Car Design…..Acura NSX

Car Design: Acura NSX

When  Acura NSX was first introduced in Tokyo Motor Show 1989, that was exciting news for all Japanese people.
I remember the show, I even could not move in front of NSX in the massive cloud. According to the press, 250,000 visited in that day!

Those days, already Japanese cars were considered as best quality cars….but at the same time, they were always dull and boring looking too.

Lexus LS400 or Acure NSX…..those are considered as first achievement to be the “World class prestige”.

By the way, How do you think this style from the point of today? I thought it was really beautiful when I saw at 89 show…..but, my English teacher(American) said it needed more character. He also said the designer just try to be like Ferrari…… Well….he was right.

So Today, I am explaining this design.

Well….it does look a bit like Ferrari or something….but it does not look as powerful or as stable as Ferrari….why is it?

First of all it is better to check the side view.

It looks really weak around rear wheel arch. There is too much empty space or not enough mass….. between rear hatch and spoiler.  It makes it look like nearly collapsing.

It also has imbalance between small cabin and long wheel base.
I guess the biggest problem is the shape of the center pillar I marked by red circle.

That is showing like whole cabin is sliding forward.

Acura NSX with modified center pillar

I just tilted the pillar backward instead of tilting forward. In that case, I had to shift the rear hatch to backward too.

But look at the difference !! Only that shifted the mass of the design and made it much more stable.

This car has another problem. It has completely no space behind the front seats. When you are dating on this car, it is quite annoying because you got to carry everything on your lap,on the floor or on your girlfriend…..while you are driving!

But with this improvement, that will create some extra space behind seat.

I always say “Beautiful designs are practical too.” or “Practical designs are beautiful”.

Acura NSX with modified center pillar + short tail

Tell the truth, I was still thinking the rear end is a bit too long.

Those days, they thought it was good to have long tail for aerodynamics and also created luggage space which can carry golf bag….those 2 reasons made the tail so long.

In this picture, I shortened the rear a little bit from the previous one.
If I only talk about the design, I will choose the last one….but the previous one has reasonable luggage space at rear….maybe, that is the best balance.
By the way….this is the prototype of New NSX…….

They are just trying to be Audi R8 or something?

At least I could feel something like Challenge spirits from the previous model…..but nothing from this thing.

Just all the line is twisting around and banging each other. Car design is not “Modern art“.