The highlight of this Japanese supercar (apart from the price of 78,295) is the super handling all wheel drive (SH-AWD) . . . unique to the Legend. It works with the car's vehicle stability assist programme and leaves other systems in the shade.

When activated, torque can be sent in varying degrees to any wheel which makes the car more controlable even in the most demanding situations, making the Legend particularly safe in emergencies and in poor road conditions. Losing control of the car is virtually a thing of the past even under extreme acceleration or deceleration going into challenging bends.

And the technology does not stop there. There is a collision mitigation braking system, a lane keeping assist system, an advanced cruise control system and a voice activation system which uses voice commands to operate the phone, air conditioning and car entertainment functions. To phone home or turn off Pat Kenny you do not even have to lift a finger.

The Legend is a big car with lots of room so it gets a big engine to give lots of performance. Under the stylish bonnet is a 3.5-litre V6 VTEC engine that puts out 295 bhp at 6200 rpm with torque development of 351 Nm at 5000 rpm. Maximum speed is controlled to 250 km/h and the 0 - 100 km sprint takes just 7.3 seconds. Not surprising with such power C02 emissions run at 282 g/km.

The Legend uses cutting edge technology and is a pleasure to drive with the added security of such a high levekl of protection.

But the marketing people will have an uphill battle to get the big spenders out of their Mercs, Beemers and Lexus models and into a Honda for 80,000. Honda have an excellent name at Jazz, Civic and even Accord level but pushing the message that hightech may be a better option than high brand seems like a bridge too far. It is a pity, but at every level motorists love to show off and the badge on the bonnet will push cutting edge techology into second place.