IEEE Spectrum October, 2016 - 37

"We needed a breakthrough in manmachine engineering," Klaus says. "How
much force do drivers want to feel, and
how do we link that to deceleration value?"
The answer was a system that simulates natural brake-pedal feel via a separate hydraulic circuit. Pushing the brakes
triggers an electric motor that varies the
amount of resistance felt in the pedal, but
none of that hydraulic fluid is actually
stopping the car. Your foot's commands
are actually electronically translated to
activate brakes on a separate hydraulic
circuit. The result is perhaps the most
natural, linear-feeling hybrid brakes yet,
whether used around town or at the track.
"Those brakes felt horrible at the beginning of development," Klaus says. "There
were a lot of sleepless nights on how that
system didn't feel natural."
Honda's customary no-stone-unturned
approach extended to manufacturing.
In Ohio, where Honda built its first
American Accord in 1982, the NSX has
begun rolling off the line at a showpiece
plant called the Performance Manufacturing Center, or PMC.

Clement D'Souza, the engineer who led
development of the PMC, said that Honda
visited about two dozen other factories,
including those at Ferrari, McLaren, and
Porsche, to benchmark manufacturing
processes, tailoring its approach to that of
Formula One teams. On its meticulous, lowvolume assembly line, NSX is treated to a
dozen patent-pending processes, including
the world's first use of ablation casting in
an automobile: Sand molds for parts of the
aluminum space frame are ablated, using
water to dissolve the binder and blast away

sand, which has the virtue of quickly cool- a naturally aspirated V-8 was roaring
ing the newly solidified metal. That creates behind your head.
The Acura corners with near-Italian
a stronger microstructure, which allows
lighter, thinner castings with superior crash brio, its variable-ratio steering finely
absorption. The largely aluminum space- weighted, though the steering is not espeframe chassis, with a carbon-fiber floor cially good at transmitting information on
and mixed-materials body (mostly alumi- the road surface into your hands. That's
num and sheet-molded composite) feels as surely due to the filtering effect of its elecindomitable as anything in the class. Acura tric systems. Ultrawide-range magnetic
claims the chassis is much more rigid than dampers stiffen or soothe the car at all
those of its rivals, with the lowest center of four corners, pancaking the NSX to the
road with extra syrup. Maybe this Acura
gravity-a boon to handling.
In Anna, Ohio, at Honda's largest engine has a heart after all, beneath that sleek
plant, technicians hand-assemble the aluminum skin and layers of technology.
NSX's novel V-6 and mate it to the gearbox
and rear-drive electric motor. Honda will So what do carS like the NSX mean for
complete only about eight NSX engines the future of performance and, more speper day, but its technology can now trickle cifically, for electric propulsion?
down to the company's other cars. EleDespite giveaway fuel prices in the
ments of the NSX's all-wheel-drive hybrid United States, a sales explosion for SUVs
technology, Klaus notes, are already around the world, and an ice-cold marfound in affordable models including the ket for electric cars not named Tesla,
MDX crossover and RLX sedan.
automakers big and small continue to
For type A drivers, the effort all comes pour resources into hybrids. Compatogether with a few toggles of the perfor- nies as different as GM and McLaren are
mance dial. Cranked up to its Track mode focused on fun-to-drive performance,
on the road course at Thermal Club, the not just efficiency.
NSX palpably transforms from benign
Tesla has something to do with that. In
Jekyll to murderous Hyde, bounding into 2008, its Roadster overturned the stereocorners and wagging its exotic tail on the type of EVs as glorified golf carts. Just as
way out. That electric umbilical cord is important are new emissions and fuelsevered and forgotten, and the Acura is economy regulations, which are compelsuddenly an Italian-baiting supercar but ling carmakers to electrify their fleets.
undoubtedly more rock-solid reliable,
BMW may have blinked, abruptly
just like the original NSX.
changing the course of its high-profile
I depart the track for a run to the i Division: Electric cars are out, autonotown of Idyllwild, then a fantasy two- mous cars are in. For its next all-new EV,
lane descent from the San Jacinto Moun- the iNext, slated for 2021, BMW is sudtains. The Acura slingshots from curve denly touting autonomous function as
to fate-tempting curve. I'm driving as much as its electric power train.
quickly as I dare on public roads, letYet Ferrari has pledged that every new
ting those front wheels electrify their model will be a hybrid, turbocharged, or
way into and out of every corner. The both. McLaren's Track 22 project targets
threesome of electric motors fills every 2022 to electrify half its models, includpower gap in the turbocharged engines, ing a potential all-electric version of its
with surges of juice making up for turbo fearsome P1 hypercar. Porsche has an
lag and smoothing gear changes. The electric sedan in the works, based on its
NSX actually gets to 100 km/h fastest stunning Mission E concept.
in Sport Plus, the mode in which the
The jury is still out on whether electriccomputers let the motors suck more ity will entirely displace old-school interbattery power than usual, knowing it'll nal combustion in performance cars. But
be instantly recovered via the frequent Klaus is convinced that electricity will
regeneration inherent to street driving. soon be an unstoppable force. "Electric
With such consistent power, and all the propulsion has a bright future," he says.
piped-in sounds, you'd almost swear "There's no two ways about it." ■

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum October, 2016