The New Honda NSX Will Take On The Ferrari 458's Performance At An Audi R8 Price

When Honda announced it was building a successor to the iconic NSX, everyone knew it had to get things right, and it sounds like the Japanese manufacturer is going in hard to achieve just that.

The NSX’s head of development, Ted Klaus, told What Car? that the new car will have performance characteristics similar to those in the Ferrari 458, adding “‘More importantly we have to achieve this every day and also at the Nurburgring.”

Despite attempting to match the 458’s performance, Klaus wants to undercut the Italians on price by pitching the NSX at an Audi R8 price. “I realise that is a wide range,” he said, “but the NSX will still be extremely accessible.”

If you’re hoping to see tonnes of relatively inexpensive supercars rolling around the streets, you might be disappointed. Klaus has pointed towards an intention to keep the NSX rather rare, saying that Honda does not intend to meet demand, instead creating a buzz around the car through its rarity. Honda also appears to be working on a variety of NSX models, including high-performance versions and a convertible.

As if 458 performance for R8 cash wasn’t enough, Klaus also stated that the petrol-electric hybrid (which has proved problematic for Honda, after batteries caught fire at the Nurburgring) supercar will be incredibly economical. In this sector, the Porsche 911 is currently the greenest car on sale, but Honda “will be well clear of that.”

The production vehicle is due to be revealed at the Tokyo motor show in November 2015, with sales beginning shortly after. There have already been 80 orders from the UK alone,