Here are the supercars the Honda NSX has to beat

Undernourished in the raw power stakes compared to the Honda, but the i8’s ability to make hybrid motoring feel impossibly exotic is beguiling.

“You’d almost never believe it was an eco-chomping hybrid, doing an amazing impression of a 340bhp straight six rather than a little turbo triple. It doesn’t quite feel 911-fast, despite a 4.4-second 0-62mph time, because high-rev drama and violence is lacking. But it’s still ruddy quick, and traction is fantastic.”

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Ah yes, the R8 – a reputation-changer for Audi, and perhaps the first supercar since the original NSX to totally re-write The Big Book of Making Fast Exotics Everyday Friendly. Big scalp, this.

“Between 6000 and 6500, something magical happens, a sudden quickening of its pulse, a crazed resolve to arrive at the moment when the clock strikes red at 8700. And throughout, the response to the right pedal has that gorgeously exact and instantaneous quality you just never get with a turbo motor.”

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If the new NSX can see off Audi’s 5.2-litre screaming V10 flagship, it’ll stand a good chance against the baby Lambo too…

“This is a car that positively encourages you to investigate the depths of its talents, and flatters you throughout the process. It’s a car that knows its audience: those who want a car with huge potential, but enough of a buffer to encourage them closer to the limit.”

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Yup, for around £130k you can now have a McLaren specifically designed to be a friendly, practical commuter car that’ll also provide NASA-spec acceleration. And don’t forget the new 570GT, with extra boot space…

“At root it’s a balanced chassis with loads of traction. Beyond that it has very clever electronic stability systems, including a new, very loose, setting that allows you to – OK, encourages you to – play at lurid oversteer.”

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For the NSX to attain true Usable Supercar Greatness, it’ll have to go through the car that’s been perfecting the game for four decades: the Porsche 911 Turbo. Okay, the Honda can’t offer two extra seats, but its 570+bhp and torque-tastic AWD drivetrain is a dead-on rival for the ultimate Neunelfer.

“The grip off the line is basically drag car. On any surface. And it’s reliably, monotonously easy to do. It doesn’t so much launch as lash out at the horizon and throw a snappy jab at the future road.”

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You want speed? You want tech? You want, um, Japanese? The venerable R35 GT-R has been bullying the supercar elite (and YouTube commenters) alike for almost ten years, and Mizuno-San’s heavyweight, turbocharged mega-coupe is still one of the most brutal driving experiences on the sub-supercar menu.

“Comments have been made that the GT-R makes speed ‘too easy’, and that there’s too much help on offer if you like driving. Absolute poppycock. You just need to learn to drive the GT-R – and when you do, it’s genuinely mega. It’s also an assault on the senses”

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OK, so the original NSX brief targeted the 458, but that car's successor must surely be in the firing sight. With 661bhp, the Ferrari certainly has the outright power to trump the Honda...

"The 488’s acceleration is a step up from the 458 and even the Lambo Huracán, flinging you down the road with the shocking, brutal thrust of a fighter jet on take-off. It’s the sort of acceleration that pins you back into the seat, the sort of acceleration that causes a string of involuntary expletives to spew forth from your lips..."

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