Acura NSX Concept
Acura's Supercar Returns
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January 09, 2012
By Evan McCausland
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That immense lull between NSX models wasn't exactly intentional. Honda had been working on crafting a flagship sports car for quite a while, but what once seemed like a clear-cut plan quickly became tumultuous.
Let's recap: although the first-generation NSX ceased to be in 2005, Honda first started hinting at a successor back in 2003, when it began showing the HSC on the global auto show circuit. Two years later, while confirming demise of the original car, the company announced efforts to develop a successor "had intensified."
Hope blossomed once again in early 2011, when Takanobu Ito, CEO of the Honda Motor Company and a former engineer on the original NSX project, confirmed his company was once again working on a new NSX.
This latest approach shares virtually nothing with the company's last stab at an NSX successor. Previous ideas, notably those that called for a ten-cylinder engine to be placed ahead of the passenger compartment, have been discarded in favor of an approach officials believe is much more in line with Acura's brand identity.
As was the case with the original, the new NSX places its engine smack in the middle of its chassis. That engine will likely be a V-6, but that's where the similarities with the original car end. As was the case nearly two decades ago, Honda engineers view the car as a halo vehicle, one ideal for showcasing its engineering prowess and its latest and greatest technologies.
Of course, packaging that sort of technology in a plain wrapper wouldn't suffice for a halo car. Love it or hate it, the new NSX's sheetmetal will certainly turn heads. Despite borrowing the Audi R8's general proportions and stance -- i.e. wide track, cabin pushed close to the front axle, etc. -- the car has a visual identity all its own.
Acura's edgy design language takes center stage, but the beleaguered "beak" grille -- long a complaint of previous Acura designs -- is thankfully nowhere to be found. Thin LED headlamps give way to a panel that dominates the upper half of the grille. The car's side panels are relatively clean and unspoiled, interrupted only by a rather dramatic light kicker above the rocker panels and a character line that neatly folds into a pair of buttresses that wisp away from the roofline itself. A thin line of LEDs wraps itself into the rear fenders, runs the entire width of the rear fascia, and effectively serves as both brake lights and a center-mounted stop lamp. The display model we were shown lacked a full interior, but appeared to boast a waterfall instrument panel that evolved the twin cockpit theme used in the original NSX.
It's still unclear if the NSX will utilize its own architecture, or perhaps share its platform with another vehicle. It is, however, fairly certain to enter production. Officials tell us the development program is still in its infancy, but the car could enter series production as early as 2015.
"The NSX will make the driver one with the car to enhance dynamic driving abilities without getting in the way," says Honda CEO Ito. "Like the first NSX, we will again express high performance through engineering efficiency -- but even as we focus on the fun to drive spirit of the NSX, I think a supercar must respond positively to environmental responsibilities."
Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/auto_shows/detroit/2012/1203_2012_detroit_acura_nsx_concept/#ixzz1ppHOL3OS
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