Wednesday 25th April 2007

NSX won't be a drinker

New NSX rumours continue

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The Acura ASCC - the new NSX?

A snippet of future Honda NSX news: according to an American website, the next NSX will not only be powerful, it’ll be very frugal as well.

Rumour is that it’ll use a 5.0 litre V10 with over 500bhp (and not a smaller capacity high-revving V10), but the really hard target for those Japanese engineers is the economy target, which has apparently been set at an incredible 10 litres per 100 kilometres or roughly 28mpg(UK) on the Japanese standard fuel cycle. As a comparison, the previous NSX type R with 'only' a 3.2 litre V6 was quoted at around 33mpg(UK). Anyone who has driven a V10-engined BMW M car will appreciate the enormity of this task.

Considering the 2+2 seating configuration of the Acura ASCC (said to strongly show the direction of the new car) shown at the Detroit show, and the use of the sophisticated SH-AWD four wheel drive system, taking as much weight as possible out of the production NSX looks like a very high priority.

[dsf3g]

Blah... if its not mid-engined then they can call it whatever they want, but it won't be the "next NSX." Not in my mind anyway, and I'll wager that not in the minds of most auto enthusiasts either.

[pasthim]

Whats the point of worrying about fuel consumption? They will only sell a tiny number of these compared to their mainstream range and no-one who buys one will really care about mpg.

[skinnyboy]

heres hoping they don;t get the 'merkins to design it. I can count on one hand the scant few nice cars to be penned in the US.

I agree on it being the "next NSX" it has to be mid engined, or its just the next UberPrelude!

[swoll]

Stands to reason that they need to do something different with the new NSX as the woeful sales of the old model are the reason it went out of production.

Be nice to see a new "NSX" going up against the new Skyline GTR.

I do agree that it would be a damn shame if it wasn't RWD and mid engined though, just look how well received the NSX Type-R was with an aging chassis, styling and interior (Although they still didn't sell any).

Edited by swoll on Wednesday 25th April 12:11

Edited by swoll on Wednesday 25th April 12:12

[bob1179]

Silly question, but if you want to make it econimical and lightweight, why use four wheel drive which is heavy and saps power?

[tricky 100]

Looks more like some new generation Corvette .

[kieran2006]

tricky 100 said:

Looks more like some new generation Corvette .

Yeah, definately has that big engine American muscle car look about it, seems to have little in common with the previous model. Maybe it's aimed squarely at the American market?

[andyps]

I don't think it matters where the engine is - it doesn't seem to have doen Ferrari any harm cnging their top model (excepting specials like the Enzo) froma mid engine to front engine according to reports about the 599 particularly.

It does seem odd to be concerned about fuel economy on a "supercar" which will sell in small numbers, but in reality the NSX will largely be an advert for Honda technology and therefore if it can show great efficiency in addition to performance it will be a much better halo model, attracting positive publicity rather than negative in these green times.

[e4uan]

The fuel economy thing is just a showcase for Honda technology, but hey if it can dilute down to say a 300 bhp/ 50 mpg variant for the next S2000 etc that can only be a good thing.

[vetteheadracer]

It's as much a commerical decision as an economic one as the more fuel efficient the car is then the less chance of it being hit with the US "gas guzzler" tax which is applicable to all new cars in the USA but a lot including the Corvette and the Z06 escape paying it by being more fuel efficient than the standard required. Before anyone asks I have no idea what the rules are but if you are really interested try Google

[ec523]

I doubt this will be worthy of the NSX badge the last one co developed by the late great Ayrton Senna...was a dream and a challenge.
Another US colonisation effort that will take away the sovereignty of the NSX...
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Why oh why ??????

[rustyintegrale]

pasthim said:

Whats the point of worrying about fuel consumption? They will only sell a tiny number of these compared to their mainstream range and no-one who buys one will really care about mpg.

Part of Honda's committment to all things green. Witness the F1 car, the recent clean diesel TV commercials etc etc...

Personally I think as a marketing plan it has to be the way to go. All car manufacturers will have to at some stage but at least Honda are trying to innovate without ripping the heart out of enthusiasts cars.

Puts Subaru to shame...

Cheers

Rich

[alex_123_fra]

Honda will need to start being impressive in F1 again if they are going to excite anyone about this car...especially if it is to be a V10. Sadly, I don't foresee that happening any time soon. Honda + unreliability in terms of engines is a catastrophic combination given that is one of the aspects they have taken pride in over the years.

The NSX had it all...great looks, performance, handling/chassis (+Senna), superb reliability, cheap to run, true sportscar mid-engined/RWD configuration and a "friendly supercar" image. Yet it still sold very badly. The new one will have to be even more impressive to even match the old sale figures, given the stiff competition nowadays. On the preliminary info so far...it isn't looking good.

[skyggen957]

I think the technology should be just about ready for this sort of mpg.

Alpina with the B5 and it's modified nautilus type supercharger already claims 28mpg for 500bhp and about 700nm of torque (which incidentally in my books beats the hell out of the M5's sub-20mpg). will be difficult without the supercharger though..

[gizmo.mp3]

alex_123_fra said:

Honda will need to start being impressive in F1 again if they are going to excite anyone about this car...especially if it is to be a V10.

Remind me how many cylinders the engine in the back of Button-san's company motor has?
/pedant

[joz8968]

gizmo.mp3 said:

alex_123_fra said:

Honda will need to start being impressive in F1 again if they are going to excite anyone about this car...especially if it is to be a V10.

Remind me how many cylinders the engine in the back of Button-san's company motor has?
/pedant

Ha. You beat me to it!

[joz8968]

swoll said:

Stands to reason that they need to do something different with the new NSX as the woeful sales of the old model are the reason it went out of production.

The problem (and it's been well documented) was this: A Nissan at c.70K, regardless of how wonderful the NSX is. Badge snobbery is an unfortunate thing, although I can understand it at these sort of prices...

[alex_123_fra]

joz8968 said:

gizmo.mp3 said:

alex_123_fra said:

Honda will need to start being impressive in F1 again if they are going to excite anyone about this car...especially if it is to be a V10.

Remind me how many cylinders the engine in the back of Button-san's company motor has?
/pedant

Ha. You beat me to it!

Not sure if he still has his "company" NSX. In terms of F1 engine cylinders, whether they use the RA806E (in super-aguri hat) or RA807E, how reliable and how well they perform will be intimately related to the sales of a future supercar model (whether that turns out to be a V10 or a V8 is irrelevant).

[jon-]

Worse, NSX replacement, Ever.

Also, there isn't a new Skyline GTR, it's either the crappy skyline or the new GT-R which is ugly.

And the 3.5v6 in my 350z only averages 26 mpg

[johng1]

If the new NSX is a 500bhp 4wd V10 I'll have one. But only if it's beautiful like the old NSX or something modern and cool. That picture is like a f*cked up Corvette. Can't those terribly clever Honda people shoe horn that engine into an S2000 body shell - pretty please...