Acura NSX (2015)

The Acura NSX is a hybrid-electric supercar, and a revival of the original Acura NSX, which was produced from 1991–2005. The new NSX is set to be released by Honda's Acura luxury division for the 2015 model year.

In December 2007, American Honda CEO, Tetsuo Iwamura, confirmed a new supercar powered by a V10 engine would make its introduction to the market by 2010. The new sports car would be based on the Acura ASCC  introduced at the 2007 North American International Auto Show. With Honda CEO Takeo Fukui challenging the developers to make the vehicle faster than its rivals, prototypes of the vehicle were seen testing on the Nürburgring in June 2008. On 17 December 2008, Fukui announced during a speech about Honda's revised financial forecast that, due to poor economic conditions, all plans for a next-generation NSX had been cancelled. In March 2010, the Acura NSX project changed name to Honda HSV-010 GT and was entered in the Japanese SuperGT Championship. The HSV-010 GT is powered by a 3.4-liter V8 sending somewhere in excess of 500 hp  through the sequential manual gearbox from Ricardo. The HSV-010 GT was never made into production as a street-legal car.

In April 2011, Automotive News reported that Honda is developing a new sports car to be a successor to the NSX. It reports that Honda CEO Ito said the car would be exhilarating to drive but also environmentally friendly. It is expected the vehicle will incorporate an electric drivetrain to give the gasoline engine a boost. Back in late 2010, Motor Trend reported that Honda was looking into a mid-engine hybrid sports car, to be an NSX successor.

In September 2011, during filming of The Avengers, Robert Downey, Jr. was spotted in an exotic sportscar by Acura, made specifically for the film, rather than the Audi R8 he previously drove in Iron Man and Iron Man 2. It was rumored that the car was a concept for the second generation NSX.

In December 2011, Acura announced that they would show the next generation NSX in concept form at the 2012 North American Auto Show. On January 9, 2012, Acura unveiled the 2012 Acura NSX Concept.

On August 4, 2013, a prototype of the vehicle debuted at the Honda Indy 200 event held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Honda announced plans to build a GTE racing model to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.

The new concept retained the 2-door coupe, mid-engine, with an all-wheel drive formula. Weight is kept down through the use of a high-tech platform made from lightweight materials. Power comes from a V6 mounted behind the two occupants that sends its power to the rear wheels and is augmented by an electric motor. Acura's SH-AWD incorporates one electric motor in a dual-clutch transmission, forming a hybrid setup. Additionally, two more motors can instantly send negative or positive torque to the front wheels during cornering for improved handling and efficiency. Acura claims the new all-wheel-drive system will provide super car acceleration while offering better efficiency. Acura did not disclose how much horsepower its V6 engine and three electric motors will produce.

The new NSX is not expected to go into production until at least 2015 and will be manufactured at the newly built $70-million Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, while the engine and Honda’s latest version of its patented Sport Hybrid SH-AWD system will be assembled nearby at the company’s engine plant in Anna, Ohio. Most of the vehicle and its engine will be handmade. A commercial for the vehicle featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno debuted on February 5, 2012, during the Super Bowl XLVI.

Honda plans to develop a GTE racing version of the NSX to run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2015 onward, to replace their discontinued Le Mans Prototypes like ARX-01 and ARX-02a. It is unknown if it will be a factory effort or if it will be run as a customer program, but Honda expects to race it in America likely the American Le Mans Series.

The engine most likely to be used is a 90 degree EarthDreams V6 that actually takes its lineage from the aborted 5.0 liter V10 project, which was the top engine for a modular performance engine lineup consisting of a 3.0 liter V6 for an S2000 replacement, a 4.0 liter V8 for a large Acura sedan/coupe, and the NSX V10 engine mentioned above, all DOHC. The 3.0 liter V6 variant was used in an early test mule for the new NSX.

 

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