Next Generation Toned Down
08-13-2009, 08:21 AM
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Next Generation Toned Down
The last time we heard anything about the Acura NSX - it pretty much made us very depressed. Rumor has it that the car will now become a “Super Hybrid Sports” model that would be powered by a 450-hp 3.5L V6 engine mated to a hybrid system. Every dream of seeing a 600-hp 5.5L V10 NSX to compete with the Nissan GT-R and the upcoming Lexus LF-A has shattered into a million pieces.
In that sense, when Honda announced last year that is shelving the NSX for good - they weren’t kidding.
According Acura’s senior manager of product development John Watts, the next NSX will be scaled down. The original NSX was “too high a halo,” Watts told CARandDRIVER. “For it to be fully effective, it couldn’t be too far removed” from Acura’s other products.
So expect the “next NSX” to have a fairly affordable price-tag and to share a platform from a current product in Acura’s lineup.
The last official word on Acura’s replacement for the NSX supercar was that the project was canned due to poor profit results at Honda as well as the poor state of the economy and auto industry in general. However, with Acura’s internal goal to reach ‘tier 1’ status in the luxury segment, a halo model like the previous NSX may just be what the brand needs.
So where does that leave the NSX replacement that has been sighted on numerous occasions lapping it up at Germany’s Nurburgring? Back in February, Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., revealed that development on the NSX replacement was “mostly done” and that it would be a quick move to market if given the green light.
Now, John Watts, Acura’s senior manager of product development, has revealed that the notion of an Acura sports car is not dead but just revised. Instead of targeting expensive supercars and performance thoroughbreds like the Ferrari F430, Nissan GT-R and upcoming Lexus LF-A, Acura is planning to release a much tamer sports car, possibly derived from one of the brand’s current platforms.
The NSX was “too high a halo,” Watts explained. “For it to be fully effective [as a halo vehicle for the brand], it couldn’t be too far removed” from Acura’s other products. This means that the new sports car will likely be priced much lower than the NSX and performance will probably more along the lines of the Nissan 370Z rather than the GT-R.
Though it’s good to hear that Acura is still planning to launch a sports model, it is somewhat sad that the world may never see the 600 horsepower V10 supercar rumored to be in the works.
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