Honda NSX Shakedown

We are rather excited about the coming of Honda’s new NSX. It’s been a long while since the S2000 came onto the market – the last time the noble brand pushed whole heartedly into the world of pure sports cars. It’s about time they picked up the challenge.Interesting to see then recently that the Honda (or is it Acura) NSX prototype lapped the 2.4-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, just prior to the running of the Honda Indy 200.

Understandably a lot of energy from the USA has been directed at the project. It is, after all an absolute key market for all luxury items. And we reckon the USA will be THE make or break territory for the new launch.

Ted Klaus, Chief engineer of Honda R&D Americas, Inc. said: “With leadership from our R&D and manufacturing teams here in Ohio, we are developing a next generation sports car that will be equally at home on the street and on the race track, so it is natural for us to showcase the prototype vehicle here at Mid-Ohio. It is exciting for us to see the prototype running on track, reflecting the great progress we’re making toward the 2015 global launch of the NSX, as we engineer a new sports-car experience for customers around the world.”

Corporate guff aside it’s interesting to see how the Acura brand articulates all that new, greener supercar technology to the Americans. Will they sneer at the six cylinder setup of the Honda NSX? Targeting next-generation supercar dynamic capabilities with advanced environmental performance, the NSX will be powered by a mid-mounted, direct-injected V-6 engine mated to Honda’s Sport Hybrid SH-AWD® (Super Handling All-Wheel Drive) system. Sport Hybrid SH-AWD® is, apparently, an all-new, three-motor high-performance hybrid system that combines torque vectoring all-wheel drive with advanced hybrid efficiency through the use of three electric motors – one motor integrated with the V6 engine and its all-new dual-clutch transmission (DCT) driving the rear wheels, and two motors driving the front wheels. The system enables instant delivery of negative or positive torque to the front wheels during cornering to achieve a new level of driving performance unparalleled by current AWD systems.

Key to all this positioning is that the NSX will be assembled in Marysville Ohio – playing to the very prevelant ‘Made in America’ movement that is making a serious impact on the internal economy of the post powerful nation on the planet. Globally sourced, Japanese engineered – and made in America. A potentially very powerful statement.