It’s been a long old wait for both Honda fans and, indeed, performance connoisseurs alike as the legend that is the original Honda NSX has slowly slipped further into the annals of history.
Although still produced up until 2005, the NSX gained huge international acclaim and, indeed, legendary status from the time the first model rolled off the production line in 1990.
Built with the intention of competing against the best that Italy and Germany was offering at the time, including the Ferrari 348, the NSX boasted a lightweight all-alluminium monocoque chassis and, for the first time in a production car, featured titanium connecting rods and forged pistons in its mid-mounted V6 engine. One of the hallmarks of this engine was that it redlined at a lofty 8 000 r/min.
Although Honda has teased with odd NSX replacement concept in the past, based on what was unveiled on the Acura stand at the Detroit Auto Show it would seem that the company is nearing (fingers crossed) consensus on what the new model should look like.
Like the original, this latest concept features a mid-mounted V6 petrol engine sending power to the rear wheels but, unlike what was being developed in 1990, this new model features no less than three supplementary electric motors. Two of these motors are able to instantly send torque to the front wheels during cornering, effectively lending the new NSX all the handling prowess of an all-wheel drive car.
With environmental consequences in mind, Honda is quick to point out that it wants any planned new NSX model to be as efficient as possible. Speaking at the unveiling president and CEO of Honda Motor Co, Takanobu Ito stated: “In this new era, even as we focus on the fun to drive spirit of the NSX, I think a supercar must respond positively to environmental responsibilities”.
Let’s hope that Honda agree with us that the environment would definitely benefit from having more cars that look like the NSX concept driving around.
Source: Autoblog
