The NSX prototype had graphics that indicate Acura’s plan to race the new two-seater.
A prototype Acura NSX lapped the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington before the running of the Honda Indy 200. The debut was a deliberate attempt to garner publicity in the state where the NSX is being developed and will be produced. Production is slated for 2015 for Acura’s next-generation, mid-engine sports car.
It is also hoped that the supercar will bring some attention to Acura’s luxury line of automobiles, which although it pioneered the luxury segment in the U.S. has trailed Toyota’s Lexus brand – the perennial sales leader and Nissan’s Infiniti at Number Two in sales for decades.
The Acura NSX prototype lapped the 2.4-mile winding road course, driven by a member of the Ohio-based engineering development team. The NSX prototype had graphics that indicate Acura’s plan to race the new two-seater.
“With leadership from our R&D and manufacturing teams here in Ohio, we are developing a next generation sports car that will be equally at home on the street and on the race track, so it is natural for us to showcase the prototype vehicle here at Mid-Ohio,” said Ted Klaus, chief engineer of Honda R&D Americas, Inc.
Acura announced in 2012 that the NSX would be powered by a mid-mounted, direct-injected V6 engine and a Sport Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All-Wheel Drive in marketing babble) system.
SHAWD is an all-new, three-motor high-performance hybrid system that combines torque vectoring all-wheel drive – one motor integrated with the V6 engine and its dual-clutch transmission that drives the rear wheels, and two independent motors driving the front wheels. The system enables instant delivery of negative or positive torque to the front wheels during cornering to achieve a new level of driving performance unparalleled by current AWD systems.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
