An updated 2019 Honda NSX has been unveiled in the USA, with the focus on driving over design for the Japanese brand's flagship supercar.
In fact, the exterior changes are best described as blink and you'll miss them, with new orange paint (called Thermal Orange Pearlescent), and a slight colour change to the front grille and the vents that appear around the car the only noticeable updates.
What's more important, though, is what's going on under that now-orange paintwork. Honda says it has modified the chassis, tyres and software to generate more performance, as well as tweaking the NSX's twin-turbocharged and mid‑mounted V6.
The changes, Honda says, ensure the 2019 NSX is a full two seconds quicker around the Suzuka racetrack in Japan than the outgoing car.
New and bigger stabiliser bars increase body stiffness by 26 per cent at the front axle and 19 per cent at the rear, while new tyres - it now wears a specialised set of Continental's SportContact 6 - have been described as "grippier" without much in the way of explanation. The dampers, steering and traction settings have been tweaked, too.
"Engineers modified chassis components, tyres and software tuning to make NSX even more responsive to the will of the driver, elevating performance driving in all circumstances," says Honda.
"At the limit, the NSX's balance, playfulness and controllability has improved, allowing the driver to more precisely modulate understeer and oversteer with subtle throttle inputs."
Honda's engineers have been to work on the engine, too, with new injectors and changes to the turbos' heat management system. But the Japanese brand is keeping mum for now on whether its tinkering has unlocked any more combined power from the petrol V6 engine and electric motors, currently good for 427kW and 646Nm.
Australian pricing is yet to be confirmed, but in the USA, the 2019 version is now US$1500 more expensive than the outgoing model - a price increase Honda justifies by pointing to an longer standard features list. Whether a similar increase will be made to the NSX's $420,000 asking price here remains to be seen.
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