Honda NSX still a year away from Australia

Japanese supercar -- to be made in the US -- still at least a year away, and the sky’s the limit on price.

The successor to Japan’s original Ferrari-fighting supercar is still at least a year away from Australian showrooms even though it has been unveiled and is gearing up for production.

The new generation Honda NSX will make an appearance in concept car form at this year’s Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne next month, and is confirmed for sale locally, but Honda still does not know when it will arrive and how much it will cost.

“We’ve asked our dealers not to take orders (on the new Honda NSX) until we have a clearer idea on timing and pricing,” said Honda Australia director Stephen Collins. “We think at this stage in will arrive in the second half of 2016, but it’s yet to be confirmed.”

We think at this stage in will arrive in the second half of 2016, but it’s yet to be confirmed.

Honda Australia also wouldn’t speculate on price. “I can honestly say I have no idea where it will end up,” said Mr Collins.

In the US, the new Honda NSX is tipped to cost about $150,000 plus taxes and delivery charges. But it will likely cost more than $200,000 when it arrives locally.

The original Honda NSX went on sale in Australia in 1991 for $160,000 but the price quickly rose to $220,000 in 1995 and had climbed to $256,000 when it was discontinued in 2005. About 160 Honda NSX supercars were sold locally from a global production run of 18,685 vehicles.

Honda Australia says only a handful of its national network of 107 dealers will sell and service the NSX, just as Nissan appoints a limited number of outlets to handle the GT-R.

Honda’s mid-engined supercar will be built in Ohio, North America rather than Japan, the birthplace of the original model made from 1990 to 2005.

It will be powered by a twin turbo V6 matched to a hybrid system and a nine-speed twin clutch transmission. Power and performance figures are yet to be released.

But it’s safe to assume it’ll have more get-up-and-go than the original. The first Honda NSX from 1990 was powered by a 3.0-litre V6 with 201kW of power. Today, a Holden Commodore V6 has almost as much power (195kW).

In what appears to becoming a tradition among Japanese supercars, the Honda NSX is a long time coming, just as the latest Nissan GT-R took almost a decade to reach production.

Honda unveiled a show car in 2007 and forecast that it would have V10 engine power and be in showrooms by 2010. But then the Global Financial Crisis hit and the NSX was put on hold. For almost nine years.

Meanwhile, the news is not so good for fans holding out for the Honda Civic Type R. It is still up to two years away from local roads.

Even though Honda has unveiled a Civic Type R concept car and talked about its new turbocharged engine, there are still no firm production plans, says Honda Australia director Stephen Collins.

"I think we will get it (Honda Civic Type R)," he said. "It has a rich heritage in Australia. But it's not yet confirmed. It won't arrive before the NSX and that means it could be as late as 2017 (before it arrives in local showrooms)."