The changes for 2019 are incremental, but important. Honda engineers focused on handling, swapping out the iffy Continental SportContact 5P base tire for the sure-footed ContiSportContact 6. Matched with stiffer front and rear stabilizer bars and some tweaks to the programming behind the adaptive dampers and steering, the NSX’s new tire is a revelation, serving up an impressive amount of grip even at lower temperatures. It also brings some cosmetic changes—a gloss grille, gloss carbon-fiber accents, my test car’s nifty Thermal Orange paint job and orange brake calipers, and the blue interior among them—and more standard features, like power heated seats and front-rear parking sensors. All that for a starting MSRP boost of just $1,500.
Another surprising high point: the carbon ceramic brakes, which bite wonderfully and offer none of the regen-mechanical wackiness found in other hybrid applications. It’s not a stretch to say it’s the best brake-by-wire system in the business.
Surface Transforms plc (LON:SCE) are experts in the development and production of carbon-ceramic materials and the UK’s only manufacturer of carbon-ceramic brakes for automotive use.
