Detroit Motor Show 2012: Honda NSX

NSX-lovers just got their overdue Christmas present as Honda finally release official details of their next NSX supercar, a whole seven years after the original groundbreaking, mid-engine, 2-seater trick and treat NSX was put out to pasture. And while Honda must make their next NSX with a whole lot more of the good-green-stuff sprinkled throughout; we can see a ghost of the original, Ayrton Senna-honed NSX in this Detroit concept. The force is strong, as they say.

While still in concept form and called, as usual, an Acura (Hondas for the U.S market), Honda have all but concreted the production of the new NSX, for before 2015. It'll be developed by Honda R&D Americas and manufactured in their Ohio plant. Uh oh, you say, but it's unlikely the Japanese engineers will let the NSX slip into handling like a knock-kneed Mustang!  

Original NSX fans will remember the V6 petrol motor, super-lightweight aluminium body, chassis and suspension, modern if understated styling and an insatiable appetite for the corners. Well, the new car will get a petrol V6 VTEC, mounted in the middle, super-lightweight construction materials - mostly the currently trendy carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP) – ultra-modern, overstated styling and, critically for Honda’s sustainability plans, a boost of fossil fuel-saving electric power, with two electric motors up front; one in each wheel. There will also be an electric motor out back to assist the V6 in cruising duties. So, we’re looking at a potential output of around 400bhp, with stacks of electric-motor-torque for serious acceleration. Honda call the new system Sport Hybrid SH-AWD, or Super Handling All Wheel Drive, to you and I. 

So, that’s a lot of motors for the new NSX, giving this space-age-stunner four-wheel drive traction but without the necessity for a bhp-draining driveshaft between front and rear axles, diffs and all the heavy jazz. Also, with an electric motor for each front wheel, controlling those wheels for acceleration and anti-slip will be precise and responsive, with eye-widening cornering potential. Well, you can’t have a new NSX without plenty of hot new tech!

It’s great to see Honda back on track, forging ahead with a stunningly technically superior new supercar, doing something they clearly love to do, and that they do so well. And for Christmas 2015 we want an "R" version, painted pure Honda racing white, dripping in raw carbonfibre, and even lighter and faster than ever!  



Stunning looks, technology, pace and performance; a real-deal Honda NSX then!


By Daniel Anslow

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