Click to Enlarge.
Acura Motorsports has released the first official details for the all-new, electrified Acura ARX-06 prototype sports car, which will make its competition debut next January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the GTP class*. The public unveiling will take place today Friday 19 August, just hours from now at The Quail in Carmel, California.
The latest in a line of Acura endurance racing prototypes, the ARX-06 features Acura-specific bodywork and aerodynamics based around an all-new widely used ORECA LMDh chassis** with an electrified hybrid power unit – a twin-turbocharged 2.4-liter V6 internal combustion engine designed, developed and manufactured by Honda Performance Development [HPD], the racing arm for Acura Motorsports in North America.
“If you’re a performance brand, you have to go racing. It’s that simple,” said Jon Ikeda, vice president and Acura brand officer. “Both the existing ARX-05 prototype and our production-based NSX GT3 have proven to be race- and championship-winning designs on tracks all across North America. Now, with the introduction of the new, electrified Acura ARX-06, we look forward to facing off against other premium automotive brands from around the world – and continuing our winning ways.” This of course requires successful racing teams. ***
The Acura AR24e power unit was developed by Honda Performance Development. The complete hybrid power unit is based around the Acura AR24e internal combustion engine (ICE), an all-new custom 2.4-liter, twin-turbocharged direct injection racing V6 that was designed, developed and manufactured by HPD. At 2.4 liters, this is the smallest displacement ICE conceived by HPD for endurance racing, yet still meets the performance target of 500 kW as measured at the rear axle by torque meters. It features a 90-degree V-angle to reduce its center of gravity and polar moment of inertia. In addition, the combustion chamber has been designed to run on sustainable low-carbon fuel.
The hybrid power plant includes an IMSA-specified electric Bosch Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and Williams Advanced Engineering battery pack. The MGU is contained in a common transmission casing and gearbox internals provided by Xtrac. The battery, within the chassis survival cell, is built by Williams Advanced Engineering. The HPD Electrical Group completed both hardware and software development to best match the spec MGU and battery pack to the Acura ICE.
“We’ve taken the challenge presented by this new rule package from IMSA, and developed what we believe is a very competitive solution,” said Pierre Descamps, who led HPD’s powertrain design team for the ARX-06. “We’ve gone in a new direction for HPD in the design of the ICE. It is still a V6, which of course for Honda is well-known, but we have incorporated several new elements which we believe will make best use of the electric MGU and battery pack. Our new engine will rev to the maximum 10,000 rpm set by the rules, so it also makes a wonderful sound!”
*The 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will have a total of 11 races, with six events with all five WeatherTech Championship classes: GTP, LMP2, LMP3, GTD PRO and GTD.
The IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup will include all classes for the four traditional endurance events: the Rolex 24 At Daytona (Jan. 26-29), Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts (March 15-18), Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen (June 22-25) and the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (Oct. 11-14). Five-class races also will be held at Road America (Aug. 4-6) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Sept. 15-17).
The new *GTP class will have a total of nine events in 2023, adding Long Beach (April 14-15), WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (May 12-14) and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (July 7-9).
** ORECA Chassis
Both IMSA in North America and FIA World Endurance Championship rules require manufacturers to use one of four approved prototype chassis, fitted with IMSA-homologated, manufacturer-designed and branded bodywork and engines. In the case of the ARX-06, HPD and Acura have elected to continue their successful relationship with ORECA [ORganisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles]. Since moving into chassis design and construction in 2007, ORECA has produced a series of winning sports prototypes, including the Acura ARX-05.
“We’re extremely pleased with our relationship with ORECA,” said Mark Crawford, HPD Large Project Leader for the ARX-06. The GTP [Grand Touring Prototype] project has brought with it a new set of challenges and, while you certainly can see the Acura ‘family resemblance’ to our previous collaboration, the ARX-06 is an entirely new design.”
HPD’s Vehicle Performance Group worked with the ORECA design team and engineers to simulate chassis layout geometries and lap time optimization studies. They also “coded” the new car into HPD’s static and dynamic Driver in the Loop simulators to begin development of the car’s vehicle dynamics and vehicle dynamic control systems.
Critical were a new hybrid powertrain control system, brake-by-wire and vehicle dynamics control systems – all written in-house at HPD. This control system architecture was implemented on a Formula 1-spec ECU hardware platform. HPD also uses its custom, in-house developed ultra-high speed data logging system.
*** Racing Teams
Acura will continue its partnerships with the proven, race- and championship-winning Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing organizations to campaign a pair of hybrid-powered Acura ARX-06 entries in the featured GTP category of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, North America’s premier endurance sports car racing championship.
In addition to sweeping all three major IMSA prototype titles in both 2019 and 2020 – for Manufacturers’, Drivers’ and Teams – Acura has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in both 2021 and ’22, including a 1-2 finish for the manufacturer at this year’s twice-around-the-clock endurance classic. Additional podiums at Sebring, Watkins Glen and the Petit Le Mans in 2021 resulted in a sweep of IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup titles for Acura and partner Wayne Taylor Racing.
This season, Wayne Taylor Racing has recorded four wins and a second to rank lead the IMSA Drivers’ and Teams’ championships heading into the final race of the season at Road Atlanta in October. Meanwhile, Meyer Shank Racing started off 2022 with a second consecutive Acura victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and five second-place finishes in eight races to rank second in both the drivers’ and teams’ standings.
These results have unofficially clinched the 2022 IMSA Manufacturers’ Championship for Acura; while the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles will go to either Meyer Shank Racing or Wayne Taylor Racing.
IMSA 2023 – Acura ARX-06 GTP Racer Revealed
Click to Enlarge.
Acura Motorsports has released the first official details for the all-new, electrified Acura ARX-06 prototype sports car, which will make its competition debut next January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the GTP class*. The public unveiling will take place today Friday 19 August, just hours from now at The Quail in Carmel, California.
The latest in a line of Acura endurance racing prototypes, the ARX-06 features Acura-specific bodywork and aerodynamics based around an all-new widely used ORECA LMDh chassis** with an electrified hybrid power unit – a twin-turbocharged 2.4-liter V6 internal combustion engine designed, developed and manufactured by Honda Performance Development [HPD], the racing arm for Acura Motorsports in North America.
The Acura AR24e power unit was developed by Honda Performance Development. The complete hybrid power unit is based around the Acura AR24e internal combustion engine (ICE), an all-new custom 2.4-liter, twin-turbocharged direct injection racing V6 that was designed, developed and manufactured by HPD. At 2.4 liters, this is the smallest displacement ICE conceived by HPD for endurance racing, yet still meets the performance target of 500 kW as measured at the rear axle by torque meters. It features a 90-degree V-angle to reduce its center of gravity and polar moment of inertia. In addition, the combustion chamber has been designed to run on sustainable low-carbon fuel.
The hybrid power plant includes an IMSA-specified electric Bosch Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and Williams Advanced Engineering battery pack. The MGU is contained in a common transmission casing and gearbox internals provided by Xtrac. The battery, within the chassis survival cell, is built by Williams Advanced Engineering. The HPD Electrical Group completed both hardware and software development to best match the spec MGU and battery pack to the Acura ICE.
“We’ve taken the challenge presented by this new rule package from IMSA, and developed what we believe is a very competitive solution,” said Pierre Descamps, who led HPD’s powertrain design team for the ARX-06. “We’ve gone in a new direction for HPD in the design of the ICE. It is still a V6, which of course for Honda is well-known, but we have incorporated several new elements which we believe will make best use of the electric MGU and battery pack. Our new engine will rev to the maximum 10,000 rpm set by the rules, so it also makes a wonderful sound!”
*The 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will have a total of 11 races, with six events with all five WeatherTech Championship classes: GTP, LMP2, LMP3, GTD PRO and GTD.
The IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup will include all classes for the four traditional endurance events: the Rolex 24 At Daytona (Jan. 26-29), Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts (March 15-18), Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen (June 22-25) and the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta (Oct. 11-14). Five-class races also will be held at Road America (Aug. 4-6) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Sept. 15-17).
The new *GTP class will have a total of nine events in 2023, adding Long Beach (April 14-15), WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (May 12-14) and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (July 7-9).
** ORECA Chassis
Both IMSA in North America and FIA World Endurance Championship rules require manufacturers to use one of four approved prototype chassis, fitted with IMSA-homologated, manufacturer-designed and branded bodywork and engines. In the case of the ARX-06, HPD and Acura have elected to continue their successful relationship with ORECA [ORganisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles]. Since moving into chassis design and construction in 2007, ORECA has produced a series of winning sports prototypes, including the Acura ARX-05.
“We’re extremely pleased with our relationship with ORECA,” said Mark Crawford, HPD Large Project Leader for the ARX-06. The GTP [Grand Touring Prototype] project has brought with it a new set of challenges and, while you certainly can see the Acura ‘family resemblance’ to our previous collaboration, the ARX-06 is an entirely new design.”
HPD’s Vehicle Performance Group worked with the ORECA design team and engineers to simulate chassis layout geometries and lap time optimization studies. They also “coded” the new car into HPD’s static and dynamic Driver in the Loop simulators to begin development of the car’s vehicle dynamics and vehicle dynamic control systems.
Critical were a new hybrid powertrain control system, brake-by-wire and vehicle dynamics control systems – all written in-house at HPD. This control system architecture was implemented on a Formula 1-spec ECU hardware platform. HPD also uses its custom, in-house developed ultra-high speed data logging system.
*** Racing Teams
Acura will continue its partnerships with the proven, race- and championship-winning Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing organizations to campaign a pair of hybrid-powered Acura ARX-06 entries in the featured GTP category of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, North America’s premier endurance sports car racing championship.
In addition to sweeping all three major IMSA prototype titles in both 2019 and 2020 – for Manufacturers’, Drivers’ and Teams – Acura has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in both 2021 and ’22, including a 1-2 finish for the manufacturer at this year’s twice-around-the-clock endurance classic. Additional podiums at Sebring, Watkins Glen and the Petit Le Mans in 2021 resulted in a sweep of IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup titles for Acura and partner Wayne Taylor Racing.
This season, Wayne Taylor Racing has recorded four wins and a second to rank lead the IMSA Drivers’ and Teams’ championships heading into the final race of the season at Road Atlanta in October. Meanwhile, Meyer Shank Racing started off 2022 with a second consecutive Acura victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and five second-place finishes in eight races to rank second in both the drivers’ and teams’ standings.
These results have unofficially clinched the 2022 IMSA Manufacturers’ Championship for Acura; while the Drivers’ and Teams’ titles will go to either Meyer Shank Racing or Wayne Taylor Racing.