Banzai burned? Honda reportedly kills confirms NSX is DOA
Click above for hi-res gallery of the Acura Advanced Sports Car concept
Amidst a troubled global economy, Honda is actively scaling back its operations, and its performance programs are sadly bearing the brunt. After canceling its participation in Formula One and the AMA motorbike road racing series, the Japanese automaker has reportedly announced that it is nixing development of the next-generation NSX supercar.
The unfortunate news will undoubtedly come as a stunning disappointment for the loyal legions of Honda/Acura sportscar fans. The new NSX, which looked to be nearing the end of its development on the road to production, was slated to be the most powerful car ever made by Honda, driven by an anticipated 560-horsepower V10.
According to Autocar, the goal-line audible came from none other than Takeo Fukui, Honda's CEO, who dropped the bombshell as part of a end-of-year speech to the troops. The news also means that Honda is suspending plans to finally bring the Acura nameplate to Japan, and it also calls into doubt the fate of the V10 engine itself, as well as any long-rumored V8 powertrains.
Honda hasn't ruled out the possibility of picking up where it left off once business is back in order, but in the meantime the original NSX, which ceased production in 2005 after fifteen years on the market, will have to remain without an heir.
Update: Acura spokesman Mike Spencer has confirmed to Autoblog that the NSX has indeed been canceled. We'll now never know how good it might have been.
Gallery: Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept
Gallery: Spy Shots: Acura NSX
[Source: Autocar]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
John3000 9:35AM (12/17/2008)
They just found an excuse to not tell us that GT-R is better. Now I'm waiting Toyota, I mean Lexus.
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thb_da_one 10:03AM (12/17/2008)
It's been a long time that the LF-A has been canceled.
Mobius_1 10:16AM (12/17/2008)
Apparently the LF-A has been recently trademarked (or something) so it may not be dead yet.
But I never warmed to the idea of a V10 front engined NSX, much rather they stick with the old formula that was so amazing.
Temple 10:50AM (12/17/2008)
Its AutoCar so it has to be speculation. But its probably not the best time to be releasing an expensive sports car when even Porsche is having sales drops of 50%.
Also, the whole Toyota-Lexus 'joke' is tired and lame.
casey 9:37AM (12/17/2008)
i think they should put in the turbo 4 from the RDX and call it the Prelude. go back to their roots—an economical personal coupe...
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Kiiks 9:22AM (12/18/2008)
Stick it in the S2000 chassis and make it a hardtop.
BigMcLargeHuge 9:39AM (12/17/2008)
So aside from bikes, what will Honda have in the performance bin?
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MikeW 9:45AM (12/17/2008)
Generators, lawn mowers, trimmers, outboard engines.
small corporate jets & Asimo!
Mobius_1 10:32AM (12/17/2008)
S2000, Type Rs, and some F1 leftover bits.
And Asimo!
Mobius_1 10:20AM (12/17/2008)
S2000, Type Rs, and some F1 leftover bits.
And Asimo!
BigMcLargeHuge 10:59AM (12/17/2008)
The S2000 might not be long for this world.
And how many Type-Rs are sold in the US?
But I forgot about Asimo!
happy_penguin 11:48AM (12/17/2008)
Honda doesn't need halo products like NSX and Asimo right now. With the economy in the sh*tter they're scaling back just like everyone else. So if they have to get rid of some projects then I say go ahead. But I stop short of this KILL IT rhetoric which is so popular here at Autoblog. Let them run their business.
Honda's true image is high quality compacts and the real halo for Honda is what they sell, the Civic.
MachinaDC5 6:12PM (12/17/2008)
Can't wait for the Type-R version of ASIMO with VTEC.
Travis 9:39AM (12/17/2008)
as much as this sucks for car fans, I also can't imagine Honda continuing to spend millions on research for a Halo car when they're hemorrhaging cash and are down 30-40% in sales for the past quarter.
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garlinski 9:40AM (12/17/2008)
Attention NSX owners: Your car's value just went up! Damn... now i need to save more for a used one...
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Talisman 10:37AM (12/17/2008)
I didnt know their values had ever really went down. Ive wanted a 97 NSX for a long time now. I cant even find a non-high mileage good condition 91 for under 30k. Its rediculous.
bob 9:46AM (12/17/2008)
Interesting as we are still devoloping parts for this vehicle and we have quotes and samples due this week.
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moyoi 9:56AM (12/17/2008)
They are probably going to still finish R&D, if not, that would be an even bigger waste of money.
Michael 9:51AM (12/17/2008)
Hopefully the engine is in the right place next time, eh?
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mmstowes 10:05AM (12/17/2008)
Hard to find Honda at fault for that. Blame AB and the rest of the media. Honda NEVER said it would be an NSX, they specifically said "NSX successor". Somehow the media got in in their heads to just shorten it to "NSX", which makes it sound as if it is indeed an NSX 2, but in reality, has nothing in common with the original vehicle, thus making the original a single generation vehicle and this something entirely different.
Had Honda's second attempt to display a concept to the public had been more successful (if you count the HSC as the first), we would all be calling it the ASCC and not "NSX". Calling it the "NSX" does neither car's legacy no justice. We have higher expectations because we're NSX fans and we're "expecting" an NSX. Everybody has high expectations because they're not necessarily NSX fans, but are still expecting a great halo vehicle. I know I'm nitpicking, but anyway...
This is probably just as well. For a vehicle that's taken so long in development, the aesthetics, IMHO, are quite rushed looking. The Acura design studio in Cali really has no business designing a car like this. They're trying to hard and it shows. Again, just MHO, but based on the renderings and recent spy photos with slightly less zebra camo, it's just how I feel.