Early 90's USDM Japanese Muscle Cars

[HELLRAZOR]

FROM WIKIPEDIA:
"Muscle car is a term used to refer to a variety of high performance automobiles. The term principally refers to American, Australian and to a lesser extent South African models from the late 1960s and early 1970s and generally describes a 2-door rear wheel drive mid-size car with a large, powerful V8 engine and special trim, intended for maximum torque on the street or in drag racing competition. It is distinguished from sports cars, which were customarily considered smaller, two-seat cars, or GTs, two-seat or 2+2 cars intended for high-speed touring and possibly road racing. High-performance full-size or compact cars are arguably excluded from this category, as are the breed of compact sports coupes inspired by the Ford Mustang."

FROM DICTIONARY.COM from Random House Unabridged Dictionary:
"muscle car
–noun a flashy sports car with a large, powerful engine; a hot rod. "

as far as what Shelby called the original mustang: Are you referring to the knickname "sally" or are you talking about what the mustang was labeled, the GT350?

[Ran]

dont call the GTR a supercar,or the Z06,ZR1 or SRT-10

I still fail to see why people think that "supercars" only come from Europe. I laugh at the butthurt Ferrari, Porsche, and Lambo fanboys for their pointless elitism and bruised pride.

[OneSlow5pt0]

I still fail to see why people think that "supercars" only come from Europe. I laugh at the butthurt Ferrari, Porsche, and Lambo fanboys for their pointless elitism and bruised pride.

i didnt say that,hell the TTS7 is a supercar.......the only japanesse supercar i can think of would be that nissan R(cant remeber) its mid engine,very rare

*edit: take that back,the r390 never went into production,but a road car was built

[DieselNuts]

as far as what Shelby called the original mustang: Are you referring to the knickname "sally" or are you talking about what the mustang was labeled, the GT350?

no, he said that they werent muscle cars, they were_________

[HELLRAZOR]

no, he said that they werent muscle cars, they were_________

couldnt find that quote anywhere.

[DieselNuts]

He said they were Secretary's cars

[Nissangeek]

NSX is not a muscle car. Muscle cars have to have a back seat.

[DieselNuts]

NSX is not a muscle car. Muscle cars have to have a back seat.

& torque...

[OneSlow5pt0]

& torque...

and weigh almost 4k pounds

[HELLRAZOR]

agreed on all of the above...especially the back seat! LOL

[Barefoot]

fd

[87 Turbo II]

Rx-7 all the way and if you meant the FD only there were no N/A FDs, they're all TTs.

[AnthonyF]

I love supras and I really wish I could afford one. But 20k for a 10+ yr old car with 150k+ miles and N/A.....just isnt worth it.

-Ant.

[Gorilla Eg!]

NSX wins hands down and will live on forever as Hondas first "supercar"

Development

In 1984 Honda commissioned Pininfarina to design the HP-X (Honda Pininfarina Xperimental),[1] which had a mid-mounted 2.0 L V6 configuration.

The production NSX was designed by a team led by Chief Designer Ken Okuyama and Executive Chief Engineer Shigeru Uehara, who was also in charge of the S2000 project. Its first public appearances as the NS-X were at the Chicago Auto Show in February 1989, and at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 1989.[2]

Japanese Formula One driver Satoru Nakajima was involved with the NSX's development, performing many duties related to chassis tuning. Brazilian Formula One driver Ayrton Senna and American Bobby Rahal also participated in the car's development.[3] Senna was given an NSX by Honda, although details of this car and its fate are unclear.[citation needed]

Honda's breakthrough engineering in the NSX was a major contributor to the design of the McLaren F1 as mentioned in an interview with McLaren designer Gordon Murray. [4] "The moment I drove the NSX, all the benchmark cars--Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini--I had been using as references in the development of my car vanished from my mind. Of course the car we would create, the McLaren F1, needed to be faster than the NSX, but the NSX's ride quality and handling would become our new design target." The NSX was also the world's first all-aluminum and aluminum monocoque chassis production car, and was also marketed as the "Everyday Supercar" thanks in part to its ease of use, quality and reliability, traits that were unheard of in the supercar segment at the time.



Manufacture and release


1997 Acura NSX



Japanese NSX Police Car (Tochigi Prefectural Police)


Upon its release in 1990, the NSX was a design ahead of its time, at only 1170 mm (46.1 in) in height only 141.3 mm (6 in) taller than the legendary Ford GT40. The car showcased Honda's racing technology, exemplified by the NSX's ultra-rigid, ultra-light aluminium monocoque chassis, aluminium suspension, titanium connecting rods, forged pistons and high-revving capabilities — the redline was at a lofty 8,000 rpm. Today it is still known by many as the most reliable exotic car with many examples exceeding 100,000 miles without any reliability issues. The car's strong chassis rigidity and cornering/handling capabilities were the results of Ayrton Senna's direct input with NSX's chief engineers while testing at the Honda owned Suzuka Circuit during its final development stages.[5] The NSX was initially assembled at the purpose-built Takanezawa R&D Plant in Tochigi from 1989 to early 2004, when it was moved to Suzuka Plant for the remainder of its production life. The cars were assembled by approximately 200 experienced, hand-picked staff from various Honda factories. Honda designed the NSX in search of the perfect balance between power and reliability and thus produced a powerful naturally aspirated engine suitable for the abuse of road racing.

One of the first magazine articles show the lightweight 3.0L 270 HP NSX producing a best 0-60 mp/h time of 5.03 seconds and 13.47 seconds for the quarter mile.[6]

Also on a Ferrari 348 to NSX comparison, a 0-60 time of 5.2 seconds was recorded for the 1991 NSX.[7] This Ferrari level performance made the NSX known as the "First Japanese Exotic Super car".

Wheels magazine Australia awarded the Honda NSX the 1991 Car of the Year award.


A Honda NSX engine bay.


Despite the current age of the NSX, it still has a strong base of fans and supporters. Honda and many NSX enthusiasts describe the vehicle as a supercar based on its body type, drivetrain layout, low seating position, packaging, and especially car handling.[citation needed] Others disagree, claiming the NSX does not qualify for exotic car/supercar status because it is not of European origin.[citation needed] The car's power rating is not as high as modern supercars, although its rated 270 horsepower (200 kW) at debut in 1990 was only 30 horsepower (22 kW) shy of the 300 lb (136 kg) heavier Ferrari 348, the NSX's direct rival. Because of its lighter weight, the NSX was slightly faster than the 348 in straight-line acceleration. At one time, it featured the highest per-litre specific output of any road-going naturally aspirated V6 engine in the world, and even now it is exceptionally fast for the motor's relatively low power output versus comparable "supercars."[citation needed] Post-1997 3.2 L North American Acura examples are known to achieve a 13.3 second quarter-mile time [8] (1997-2005 model year NSX-T; the 149 lb (68 kg) lighter Zanardi Edition NSX is closer to 13.2 seconds [9]), while the Japanese NSX-R (2002+) is known to perform a 12.9 second quarter-mile time.[citation needed] This ability is a result of the high 8,000 rpm redline, flat power curve, short gear ratios, light weight and mid-engine layout, along with the light power increase.

On July 20, 2005, days after the announcement of the closure of current NSX production, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui announced that a new NSX was under development and would sport a Formula One-inspired V10 motor, with speculation that it might have the SH-AWD (Super Handling All Wheel Drive) system introduced on the Acura RL. In addition, he stated it would be ready within three to four years. The last US production model NSX was sold in the summer of 2006 in Spokane, Washington. It was originally supposed to be put in Honda's museum, but was not. Jay Leno also showed interest in the car, but backed down so it was shipped to Spokane and sold.[citation needed]



First Generation NSX-R (JDM)

Beginning in 1992 Honda produced a limited number of 483 NSX-Rs exclusively for the Japanese domestic market (JDM). Major changes include a blueprinted engine producing 280 bhp (209 kW) in stock form, a different final ratio for the gearbox, a more aggressive suspension and an extensive weight reduction to 1230 kg (2712 lb) from 1350 kg (2976 lb). The NSX-R was very track oriented as it lacked sound deadening, audio and air conditioning in an effort to reduce weight. However, these items were available for a hefty premium as optional items. Production ended in 1994.



NSX-T

In 1995 the NSX-T with a targa top roof was released in Japan as a special order option. In North America, the NSX-T replaced the standard coupe entirely as the only trim available, with the notable exceptions of the Zanardi Edition NSX in 1999 and a handful of special ordered post-1997/pre-2002 3.2 liter coupes. The removable roof reduced the chassis rigidity of the NSX and added about 100 pounds (45 kg) of structural reinforcements. In addition to this major change, the suspensions have also been softened to improve ride, comfort, and tire wear, at the expense of ultimate handling. The suspension redesign was also intended to reduce the sudden-oversteer problems that plagued most mid-engined vehicles. All roofs were now body-colored instead of black, although in Japan the two-tone black roof/body color was still available as an optional feature. Finally available in the manual transmission version NSX was electric power steering, previously found in the automatic version exclusively.



1997 Performance-Enhancing Changes (Worldwide)

1997 brought the biggest changes to the performance of the current generation NSX for the Japanese domestic versions and abroad. For 1997 engine displacement increased from 3.0 L to 3.2 L. This new 3.2 L C32B engine gave it slightly more rated power: from 270 hp (201 kW) to 292 hp (218 kW) while torque increased from 210 lb·ft (285 N·m) to 224 lb·ft (304 N·m) (manual transmission only). The 4-speed automatic model still used the 3.0 litre engine and power output. Another big change was the adoption of the 6-speed manual transmission. The combination of slightly-increased power and torque, 6-speed manual gearbox, and optimized gear ratio produced improved straight-line acceleration. The new NSX rang up better numbers than the power and torque improvements may suggest over previous model NSXs. 0-60 mph time dropped from 5.4 seconds to as low as 5.0 seconds for the NSX-S Zero. Other notable changes include a brake rotor size increase from 12 inches (305 mm) to 13 inches (330 mm) — which necessitated larger wheels and tires, a new aluminium alloy to further reduce weight and increase rigidity, and a transponder in the key.

[Hollowmon]

Neither "Early 90's" nor "Japanese" go with the word muscle car....

Stop hating Cause you know as well as anyone else that it has jap muscle that can run with the best of the U.S

[AnTi-PooN]

civic si

[OneSlow5pt0]

Stop hating Cause you know as well as anyone else that it has jap muscle that can run with the best of the U.S

none of those cars are muscle

[chhs_lax]

NSX is not a muscle car. Muscle cars have to have a back seat.

Vette zr1's dont have a back seat, and if you dont think that's muscle.........no comment. Actually new Vette's in general dont. (I think)

[OneSlow5pt0]

corvettes arnt muscle,thier sports cars

[Terror]

NSX.. NA, and not as powerful as the rest of them.. but sick nonetheless

[Danzo]

I chose 300zx cause you have my old one :P

[Sport1.3]

Neither "Early 90's" nor "Japanese" go with the word muscle car....

Agreed

Japanese "sports cars"

[cactusEG]

Hands down, supra !

1992 toyota paseo.

LAMO that was my 2nd car. The gas mpg, was fuccking good.

[cwhiteboy]

NSX has always been one of my favorite early 90's Japanese cars, but I wouldn't consider it muscle. Supra and GTR where probably the closest to a "muscle" car from japan.

[YoshiFD3S]

I wonder if anyone can guess what I chose..

>_>

[VooDooXII]

I don't know...I liked all of those. Put the poll in reverse order and you've got my order of preference.

[2rotor]

FD3S ftmfw! like you didnt know i like all of the cars in the poll though, my least favorite aesthetically has to be the 300zx though, i like the car overall, but the styling isnt quite there for my taste.

[obd1kenobi]

Rx7