If you haven’t heard about Acura, let me quickly brush you up with it. Acura is the luxury division of the Japanese manufacturer Honda and has been successfully selling cars globally since 1986. Acura has finally made its Indian debut at the ongoing 2014 Auto Expo with the NSX concept as a study model displayed at the Honda stall and is said to go into production by mid-2015.
The Acura NSX was sold globally with the Honda and the Acura badges until 2005 and the sports car was revived again in 2013 at the Detroit Motor Show as a concept. The Acura NSX concept resembles closely to what the actual production model will look like. The designers have retained the insect like headlights from the older models that were synonymous with the NSX. The NSX surely puts out a high tech appearance and a low slung stance gives it a supercar like attitude.
Acura has provided the NSX with a highly advanced powertrain package. It will be using a direct-injected V6 engine mated to Acura’s Sport-Hybrid SH-AWD (Super Handling All-Wheel Drive) system. The SH-AWD system is a hybrid that combines torque vectoring all-wheel drive with hybrid efficiency with the use of three motors. One engine is paired to the V6, while the other two motors will be spinning the front wheels. A new dual-clutch transmission is also being developed for the NSX. Talk about high tech and it’s all here. Honda has not revealed the engine displacement or the power output as yet and we will have to wait till the production version comes to life.
Even though Honda says the Acura NSX has come in as a study model, one can expect them to enter the premium car market with the Acura badge sometime in the future. Honda currently is concentrating on establishing itself as a mass market player and has been successful with the Amaze and the City, whereas the flagship product in their portfolio is the crossover CR-V. This could also encourage Toyota to bring their luxury arm Lexus while Nissan might get Infiniti to Indian shores.
Coming back to the NSX concept; while the production model is a good over a year away from launch, we can expect Honda to bring the NSX on Indian shores after its global launch. The NSX will be directly competing against the Jaguar F-Type, another capable sports car, when launched in the country. The engineers at Honda’s American R&D centre are currently working on the production version in full swing, which will be manufactured at the Honda facility in Ohio.
