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A look inside Honda’s “Safety For Everyone” research and development operation

RAYMOND, Ohio—As part of its long-running “Safety for Everyone” campaign, Honda has established the audacious goal of what it calls a “zero-collision society.” But rather than making big claims about developing a fully-autonomous vehicle, which Honda hasnÂ’t done, the company is trying to chip away at the more than 37,000 vehicle-related fatalities that occurred in the U.S. in 2017 with a multi-pronged approach. Here in central Ohio, engineers are working with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to boost active safety systems like its HondaSensing suite of safety technology with old fashioned passive systems like structural steel frames or new airbag designs that protect passengers in a crash. Honda provided members of the press with a rare tour inside its Honda R&D Americas headquarters this week. Honda officials say that increasingly, safety — and specifically, third-party ratings from the likes of the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety — figure into the top three factors consumers weigh when purchasing a vehicle. Honda and Acura have 10, 2019 models that have earned IIHSÂ’s Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ ratings, and all 15, 2019 model-year Honda and Acura vehicles that have undergone NHTSA crash testing have earned a 5-star overall rating. And Honda prides itself on its growing list of safety firsts, including the first upward-deploying front passenger airbag, in 1990 in the Acura Legend; first omni-directional crash-test facility, in 2000; and the first autonomous braking system, in the 2006 Acura RL. It hopes its new three-chamber airbag goes industry-wide and joins that list. “ItÂ’s part of our companyÂ’s culture,” said Art St. Cyr, business head unit and vice president of auto operations for American Honda Motor Co. “We have a philosophy at Honda that we want to be a company that society wants to exist. That means we have to protect our customers. ThatÂ’s part of the whole mantra of doing this.” Opened in 1984, the 1.6 million square-foot Honda R&D Americas facility, located in the countryside about 45 miles northwest of Columbus, employs around 1,600 people and is HondaÂ’s largest research-and-development facility outside of Japan. Its Advanced Safety Research facility opened in 2003.

2022 Acura NSX Type S Road Test Review | An ode to itself, and a gift for drivers

As we say goodbye to the modern NSX, Acura saw fit to leave the world with a parting gift. As a last blast, the hybrid supercar got a Type S variant as a mighty sendoff, with more performance and improved handling. It’s a rare treat, though, for those who could afford its $171,495 starting price. The first example sold for over a million dollars, and the remaining 299 units were scooped up in a day. Road Test Editor Zac Palmer had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the NSX Type S for a lap around Daytona, and this fall our driveway had the privilege of being graced by the carÂ’s presence for a few days. And this NSX looks as extreme as it drives, a sharp wedge that combines aesthetics of exoticism and straight-up evil. This one, in particular, cut a mean figure, with its matte charcoal finish, blacked-out badging, plenty of carbon fiber, sharp angles and an odd-looking engine cover covering an odd powerplant, all under glass right behind the cockpit. Though the general shape of the car is familiar to supercar fans from the mid-1970s and beyond, thereÂ’s no mistaking this Acura for something else, its honed exterior a reflection of the carÂ’s performance. Zac already outlined what performance upgrades set this Type S apart from the rest of the generation, but itÂ’s good to know this wasnÂ’t mostly about looks. Acura upgraded the V6Â’s twin turbochargers, improved its air and thermal management capabilities, and lowered the gear ratios of the twin electric motors up front. It even got a higher-capacity, higher-output battery powering the hybrid system. The result is a cool 600 horsepower and 492 pound-feet of torque. It's shockingly quick, but itÂ’s hard to tell if itÂ’s actually faster in a straight line than the lesser NSX. The overall driving experience is improved, however. In the Type S, Acura has achieved incredibly quick shifts from the retuned nine-speed automatic. It works well on its own, but the response you get from pulling one of the paddles almost feels as though the car had predicted your move, and is supremely rewarding in terms of driver engagement. ItÂ’s quite generous in its compliance to your whims, too, allowing you downshifts that land you higher in the rev range than youÂ’d expect it to allow — in fact, Acura actually raised the manual downshift rev limit by 1,500 rpm. What a wonderful treat to give customers as a parting gift.

2019 Acura NSX vs. 1991 Acura NSX | Respect your elders

A car that forces the competition to head back to the drawing board does not come around often, especially when that competition happens to be Ferrari. Honda achieved such a feat back in 1991 when the original NSX was set loose in the supercar world. Not only did the NSX smack its contemporaries down in terms of performance and technological prowess, it also forced the Italians to make supercars with some semblance of reliability and manners. Spend only a few moments in an original NSX, and its specialness is palpable. The lack of power steering is acutely noticeable at low speed as I roll over little cracks and dips in the road, while the sticky rubber chucks small rocks up into the wheel wells. A near 360-degree view is at my disposal with the bubble-like canopy, and the ground right in front of the nose is visible from my vantage point. This is what control feels like, and we haven't even gotten to the reverie-inducing VTEC noises getting piped right into our eardrums yet. There are no dials to change the throttle response, no buttons to make the steering artificially heavy, no shift paddles behind the wheel to tell a computer to swap cogs. To my right is a manual shifter that can legitimately be described as perfect. This is a 1991 Acura NSX, and it is glorious. For some of the reasons I've briefly described, and plenty more, this car has reached legend status amongst enthusiasts. In the early 2000s it was a sales disaster, outgunned by pretty much every other supercar in the space. Honda/Acura was only working with a 3.2-liter V6 making 290 horsepower when that car finally met its maker after the 2005 model year. As collectable modern classics, the relatively low power output doesn't seem to bother folks spending close to, and over, six digits on low-mileage examples of these cars. What changed? Well, the passage of time tends to be the biggest factor in these things. Also, there's a new NSX out there, reminding the world that the old one exists. And just like when Acura discontinued the original, the new one is mighty expensive, selling in extremely low numbers, and generally regarded as lesser than other options in its class. This time around it has to deal with standout cars like the 911 GT3, McLaren 570S and Audi R8 V10. But perhaps even worse than that, the new NSX must withstand comparisons to the original. Can you think of any other legendary Japanese car with a similar image problem today? Yeah, the Toyota Supra.