Honda NSX hit with delays

Honda’s US Acura brand has announced that its new NSX supercar is still not ready and won’t be until at least autumn next year.

The delays are said to have occurred following what the car-maker calls changes in engine layout that occurred late during the car’s development.

Originally the NSX was set to go on sale toward the end of 2015 but its launch has now been cancelled and pushed back around six months to some time in 2016.

Making the announcement, the Honda spokesman said: “With Acura announcing the delay of the NSX that will affect mass production for Europe [and right-hand drive markets] as it all comes from the same factory. It will be spring 2016, but there is no definite date yet.”

Unlike the original, first-generation NSX that first went on sale 25 years ago, the new car has been wholly developed in the US, where it will also be manufactured at a facility in Marysville, Ohio.

The new NSX boats an advanced spaceframe that uses a carbon-fibre floor bonded with an ultra-high tensile steel and aluminium skeleton.

Behind the passenger cell is a new mid-mounted 75-degree twin-turbo V6 driving through a nine-speed dual-clutch gearbox that’s assisted by three electric motors. Together they develop 410kW.

The all-wheel drive NSX has been created to be a rival for the Ferrari 488 GTB, McLaren 650S and Porsche 911 Turbo. In the future a spider is also expected to follow the coupe.

Originally the NSX coupe was expected to go on sale in Australia around the middle of 2016, but that is now expected to be pushed back potentially as far as early 2017.