Our original plan was to drive the car for a few sessions during one of Infineon's test days. Unfortunately, despite its heritage, the NSX was not allowed on the track with the other racecars since it didn't have a competition log book and safety equipment. However, the track officials were gracious enough to give us a few laps at the end of the day. The low sun was casting long shadows, ideal for photography but just one more element to encourage the butterflies in my stomach as I crawled into the cockpit.
The NSX-R has by far the most fitting interior of any car I've driven on a racetrack. It's hard to say if the thing is a racy luxury car or a luxurious racecar. The Kevlar seat is all business yet it's mounted to a power-sliding bracket. It took me a moment to figure out what all the switches did. My favorite directed the power antennae to only raise half way. Others operated the power windows, air conditioning, and what appeared to be an audio cassette player. With everyone waiting I couldn't stall any longer. I had to hit the most important switch of all, the ignition key.
As the Spoon Sports exhaust blurted out its cherry note I was greeted by a woman's voice. Admittedly my Japanese is poor but I'm pretty sure she was saying, "You are awesome. People envy you." Engineering Editor Chen later insisted that she was instructing me to fasten my seatbelt but he always was a bit of a player hater. With my belt secured I headed out on course to see what she could do.
First of all, the sounds that V6 made at 8000 RPM were incredible. Turbo cars normally can't sing like that. Accompanying were all the great whining, hissing, and choo-choo sounds from the turbo system itself. The power delivery was equally well orchestrated even if it wasn't as pronounced. Boost built up down low in the power-band then tapered off as the VTEC engine got into its natural realm. The feeling from the seat was that power was always there. However, as in any turbo car the throttle needed to be tipped a split second before you were going to get it.
Carving through the corners at around eight tenths was a piece of cake. The relatively small front tires ran out of grip before the rears. Keeping it on the track was just a simple matter of easing off the throttle when the steering wheel got light. It behaved exactly as you would want a six figure street car to behave. But if you asked for trouble she would give it to you. Dragging the brakes with my left foot while loading up the boost with my right would get it in and out of the hairpins a little quicker. However with both ends pushing against each other there was a lot of energy bound up. On one lap I pushed the limits in turn seven (the only corner with plenty of paved run-off room.) The car snapped into a smoky 360 before I could catch it. But again, I was asking for it.
The car's straight-line acceleration and braking abilities are clearly visible at the end of the telemetry graph. The car dumps 70 MPH in no time flat while approaching the final hairpin. Then it blasts from 37 to 104 MPH by the time it crosses start/finish, even with my cautious right-hand-drive shifting. My lap time of 1:57 flat was a little over three seconds slower than what I was able to do a few months earlier in the Spoon Sports RSX racecar. Although, I will admit to leaving a little more on the table with the NSX. The bottom line is that the Spoon Sports NSX-R GT is an impressive street car that can hold its own on the track. Wherever it is driven it will be awesome, and will be envied.