Wednesday 24th October 2012

New NSX - latest

VTEC V6 (yay!) plus inevitable electric motors (hmm) confirmed for production new age NSX

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It's not quite deposit time yet, but the new Honda NSX is moving closer to showroom status with news that the production car is going to be shown off January next year at the Detroit motor show.

Acura branding due to US manufacture

The information, given to PH via someone with (very) close ties to the company, is the latest proof to doubters that Honda really will be replacing its supercar, last on sale in 2005.

Expected to look very similar to the concept revealed in January early this year, the new car will be powered by a direct-injection V6 VTEC engine as well as two in-wheel electric motors.

This hybrid system will send power to all four wheels in a system known to Honda as SH-AWD (Super Handling All-Wheel Drive). What we don't know is whether this will position the in-wheel motors in the front or back, but the mid-mounted V6 does provide options.

If three engines sounds like a recipe for lardiness, Honda's CEO has promised "an extremely favorable power-to-weight ratio".

But just as your waiter falsely raises hopes with the premature delivery of the steak knife, Honda is still saying the on-sale date for the car is 2015. That's a painful amount of time to wait given it first raised the possibility of a replacement back in 2007 with the V10-powered Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept.

Dear Honda: more of this please

The American connection (Acura is, of course, Honda's answer to Lexus in the States) is significant in that the new car is being developed and will be built in Ohio instead of Japan as with the last one. Given that it's high on impossible these days to make any money on a car made in Japan, this does suggest that this time Honda wants to sell more than 19,000 of them.

If you can't wait there's always the old one to consider. We have a buying guide here and here's one in the Classifieds. OK, £27,000 for an auto is steep, but with values as firm as they are it'll likely not lose you much between now and 2015.

 

[Itsallicanafford]

....Honda, in the name of all that is holy, just get on and build it...in Swindon if possible...

[Flawless Victory]

Itsallicanafford said:

....Honda, in the name of all that is holy, just get on and build it...in Swindon if possible...

No.....just no.

[richb77]

Looks a little like the new esprit to me


I do like it though.

[MrTappets]

First raised in 2007? I'm sure I remember an HSC thing in about 2003 and the Dualnote (which was a v6 -electric hybrid) in 2001. Okay they weren't direct NSX-replacements but Honda wasn't fooling anyone. In my books we've already been waiting over a decade for this.

[tinkertaylor]

Hopefully the production version will look much more basic if you will. Looks a bit of a generic concept car to me..I preferred the look of the HSV..

[Itsallicanafford]

Flawless Victory said:

No.....just no.

Why not? Anything that keeps UK workers in jobs is a good thing in my book.

[Benjaminbopper]

Despite the delay, I trust Ito san's comment on the favourable power to weight ratio - he was an engineer on the CRX and an avid racer so it's a good baseline.

Secondly, the benefit of it being built in the US will be that of price, there almost no margin and partial loss on all Japanese made vehicles at the moment (hence Accord/hybrid are only supplied to the UK/EU region in limited numbers).

[robinessex]

Another buggered up windscreen/a pillar design. Look, it looks like a McLaren P1 !!!!

[donkamio]

holy hell. that looks amazing although alloys look a bit halfords

[s3fella]

Looks great apart from the awful awful wheels. Wtf is with all the Khanesque crappy wheels adorning all these super cars nowadays?
That, with bbs ch s on would look amazing!

[DanDC5]

I hope this brings down the prices of the old NSX, I might be able to afford a facelift one at some point then.

[[AJ]]

Such a shame they couldn't justify the lovely V10 car they built and test a couple of years ago. That looked and sounded epic. This latest concept looks like the supercar for over 60's.

[Flawless Victory]

Itsallicanafford said:

Flawless Victory said:

No.....just no.

Why not? Anything that keeps UK workers in jobs is a good thing in my book.

Having owned Honda's for the last 25 years, I've had only one British built Honda and I wouldn't buy another.
The monkey's in Swindon that assemble Civic's and Jazz's cannot be trusted to build a supercar.

[GranCab]

Were the wheels knocked up by Willy Wonka's mint humbug R and D facility ???

[Nors]

I like it. Looks very fresh and modern. Change the wheels though.

[CraigVmax]

its going to fly "when vtec kicks in"

[renrut]

I like it. Hopefully it'll make it onto the road without too much changes (except the wheels) as it looks so much more interesting than the other supercars at the minute.

It'll probably push old NSX prices even higher though so I'll never be able to afford one :-(

[MacW]

Still think the front looks like it was designed for a Michael Bay movie.

And it's 'nigh', not 'high'.

[Garlick]

DanDC5 said:

I hope this brings down the prices of the old NSX, I might be able to afford a facelift one at some point then.

I think it will do the opposite sadly.

[Crow555]

donkamio said:

holy hell. that looks amazing although alloys look a bit halfords

Article said:

Expected to look very similar to the concept revealed in January early this year, the new car will be powered by a direct-injection V6 VTEC engine as well as two in-wheel electric motors.

Those are the concept images. I would image the overall body lines will be toned down a bit and the wheels less ostentatious.