Autoblog

Click above for a gallery of the Acura Advanced Sports Car concept.

By most accounts, Honda originally planned to show off the next generation NSX to the seething throngs at last year's Tokyo Motor Show. But due to the less-than-positive reception the Advanced Sports Car concept garnered at the Detroit show, Honda's designers headed back to the drawing board to redesign the front clip housing the 550 hp, 4.5-liter V10.

Now, Autocar has gotten word from a Honda insider that the NSX is bound for the 2009 Tokyo show, sporting a new front end that "has Chevrolet Corvette undertones" and is slated to for production in the fall of 2010.

The new NSX will supposedly kick off Honda's first serious attempt at producing rear-wheel-drive vehicles to rival BMW, Mercedes, Lexus and Infiniti, including new platforms that will underpin Acura's larger sedan offerings and an S2000-based Acura sports car that takes aim at the Mercedes SLK. The launch of Acura's 7-series fighter isn't due to make an appearance until 2015. For Honda' sake, let's hope they can expedite development to make it happen around the turn of the decade.


[Source: Autocar]

We've known for quite some time now that the Acura NSX replacement would feature a V10 engine likely at the front of the vehicle and possibly powering all four wheels via a version of the brand's SH-AWD. Now that Nissan's amazing new GT-R has set a new standard for what a Japanese supercar can be, the next NSX had better be something impressive indeed, and rumors are that it will be just that. What we still don't know is what this car will look like, so we're very interested in what Japanese car-buff-mag Best Car claims is a rendering of the new NSX. If this is an accurate portrayal, we're glad that Acura stylists found a way to leave off the big metal triangular grill that is plaguing the rest of its lineup, as it just doesn't seem befitting for a sportscar. Although the only rendering offered is an angled shot from the drivers-side front, this coupe still seems a little generic to our eyes, but at least looks better than what we saw from the Advanced Sports Car Concept last year in Detroit.

Fans of Acura's first generation NSX, including all of us at Autoblog, are going to have a tough time waiting until 2010 for the next version to bow, but we're sure to have an endless stream of spy shots and a perpetually overactive rumormill to keep us busy till then.

[Source: Best Car via World Car Fans]

Click above for gallery of the Euro-spec Honda Accord

Honda's Euro-spec Accord Tourer (a.k.a. wagon) has taken home the the 51st international Red Dot Award for high quality design, marking the third time that Honda has managed to win this award. Back in 2001, the S2000 brought home the trophy and in 2006, it was the current-generation Civic nabbing the honor. The Red Dot Award for design is a big deal in international circles, and while there are awards for products in 11 categories, there's only one Transportation award. Honda winning three times, including two-in-a-row, is remarkable.

While our Accord is a different animal entirely, the Euro-model Accord is available here, albeit in sedan form only, as the 2009 Acura TSX. It's amazing that an award-winning design as classy and elegantly understated as that of the European Accord could share so much in common with the polarizing lines of the redesigned 2009 Acura TSX.



[Source: Car Pages]

Here's the only firm detail about the new Acura NSX: it will have a new ten-hole engine. While the designers have been trading bodyslams and suplexes over what the next Honda supercar will look like, engineers took the opportunity to collaborate about wrist pins, valve geometry, and vee angles. Everyone involved does acknowledge that it has to look right, thus the contention. Time has not yet slipped through Acura's fingers, and the company wants to avoid the stagnation that leaves a 2005 NSX looking little different than a '91. Acura's going to realign their brand, and the NSX is part of that effort, along with the new RL sedan that will be coming in 2010. According to Acura's Executive VP Dick Colliver, as far behind as the NSX is, the RL's further back. Assuaging fears, Colliver quickly adds that there's still time to get it together.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub Req.]

Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept - click to view in our high-res gallery

Devotees of the late, great Acura NSX – and that's just about everybody, really – have been waiting patiently for the second coming that once reportedly based on the Advanced Sports Car Concept shown above, but Honda keeps on making us wait longer. While there's still more waiting to be done, at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel, as Honda has revealed that the new NSX will make its debut in 2010. Sometime.

The second-generation Japanese supercar was anticipated for a launch this year at the Tokyo show, but we were disappointed when the Honda pavilion was absent of any such high-performance wizardry. Since the cancellation of the original NSX, TSX and Prelude, the aging S2000 roadster has been left all alone to defend Honda's honor on the sportscar front, while Nissan gets all the glory with the new GT-R.

The new timeline is a bit later than the 2008/2009 launch date that was originally set down by Honda CEO Takeo Fukui, but if it manages to live up to its predecessor, we doubt anyone will be grumbling. After all, who recalls at this point how far behind schedule the Bugatti Veyron fell before its eventual debut?

[Source: Wards Auto via eGMCarTech]

Acura's sales are down, and rather than try to be all cars to all buyers, filling niches is more the game plan. Product planning manager John Watts intimated that Acura's looking at segments with a narrower appeal, such as the now-defunct CL, and the possibility of a retractable hardtop vehicle, too. The MDX does well, and the new RDX is the darling of everyone who drives it, but as far as cars go, Acura's not catching anyone's hair on fire. The top-dog RL sedan is a wonderful car – beautifully drawn, SH-AWD moves, and a powerful V6 make it a very pleasant way to devour miles, but it doesn't offer the flavor du jour for premium sedans with performance leanings. The engine layout is wrong, and it's missing at least two cylinders to truly be taken seriously by some buyers who are looking for a V8 and rear drive as prerequesites.

There's talk of a new 8 or 10 cylinder powerplant in the offing. The NSX is supposedly getting a V10, which could then propagate through to other Acura cars. Analysts have noted that there's a need for a flagship sedan above the RL to offer RWD and larger engines. While Acura gets its act together developing the new NSX and readying the new TL for launch in 2009, dealers are enviously eyeing Lexus and Infiniti stores, wishing they had a big V8 boomer to throw into the fray, as well.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

Photo removed at request of copyright holder. Please click here to view original photos.

Hans Lehmann does it again. The ace spy photog captured an undisguised Lexus LF-A prototype lapping the Nürburgring. Lehmann speculates that published images of the upcoming NSX replacement mule have prompted Lexus to let its star be seen too, so as not to fade from enthusiasts' memories. It looks an awful lot like the concept we've seen on the auto show circuit, with some minor tweaks. We're expecting to see this V10 supercar make its official debut in Frankfurt this September.

No word on lap times, but it should be pretty quick. This front-engined supercar is supposed to be powered by a 500-horsepower V10, but may end up as an advanced high-performance hybrid. Lexus executives have hinted that the LF-A could be the next F model to join their new performance line-up alongside the IS-F. They also said we'd see a new vehicle that would combine elements of both the LF-A and the FT-HS that had a hybrid drivetrain. Along with the Nissan GT-R and Acura NSX, the LF-A is marking a new era of Japanese high performance. The Japanese supercar wars are shaping up to be epic.

[Source: World Car Fans]

The return of the NSX to Acura's lineup has been an off-and-on again affair, but the latest intel has a new NSX with a 500-horsepower V10 on schedule for an arrival sometime in late 2008 or 2009. While our only indication of what the new NSX may look like up to this point has been the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept, we do know work is well under way on the car's mechanicals. Thus, we submit these spy photos as Exhibit A, evidence that Acura is currently testing its new NSX. They were taken at the Nurburgring in Germany and show a heavily modified Honda S2000 with quad tailpipes located in the middle of the rear bumper and what appears to be a heavy-duty double wishbone suspension below. The test car also features big wheels and a hardtop of sorts. The S2000 body on this NSX mule suggests that Acura is still far from finalizing a design for the car, but that doesn't appear to have stopped engineers from working on the brand's follow up to the world renowned "everyday supercar" that was the original NSX.

[Source: Straighline Blog]

Related posts:
Further developments on the NSX powertrain
Acura kills NSX and announces heir
New NSX to get V10 + AWD
Acura confirms V10 for NSX replacement
One powerful NSX: Acura supercar to have 500HP at 23.5 MP

We (and many of you) were blown away by Acura's Advanced Sports Car Concept when it was unveiled at NAIAS in January. Though we were a bit disappointed the concept was only a non-running turntable tease, Honda assured everyone that an improved, closer-to-production show car was in the works for the October Tokyo show.

Winding Road says its sources have heard the contrary, that Honda is going back to the high-performance drawing board to come up with a more super supercar. Word is the ASC just isn't impressing as many people as it needs to be. Perhaps Honda management saw the ASC wasn't its company's best effort, and instead of dumping the project entirely (like Chrysler did with the ME Four-Twelve or Ford with the GR-1), it's committing the resources needed to create something truly special in the $100,000+ sport coupe segment. As such, we're not quite sure what we'll see in October at the Tokyo Auto Show, if anything at all.

At least this is what we hope they're doing. Honda could have scrapped the whole thing and reallocated the funds to development of the next generation Pilot. Eeek!

[Source: Winding Road]

click above image to view high-resolution gallery with 39 live and official images

The Acura NSX was the first vehicle I ever drove in which I felt I could never make a mistake. With predictable mid-engine balance and a refined V6 power curve, it could be driven through the turns with a deft touch; the NSX didn't have to be manhandled like the original Viper.

Now I feel like the replacement for the NSX is taking on some of the Viper's virtues. Called the "Advanced Sports Car Concept," the show-stopping debut at the Acura press conference revealed a V10 engine mounted in the front--just like the Viper. Other fang-like cues include long hood, short-deck proportions and an overall feeling of more muscle and less finesse; more quarter horse and less thoroughbred.

Click through for more thoughts, the press release and check out our photo gallery with 39 high-resolution live and official images.



Check out all the debuts and galleries from the Detroit Auto Show here.