Honda has unveiled a new version of the NSX supercar.
Honda CEO Takanobu Ito unveiled the new Acura NSX concept at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Coincidentally, Takanobu Ito was the lead engineer on the original NSX 25 years ago.
Commenting on the creation of the original NSX Ito said:
"That was the biggest engineering challenge of our lives. The key attributes had to be power and weight, which is why we ended up making it out of aluminium."
The NSX was the first supercar ever produced in Japan, and it had a big impact on the industry by showing that supercars could be driven every day, and by regular drivers with no racing experience, without the difficulties experienced by owners of other supercars available at the time.
The new NSX is currently being shown in concept form, however Honda say that they expect a production model to go on sale within three years. According to Ito the production model will be very similar to the concept car on show at the Detroit Motor Show.
The new model is powered by a mid-mounted V6 engine driving the rear wheels, just like the original version, but it now comes with direct fuel injection and the addition of two electric motors mounted at the front to give the car all-wheel-drive and turn it into a hybrid vehicle. Honda is calling the system 'Super Handling All Wheel Drive' (SH-AWD), and it is able to adjust the torque ratio between the front and rear wheels on demand using a twin-clutch paddle-shift transmission.
This will not be the most powerful supercar on the market, but then neither was the original NSX. Ito says that the NSX will instead focus on increasing performance through "engineering efficiency and light weight".
The production version of the new NSX will go on sale in the US market first, under the Honda Acura sub-brand, and is expected to hit showrooms across Europe in 2014.
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