Oh, the long-promised new Acura NSX. We’ve seen it on the auto-show circuit in prototype form, we’ve seen it burned to a crisp on the Nurburgring, but we never thought we’d actually see the darn thing make its production debut. That’s finally slated to change at the 2015 Detroit auto show, where the automaker reports it will pull the covers off -- for real this time -- of a production version of the long-anticipated hybrid performance car.
We’ve been eager to drive the new NSX since it was first unveiled, in concept form, at the Detroit auto show in 2012. While we were waiting, we’ve had time to reminisce about the still-lustworthy original on the occasion of its 25th birthday and take an early production car for a spin that reminded us of just how high the bar for its predecessor has been set.
On Feb. 10, 1989, executives from Honda and a newly founded division known as Acura piled into a conference room in Chicago's historic Drake Hotel to rehearse the unveiling of an unbelievable new car ...
The 2012 concept still looks good, so bringing an attractive car to market shouldn’t be too hard. A bigger challenge for Acura will be ensuring that the NSX’s onboard technologies are still able to hold their own in a market now flush with $80,000-$150,000 cars boasting better performance than the supercars of the early 2000s.
Recall that, since the new Acura NSX concept debuted three years ago (that’s something like three decades in design-cycle years), the much-touted hybrid technology it was to rely on has taken a substantial jump forward, with gasoline-electric hybrid systems migrating upward from the Prius and Volt into the luxury/performance sector. Performance-oriented hybrid powertrains aren’t exactly the norm nowadays, but you can find them in everything from the LaFerrari and McLaren P1 to the modest (if only by comparison) BMW i8. Throw the new gasoline-drinking Corvette Z06 into the mix, and the new NSX isn’t going to have it easy on track day.
Acura hasn’t revealed much about the production car’s drivetrain, but we expect it’ll use a version of the automaker’s SH-AWD system to channel power from its gasoline engine and two electric motors to all four wheels. The NSX should benefit from a mid-mounted, free-revving V6, a Honda/Acura specialty, coupled with electric motors. We're not sure if the production car will be a plug-in hybrid featuring an electric-only drive mode, or if its motors are merely there to provide punchy low-end torque.
Dragged-out debut aside, the timing for this car couldn’t be better for Honda, which it is about to jump back into Formula One. F1 looks very different today than it did when the automaker left it at the end of 2008, with turbocharged V6s mated to performance-boosting energy-recovery systems replacing naturally aspirated V8s; what, if any, crossover exists between Honda’s racing program and the new NSX remains to be seen.
We’ll have a lot more to tell you about the new Acura from the floor of the 2015 Detroit auto show. Between NSX, the official unveil of the Mercedes AMG Sport line, assorted goodies from Mini and possibly even grand entrance of the U.S.-boundFord Focus RS -- and who knows, maybe even a new Ford GT for good measure -- it's looking like January in the Motor City might hold a lot of good for us enthusiasts. Stay tuned.
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