Next NSX gets hybrid V6 and AWD

1/17/2012

Honda has revealed that it is working on a new concept that hints at a range-topping sports coupe. The Super Sports concept will follow the Small Sports EV Concept that will be unveiled at this week’s Tokyo motor show.
Yoshikazu Kigoshi, general manager for Honda research and design centre, described the Super Sports concept as “a halo model that will be a successor to the NSX.”
The Super Sports concept will be unveiled at Detroit in January next year and is likely to be powered by a 300bhp-plus, all-wheel drive, petrol-electric hybrid system dubbed ‘Super-Handling AWD’ (SH-AWD).
Using a new 3.5-litre V6 petrol motor to drive the front wheels and an electric motor to power the rear wheel, the car benefits from a torque-distribution system on the electric rear axle and improves handling safety and response. It’s also possible that a new seven-speed double-clutch gearbox will be fitted as standard.
Kigoshi described how the Super Sports would be badged an Acura in America but would be likely to still arrive in those countries that don’t have the Acura brand – including the UK – badged as a Honda.

Next NSX gets hybrid V6 and AWD

The aggressive-looking big coupe will arrive weeks after three new Tokyo motor show concepts that point firmly towards the brand’s more cohesive and range-wide future design direction. Creative director of Honda design, Toshinubu Minami, who designed the Super Sports concept, admitted that the halo model would “wear the same Honda face as the Tokyo concepts, because of course there must be consistency, but they won’t be the same.”
The Small Sports EV Concept that will be seen at Tokyo tomorrow is expected to reach showrooms by 2013.