Porsche sends mocking message to Honda

Under the engine cover of the 911 GT3, the Japanese car company's people found a message: "Porsche wishes Honda good luck. See you again."

It is not uncommon for automakers to buy products from other manufacturers to evaluate their features and use as benchmarks when developing new models. Honda was no exception when they developed the Acura NSX - a 2-seat sports car manufactured in Ohio, USA. One of the test vehicles they bought was a Porsche 911 GT3 to evaluate the steering system, according to Nick Robinson, who is in charge of the NSX's aerodynamics project, told Automotive News.

A Porsche 911 GT3 was purchased by Honda to serve the development of the Acura NSX. Photo: Autoweek.

Often, people from car companies come to a dealership posing as regular customers, and people from rival companies don't notice anything unusual. But today, with information provided by the car's black box, a "sly" customer like the one above can easily be detected.

The German automaker realized that this special customer was the development team of the Honda NSX, or Acura NSX (same product but different market names) after the GT3 model was recalled to fix an engine problem. And when they got the car back, the Japanese company's people found a message written under the engine cover: "Porsche wishes Honda good luck. See you soon."

The first Acura NSX, or Honda NSX, rolled out of the factory in Ohio on May 27. Photo:Autofile.

To develop the NSX, a hybrid that retails for about $158,000, Honda’s development team also bought a McLaren 12C, a British supercar with a 3.8-liter V8 engine and 592 horsepower. The 12C returned to the dealership several times for repairs, but McLaren didn’t notice the unusual customer. When the dealership learned that a competitor had bought the car for testing, Robinson said, “they wanted to know where we could get it to 200 mph.”

In the world of automobiles, it seems that every time a new product is developed or an existing model is upgraded, companies often compare it to Porsche. And the Porsche 911 is often considered the "benchmark" for high-performance sports cars. The reasons may stem from factors such as: Porsche cars are easy to get used to and user-friendly, more than 60 years of racing experience and heritage, timeless design, quality as well as the spirit of the sports car icon.

According to VNE