During development of the brand new Honda NSX, the Japanese company purchased a 991-generation Porsche 911 GT3 to benchmark its new hybrid sports car against.

Eventually the Germans found it out, and they decided to have a little bit of fun with Honda.

When the GT3 being used by Honda was called back to the dealership for those infamous connecting rod issues, Porsche looked through the car’s black box. They discovered that the car had hit a top speed of 205 mph (329 km/h) and they left a message for Honda under the engine cover.

The project leader of NSX vehicle dynamics told Automotive News that the message read “Good luck Honda from Porsche. See you on the other side” and when the car was being picked up, the Germans asked Honda what track they were on when hitting speeds in excess of 200 mph.

During development of the NSX, a McLaren 12C was also used for benchmarking purposes.

While the NSX does target these two models in terms of performance, it does so in a very different way. Unlike those rivals, it is driven by an advanced hybrid powertrain combining three electric motors with a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6.

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