Manufacturer Honda Production May 2016—present | Also called Acura NSX Class Sports car | |
 | ||
Assembly Performance Manufacturing Center,
Marysville, Ohio, United States Designer Michelle Christensen
Toshinobu Minami (2012 Concept) | ||
The second generation Honda NSX, marketed as Acura NSX in North America, is a 2-seater, mid-engined hybrid sports car manufactured by Honda in the United States. It succeeds the original NSX that was produced in Japan from 1990 to 2005.
Contents
Development
In December 2007, American Honda CEO, Tetsuo Iwamura, confirmed a new supercar powered by a V10 engine would make its introduction to the market by 2010. The new sports car would be based on the Acura ASCC (Advanced Sports Car Concept) introduced at the 2007 North American International Auto Show. With Honda CEO Takeo Fukui challenging the developers to make the vehicle faster than its rivals, prototypes of the vehicle were seen testing on the Nürburgring in June 2008. On December 17, 2008, Fukui announced during a speech about Honda's revised financial forecasts that, due to poor economic conditions, all plans for a next-generation NSX had been cancelled. In March 2010, the Acura NSX project changed name to Honda HSV-010 GT and was entered in the Japanese SuperGT Championship. The HSV-010 GT is powered by a 3.4-liter V8 sending more than 500 hp (373 kW) through the sequential manual gearbox from Ricardo. The HSV-010 GT was never made into production as a street-legal car.
In April 2011, Automobile reported that Honda was developing a new sports car to be a successor to the NSX. It reported that Honda CEO Ito said the car would be exhilarating to drive but also environmentally friendly. It is expected the vehicle will incorporate an electric drivetrain to give the petrol engine a boost. Back in late 2010, Motor Trend reported that Honda was looking into a mid-engine hybrid electric sports car to be an NSX successor.
In December 2011, Acura announced that they would show the next generation NSX in concept form at the 2012 North American International Auto Show. On January 9, 2012, Acura unveiled the 2012 Acura NSX Concept.
The new concept retained a 2-door coupe, mid-engine layout but with all-wheel drive. The use of a high-tech platform made from lightweight materials permitted weight to be kept down. Power came from a V6 mounted behind the cockpit, sending its output to the rear wheels. Acura's SH-AWD incorporates one electric motor in a dual-clutch transmission to augment the thermal engine thus forming a hybrid setup. Additionally, two more electric motors able to instantly send negative or positive torque to the front wheels during cornering also formed part of the powertrain.
Acura claimed the resulting all-wheel drive system would provide better handling and Ferrari 458-matching acceleration while offering greater efficiency relative to the naturally aspirated 4.5-Litre V8 engine on the rival supercar.
Marketing and reception
In September 2011, during filming of The Avengers, Robert Downey, Jr. (playing the role of Iron Man) was spotted in an exotic sports car based on the new NSX, made specifically for the film, rather than the Audi R8 he previously drove in Iron Man and Iron Man 2. The car itself was built by Trans FX using an existing 1992 NSX.
A Super Bowl advertisement for the vehicle began airing in early February 2012, featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno.
In 2013, Acura launched an online configuration tool for the new NSX on Facebook. Later that year, the car was featured in the video game Gran Turismo 6.
Referring to the second generation NSX, noted automotive design critic Robert Cumberford said that its "very hard to mess up the styling of a mid-engine sports car... but Acura has managed it."
Although the original name was retained—which stood for "New Sportscar eXperimental"—the second generation's has been defined as "New Sports eXperience".
In addition, as opposed to the first generation NSX, the second generation NSX is being described by its lead designer, Michelle Christensen, as "An American muscle car in an Italian exotic car's body."
Announcements
On December 27, 2014, Honda announced that its second-generation NSX would debut at the 2015 North American International Auto Show. The introduction of the 2015 Acura NSX on January 12, 2015 was broadcast live on YouTube.
Debut
In December 2015, the North American pricing was announced as commencing from US$156,000 for the base specification, to US$205,000 fully equipped.
At the same time, Honda announced the European debut for the NSX at the 85th Geneva Motor Show, alongside the fourth generation Civic Type R.
The first production vehicle with VIN #001 was auctioned off by Barrett Jackson on January 29, 2016. NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick won the auction with a bid for US$1,200,000. The entire bid were donated to the charities Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and Camp Southern Ground. The first NSX rolled off the line in Ohio on May 24, 2016. Hendrick was there to drive it off.
Specifications
Mechanically, the second generation NSX represents a significant departure from the first generation since it features a twin-turbocharged 75-degree DOHC 3.5L V6 engine producing 500 bhp (373 kW; 507 PS), mated to a three electric motor Sport Hybrid SH-AWD system and a 9-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT). The total output is 573 bhp (427 kW; 581 PS). The 2015 NSX accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.9 seconds, and has a top speed of 307 km/h (191 mph). Structurally, the body utilizes a space frame design, which is made from aluminum, ultra-high strength steel, and other rigid and lightweight materials, some of which are the world's first applications.
Production of the second generation NSX commenced in 2015 at the Honda Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, which is housed inside Honda's former North American Logistics facility and located in the midst of Honda's existing R&D and production engineering operations. The powertrain is separately assembled by Honda associates at its engine plant in Anna, Ohio.
Dimensions
The table below indicates the change in dimensions, relative to the original second generation concept car presented in 2012:
Awards
Road & Track named the NSX as its 2017 Performance Car of the Year. The magazine lauded the NSX for its use of hybrid technology in the service of an emotional driving experience.
Motorsport
The NSX Concept-GT, a race car based on the NSX concept, made for the GT500 class of the 2014 Super GT season, was unveiled in Round 5 of the 2013 Autobacs Super GT at Suzuka Circuit. The NSX Concept-GT got its first pole by Keihin Real Racing at Fuji Speedway in August and the race was won by the Weider Dome Racing team.
Echoing the exploits of the first generation, Honda announced plans to develop a GTE racing version of the new NSX to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, starting in 2015. In an interview with Racer magazine in July 2015, HPD Vice President Steve Eriksen hinted that the changes in LMP2 regulations proposed for 2017 - which would rule out manufacturer-linked entries such as HPD's ARX-04b - could prompt them to use the NSX in the USCC or WEC. During the 2016 New York International Auto Show, Honda announced the Group GT3 version of the NSX, to begin competition in 2017.
In September 2016, Acura confirmed their factory support for the NSX GT3 during the 2017 season. Michael Shank Racing will field two entries in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class, whereas RealTime Racing will also enter two cars at the Pirelli World Challenge GT class, the latter replacing the Acura TLX.