freaking jet. I'm like Maverick up in this (beep). That's right, Iceman (dramatic inhale and exhale) I am dangerous. (engine starts) (revving engine) HA, I won. (claps) (instrumental hip-hop) The Acura NSX was the
first mass produced car with a monocoque chassis. What does that mean? (claps) Your car at home is probably a unibody, meaning the frame is not detachable from the body, like on a truck. A unibody chassis has frame-like elements like metal tubes, boxed
frame sections and bulkheads. A monocoque is similar, but
also completely different. On a monocoque the outer
skin, like these body panels, provides structural
rigidity for the entire car. Those F1 cars Honda was supplying engines to were also monocoques. So, to build an F1 car for the street, the NSX had to be one too. (claps) There was a problem, though. Building a monocoque out of steel would negate any weight savings of using a monocoque in the first place. So Honda had to make their own aluminum. They developed five different alloys to use in the NSX. That came together to
make a sturdy platform the likes of which had
never been seen before. But that wasn't sturdy enough. McLaren team driver and
F1 legend Ayrton Senna had a little impromptu test session with an NSX test car just a few months after its debut in 1989. Senna told Honda the car felt frageely, which isn't a word you wanna hear from the best F1 driver in the world about your F1 car for the road. So, Honda went back to the drawing board and made some changes. A few months later they invited Senna to drive the newest version, which was now 50% stiffer. Yummy. You might be able to tell that this car has been modified based
on the ride height. That's because it has. This boy's got Trace racing coilovers, and I tell ya, big bro
is a fan of the stance, even if it probably doesn't handle as well as Senna would have liked, and it makes my little tail wag. Upfront the NSX has a strong resemblance the the Ferrari 348 it
was designed to defeat. And I know this is gonna sound crazy, and it might be, but I
think the NSX looks better. (beep) you, Enzo, Soichiro for the win. (screaming crowd) Looks are kinda Ferrari's thing, and to beat them at looks
is a huge accomplishment. Through the main opening is the radiator, which wasn't placed in
the engine compartment to save space and optimize cooling. The coolant travels through no less than 10 billion feet of line
to finally reach the engine. I don't think it's that much, but it's a lot, it's a pretty long car. Now this car was designed in
the 80s just like your boy, and it's Japanese, unlike your boy, and it's sporty, just like your boy. That's a combination that
can only mean one thing. (snaps fingers) Pop-up (beep) headlights, baby. (distorted bass note) With the headlights in the down position the NSX has an insanely
low drag coefficient, which means it cuts through
the air like butter. Like butter, baby. More butter, baby, more speed, baby. Let's grease this pig up. Let's grease this pig up
and go to Suzuka, baby. This car is faster during
the day than it is at night, but believe me, at night
she's plenty fast too. (snaps fingers) (headlight close sound) (giggles) Looking at the NSX from the
side, it gets even better. You see, that nose is as slim as possible, and the bubble canopy
is just that, a bubble. Got a real low belt line,
just like I used to have in high school, and it
continues to the back, rising ever-so-slightly
to the elongated tail. Seeing this car from this angle confirms that it is something special. This is what happens when the same people who made the Civic and Integra
into real friggin' race cars get to build a friggin'
race car from scratch. The tail isn't just
there to hold an engine, that V6 is actually pretty small. Because this is a Honda,
and they wanted you to drive the NSX every day, they included a trunk at the very back. Unlike some other super cars, this one is actually usable. The trunk is big enough
for two packed duffel bags. In the back is the signature
feature of the NSX, the tail lights. If you played Gran Turismo, you probably have these seared into
the back of your retinas. These things are timeless, and they will never not look good. I think that goes for the entire car. There's something about
late-80s, early-90s Japanese cars that makes them look like
they'll last forever, and a lot of them will. Below the lights is the exhausts. Obviously. That's where it always is. But on this car it's been modified with some pretty little tips. It's got a cat-back
titanium exhaust system. Yummy, daddy. Sitting on top of the tail
lights is this little wing, but this guy isn't stock,
the stock one is flat. This one is slightly not flat. Thank you Nolan for doing the research. (cheers) The wheels ain't stock either, baby. These bad boys are both TE37's, they're one piece forged
and they weigh under 20 lbs. These things might as well be stock because of how common they are. Everybody uses them, but for good reason. They're basically the
Jordans of the wheel world. RPF1's are Vans Classic. These are Jordans 'cause
they're more expensive. I can't afford Jordans. The Acura NSX is one of those special cars that you can't look away from. I'm in the automotive industry. I literally look, think
and talk about cars all day, and this is one of the few cars that still gets my Jimmy
going every time I see one. Honda set out to build a car that gave you the F1 experience on the
street every single day, and I believe that they succeeded. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go have an F1 experience of my own. (engine sceams) Thanks for watching Bumper 2 Bumper every Tuesday until the day I die. Big shouts to Toprank for hooking us up with this car, those guys
hook us up all the time. We love them very much. Shaun, I love you buddy. Let us know down in the comments what cars you want us to look at. Follow me on Instagram, @jamespumphrey. Hit that Like button,
it really helps us out. Love you.
