Acura Developing a Successor to NSX
Current Generation NSX Production to Halt at Year End

TORRANCE, Calif. 07/11/2005 -- To further enhance the division's performance image, Acura is developing a new sports car to succeed the award-winning NSX supercar. Acura also announced that production of the current generation NSX will cease at the end of the year due to the extensive retooling necessary to meet stringent 2006 emissions and equipment regulations for the U.S., Europe and Asia.

"We are committed to having an ultra high-performance vehicle in the Acura lineup in the future," said John Mendel, senior vice president, automobile operations. "It's too early to comment on specifics, but the all-new model will be just as groundbreaking as the 1991 NSX."

As the first-ever supercar from Japan, the NSX was created as a hand-built, exotic, mid-engine sports car that would establish entirely new levels of performance, refinement and drivability. The NSX went on sale in the summer of 1990 and the following year posted record U.S. sales of 1,940 vehicles. Through June of 2005, NSX cumulative sales totaled 8,854 in the U.S. and more than 18,000 worldwide.

During its 15-year run, the NSX has been showered with accolades including, Automobile Magazine's "Automobile of the Year and Design of the Year" awards, Popular Science's "Best of What's New," Road &Track's "Ten Best Cars in the World" list. Motor Trend magazine also named the NSX to its "Top Ten Performance Cars" list and touted it as "the best sports car ever built."

Acura designed the NSX as a technological and performance showcase. Among other innovations, it was the first production car to feature an all-aluminum body, chassis, and suspension and to utilize titanium connecting rods. It featured a transversely mounted dual overhead cam V-6 engine equipped with Acura's breakthrough VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) system and a variable volume induction system.

Over time, the NSX received continuous updates to ensure its competitiveness and popularity with serious sports car enthusiasts. The NSX has also captured multiple championships in the highest levels of sports car and prototype racing.

Additional Acura information and downloadable high-resolution images of the NSX are available at www.acuranews.com.
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July 12, 2005

Honda to Discontinue Production of the NSX Sports Car

 

The look of things to come???

 

The last I read the HSC had been abandoned.

 

Did you read the subject of this thread?

 

I've posted this in Car Talk, but it's even more appropriate here:

Jamie Kitman offers a nice NSX appreciation in the August issue of "Automobile" Magazine...he compares the car to the Rolling Stones: old, but still rocks hard.

Last year, we were lucky enough to follow a yellow NSX on some country roads in Maryland. What a car! I hope the new version is great (if it happens), but the original's a classic for all time, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Oh, you mean this:

What a Drag It Is Getting Old, The Acura NSX Gathers No Moss

 

July 25, 2005

Honda Announces NSX Successor to Feature V10 Powerplant

by Justin Couture
NSX Sales Have Slowed to a Trickle in Recent Years

If you havent already heard, Honda is ceasing production of its mid-engine NSX sports car before bringing an all-new model out in the near future. Word from the Automotive Coroners Office is that its death was due to an inability to pass increasingly strict global emissions regulations, which are said to take effect in 2006. According to Acura spokesman Mike Spencer, "The bureaucrats have harpooned one of the best sports cars on the road."

Its true. Acuras NSX is considered to be one of the easiest supercars ever made for driving quickly. Its aluminum body and exotic mid-engine layout placed it head and shoulders above the offerings from Dodge, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Toyota, and Nissan, which retained conventional layouts for their Stealth, RX7, 3000 GT, Supra and 300SX respectively. None managed to offer the same balance, style or excitement, and due to this the NSX enthralled owners and enthusiasts alike.

Now those enthusiasts mourn the passing of the 175 mph Japanese sports car, a car endowed with a Formula 1 pedigree and classically proportioned design bold and brave enough to tackle Ferraris headlong. But still, not many have been at their local Acura dealers purchasing them either. Now priced at $89,000, there are few takers for the 290-horsepower two-seater that, due to not seeing more than a facelift since its 1990 introduction finds itself less powerful than the four-door RL sedan in the Honda-built luxury divisions lineup. Its also less powerful than many sports cars and sport sedans that are much less expensive. After all, it can only muster a 0 to 60 mph time of 5.7 seconds. Chop $20,000 and a full second off of such a sprint from Porsches base 911. Overall, Acura has sold approximately 9,000 NSXs in the U.S. since the car was introduced as a 1991 model, and about 18,000 worldwide under the Honda nameplate. Sales have slowed to a trickle in recent years, with June sales at only 17 units and year-to-date sales at only 121 units. In comparison, the sporty little RSX sold 2,034 units in June and 10,933 units for all of 2005 so far, and sales of this model are actually down by 4.2 percent compared to last year during the same period.

Due to the lack of interest came the need to move NSX production from Hondas small Tochigi, Japan plant, to one in Suzuka - necessary to free up space at Tochigi to produce more compact, alternative-fuel vehicles.

But despite the doom and gloom, there seems to be good news ahead for Acuras mid-engine sports car. The current cars design, while still appealing to the eyes is now dated, and when 2003s HSC concept arrived at Tokyos auto show it certainly checked all the right boxes as a potential replacement. A 330-horsepower V6 (no V8 as Honda has sworn never to build one), paddle-shift gearbox, scissor doors, and an aluminum frame with carbon fiber and alloy panels in a form that crossed NSX with Enzo (Ferrari), made enthusiasts believe that the HSC was a foreshadowing of the NSX replacement. That is, until it was announced stillborn earlier this year by company insiders, the money originally put aside for the project being diverted to the firms quest for developing gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. But theres bright news for fans of the mid-engined Honda: in his annual, mid-year speech, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui said, "We are now focused on the development of a new model to succeed the NSX for a new era." In plain words, yes, a new car is coming. In his speech, he pointed to a new direction, "We would like to debut a new super-sports car equipped with a V10 engine in three to four years. Please look forward to seeing the NSX successor." The claim was also backed by Motoatsu Shiraishi, President of Honda R&D, who said, "Weve got to be the top of a top [group] in producing engines."


Takeo Fukui
CEO, Honda Motor Company


Like BMWs 5.0-liter V10 which was supposedly derived from Formula One technology, the new V10 will draw from BAR-Hondas experience in the worlds most elite racing series. The new V10s size and power will be less than the M5/M6 powerplant, however, with predictions of a 4.0-liter engine featuring up to 450-horsepower.

Of course, the latest version of Hondas VTEC variable valve timing system will be an essential component to allow the engine to achieve the sky-high redline expected. Outside of motor sports, Honda has plenty of experience building high-revving engines. From its S2000 roadster to any number of performance-oriented motorcycles, Japans number three brand is world renowned for engine leadership.

If there is any conflict to powering the next-generation NSX with a V10, its that an FIA ruling will cause all F1 teams to switch from V10s to a V8 engine configuration for 2006, reducing the marketing tie-in to Jensen Buttons F1 car, if he will still be driving for BAR-Honda in 2006. But now is a good enough time as any for Honda to begin, or resume work on a replacement for the NSX. Since 2001, other Japanese manufacturers have been at work developing super sports cars. The Nissan GT-R Concept, a harbinger of the next generation GT-R supercar will most likely arrive in 2007 as an Infiniti, while this years Lexus LF-A concept could be a reality as early as next year.

As for the NSX replacement, expect to see something as soon as 2008, with an expected price-tag between $80,000 and $100,000, putting it nose to nose with global high-performance competition. All things considered, expect to see a rematch of the Japanese titans, like in the early 90s, except this time the NSX will be more powerful, and as a result, a lot faster. Japanese manufacturers have been at work developing super sports cars. The Nissan GT-R Concept, a harbinger of the next generation GT-R supercar will most likely arrive in 2007 as an Infiniti, while this years Lexus LF-A concept could be a reality as early as next year.

Find this article at: http://car-reviews.automobile.com/article.jsp?id=1341

 

The NSX is dead, long live the NSX!

The NSX is probably the one and only exotic car I ever seriously considered owning. Though it was not quite within my means or my lifestyle through the 90s, I lusted after it... That is, until Honda built the S2000 and made me a happy Vintager.

Driver, thanks for the posts. Other than Justin Couture's misleading discussion of the Tochigi->Suzuka move, these guys seem to be right on the pulse of this.

If we know Honda, we can be sure there's no rush. Whatever replaces the NSX will be a definitely giant-killer.

 

Concept 1