Discussion
In the Brian Long book, there are photos of several pieces of Japanese literature and Honda brochures specfically on the R. Standing out from all the Japanese ideograms are, in English, "NSX-R" and "R".
Also, the car's sill plates have "NSX-R" embossed into them, as well as the chassis number. There may be some other physical bits on the car as well - sorry I cannot recall.
Warren, IMHO you're both correct BUT you're more correct than your friend.
The original "NSX-R", which is how it is titled in the JDM literature, was the first Honda to use "R" suffix and therefore can probably be considered the birth of the "R" or "Type R" sub-brand.
Whether it was intentional at the time (1993) or not, the ethos of taking a standard model and making it lighter (by removing luxury items), stiffer (shell), firmer (suspension) then adding a few trick parts (brake spec/suspension bushing/final drive ratio/LSD etc) thereby making it faster and more driver focused, went down well.
I believe the first Honda actually badged "Type R" was the Integra Type R (DC2) of 1995. By this time the "R", athough still red in colour, had morphed into the italicised script that we know today.
The early "Type R's" feel like they were purely the result of Honda's engineering guys doing exactly what they felt was best in the name of performance and handling.
These days "Type R" has been turned into a full sub brand, similar to BMW's M division, and the cars spec is defined more by the marketing boys and girls than the engineers. This is particlarly true of the UK/Euro versions eg the current CTR where we get watered down versions of the JDM spec.
Cheers
Mark
The original "NSX-R", which is how it is titled in the JDM literature, was the first Honda to use "R" suffix and therefore can probably be considered the birth of the "R" or "Type R" sub-brand.
Whether it was intentional at the time (1993) or not, the ethos of taking a standard model and making it lighter (by removing luxury items), stiffer (shell), firmer (suspension) then adding a few trick parts (brake spec/suspension bushing/final drive ratio/LSD etc) thereby making it faster and more driver focused, went down well.
I believe the first Honda actually badged "Type R" was the Integra Type R (DC2) of 1995. By this time the "R", athough still red in colour, had morphed into the italicised script that we know today.
The early "Type R's" feel like they were purely the result of Honda's engineering guys doing exactly what they felt was best in the name of performance and handling.
These days "Type R" has been turned into a full sub brand, similar to BMW's M division, and the cars spec is defined more by the marketing boys and girls than the engineers. This is particlarly true of the UK/Euro versions eg the current CTR where we get watered down versions of the JDM spec.
Cheers
Mark
Edited by p-car on Wednesday 27th August 10:36
matt3001 said:
So if you want an NSX-R, the white/black one you have to import it from Japan? Any ideas what they fetch?
Be really, REALLY sure of what you're getting into before you undertake this.The problem is that the car either has to get a Certificate from Conformity from Honda UK - which they will not give you - or it must pass an ESVA.
It took Honda UK themselves 6 months to modify the white/black one sufficiently for it to pass ESVA. The high cost of this process was the reason that they decided not to import them and offer them to their UK clients. They already had a number of firm buyers teed up, but the job of ESVA conversion was much greater than what Honda UK had bargained for. They told me that they even had to change the car's gearbox in order for it to pass the test.
In addition to the one white/black facelifted version here in the UK, there are a couple of pre-facelift NSX-Rs here as well. Imo, the earlier car is a nicer car, certainly so on the road, and it costs a good bit less.
matt3001 said:
So if you want an NSX-R, the white/black one you have to import it from Japan? Any ideas what they fetch?
The only one I remember seeing pass through the auctions recently was a grade 0 (generally means the car has been heavily modified, repaired after major damage or badly water-damaged). I think it had done about 25k miles and went for just north of 7 million (about £35k at current exchange rates). Once you'd paid handling/shipping/import duty/VAT etc it would be more like £48k in the UK; but as Flemke said, your options for getting one on the road here are limited. The easiest way would be to wait until they reach their 10th birthday and then import one - no need for an esva (assuming the regulations haven't changed by then).
Yes, as far as Japanese imports are concerned, the ESVA test only applies to cars under 10 years old. Over that age, they basically just need to pass an MOT in order to be registered. Typically this involves fitting a rear fog light and a few other bits and bobs.
Preparing a car for an ESVA test doesn't involve a great deal of work if there's a model report available to hire. As long as your car and the one used to create the model report are both standard, things are fairly straight forward.
The issues arise when there's no model report or when the car differs significantly from standard. Sometimes a car can't be made compliant - there's no model report for the 3rd gen RX-7 because (I believe) it can't be made to pass the required emission tests. The only imported RX-7s in the country are either over 10 years old or were imported before the ESVA rules came into force.
Preparing a car for an ESVA test doesn't involve a great deal of work if there's a model report available to hire. As long as your car and the one used to create the model report are both standard, things are fairly straight forward.
The issues arise when there's no model report or when the car differs significantly from standard. Sometimes a car can't be made compliant - there's no model report for the 3rd gen RX-7 because (I believe) it can't be made to pass the required emission tests. The only imported RX-7s in the country are either over 10 years old or were imported before the ESVA rules came into force.
warren182 said:
Please help me settle a discussion. I believe that the NSX-R was never officially called the type r, merely dubbed that in the west. A friend is adamant that the first NSX-r was called the type r in japan, which I'm sure is incorrect. Help!!
C5L said:
all this talk and no pics !!!!
NSX-R one of the 10 greats in my view.
This takes care of both.......NSX-R one of the 10 greats in my view.
Edited by ferrisbueller on Thursday 25th September 21:01
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