2019 Honda Civic Type R vs. 1991 Acura NSX in Photos
We pit new against old icons to track the evolution of Honda performance.
Did 30 years of progress make the ultimate Honda Civic a more desirable driver's car than Honda's first true high-performance icon? After a week in both machines, the answers to these questions are a definite yes and an absolute maybe. Read the full story here.
Using the test results from our 3106-pound long-term Civic Type R for comparison, Honda's modern hot hatchback weighs 86 pounds more than the aluminum-bodied NSX we tested back in the summer of 1990.
But it's also considerably more powerful and has a superior power-to-weight ratio. Inhaling 22.8 psi of boost, the Civic's turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four makes 306 horsepower, which means each of the Type R's ponies has to move 10.2 pounds.
The Acura's naturally aspirated 3.0-liter V-6 revs past 8000 rpm, but its 270 horses weren't that impressive even back in 1991. Do the math, and the supercar's power-to-weight ratio is 11.2:1.
The NSX is quick, but the Civic, which is the fleetest front-wheel-drive car we've ever tested, is quicker.
Our long-termer's zero-to-60-mph time of 5.1 seconds is a tenth quicker than the Acura's, and that gap widens to 0.2 second and 5 mph through the quarter-mile, which the Honda completes in 13.6 seconds at 107.
The original NSX always looked bigger in photos than it really was. The Civic towers over the Acura by nearly a foot.
It's also more than two inches wider, six inches longer, and has about seven inches more space between its axles. Driving the NSX alongside the Type R feels as if you're riding in a go-kart next to a small SUV.
At first, the Acura's seating position feels odd. You sit tall within its cabin and look out through the top third of its huge windshield over an impossibly low cowl.
Jump out of the analog NSX and into the digital Civic, and it's as if you're climbing into the mind of a Gran Turismo video-game addict. There are red seatbelts, trim, and stitching. Bright red upholstery covers its heavily bolstered sport seats, which are supremely comfortable yet wouldn't seem out of place in a Sparco catalog.
The original NSX will always be special and its attraction eternal. But the 2019 Civic Type R is clearly more capable.
1991 Acura NSX
1991 Acura NSX
1991 Acura NSX
1991 Acura NSX
1991 Acura NSX
1991 Acura NSX
1991 Acura NSX
1991 Acura NSX
1991 Acura NSX
1991 Acura NSX
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