NSX 2.0 concept meets 91

[WingZ]

Surprised no one put this up already??

http://www.insideline.com/acura/nsx/...acura-nsx.html

[OneRedNSX]

Wow. Actually seeing them next to each other really makes the concept look like a bloated Audi! If the 91 had an 02 rear conversion it would definately be the better looking vehicle.

[N Spec]

Wow. Actually seeing them next to each other really makes the concept look like a bloated Audi! If the 91 had an 02 rear conversion it would definately be the better looking vehicle.

I agree, it does look bigger even tho the dimension are smaller overall. It's in the canopy. They need to slim it down a bit.

[bngl3rt]

New one is also lacking "the wedge" - the front should be NOTICEABLY lower than the back.

Why are the front and back wheels the same size?? That's not an NSX....

[PHOEN$X]

Thanks for the link! Very interesting pictures.

From the article:

Why, then, does the concept seem so much larger than the original car? Part of this perception is due to the narrowness of the original car and the Concept's aggressive styling elements that accentuate its width. Mostly, though, the visual deception is down to the vast, vast difference in wheel size. The Concept rolls on 19- and 20-inch wheels that dwarf the 15- and 16-inch alloys on our long-termer. These, in turn, require tires of significantly larger rolling diameter, much larger fender arches and so on.

Great photos, except Edmunds needs to learn to get their car's engine compartment detailed before future photo shoots.

[Caustic]

The more I see NSX 2.0, the more I like it. Seeing the 91 next to the concept in that gallery really nails it for me. I like the chunkiness of it, but I definitely do not see the R8 bloatedness. Even the nose is starting to grow on me (still needs work though). It's not an evolution of the old car look, but there are reminder cues there. I think it looks good and contemporary.

[Chu_Viet]

i think it's sexy.. both cars. i always liked the nsx 2.0.. its like MEGATRON to GALVATRON

[Nukem]

at first I thought that the 2.0 had the original scoop on it and was like whoa....but then realized it was a merged picture.

[Nukem]

I agree, it does look bigger even tho the dimension are smaller overall. It's in the canopy. They need to slim it down a bit.

said it before, your right N_Spec they need to lengthen the rear of the car by a few inches. It would make it look more sleek and get rid of the Audi R8 look everyone is talking about.

thanks for the new background edmunds

[myw]

awesome analogy

i think it's sexy.. both cars. i always liked the nsx 2.0.. its like MEGATRON to GALVATRON

[Osiris_x11]

The NSX concept gives me a chubby. As 2013 comes, hope that it's all that & then some as an '14 model. Can't wait...

[AU_NSX]

Okay two things...

1.

Why, then, does the concept seem so much larger than the original car? Part of this perception is due to the narrowness of the original car and the Concept's aggressive styling elements that accentuate its width. Mostly, though, the visual deception is down to the vast, vast difference in wheel size. The Concept rolls on 19- and 20-inch wheels that dwarf the 15- and 16-inch alloys on our long-termer. These, in turn, require tires of significantly larger rolling diameter, much larger fender arches and so on.

"Our" NSX was designed with 15" wheels up front so the driver could have the pedals in front of him and not skewed of into the centre of the car as the "other" mid engined supercars of the day had.

So, that brings me to my query point 2.

2. The steering wheel in the concept is further forward as well! So how do you

require tires of significantly larger rolling diameter, much larger fender arches and so on

and presumeably wider 19"/20" wheels up front and sit the driver further forward and then where do the pedals go? How did they avoid this design issue? Or is it a case of they avoided it because they haven't designed the interior yet?





The car is a concept model, no interior, nothing works, and can change before production. This was indeed the case with our NSX during pre-production testing in 1989 and production commencing in 1990... The engine was relocated 3" (I think from memory) further back to accomodate the VTEC heads...

I am of course open to the idea of a new NSX, I do believe those lucky few who have seen the model in person that it looks so much better in person. I also believe my cars look better in person than any photos I've ever seen...

The one thing that cannot be recreated though is the association our cars have with Ayrton Senna. Every time someone comes up to talk to me (about the NSX) they mention Ayrton Senna.

It's great that Honda (North America) has seen fit to do what Honda in Japan would not... And boy did it look fantastic in the Avengers! But that also was an original '91 NSX they cut the roof off and put a body kit on

heh heh

[NSX69]

The Acura NSX Concept Meets an Original 1991 Acura NSX

Automakers are under no obligation to tell the truth about future product, especially when it comes to future sports cars. And double especially when those future sports cars embody the automaker's very DNA. So it is with the Acura NSX Concept, the car that portends the 2015 Acura NSX.

As such, upon the reveal of the Acura NSX Concept earlier this year at the Detroit auto show, we took the car's published dimensions with a grain of salt. Up there on the stage, it just looked...well, bigger. There was simply no way that car was in the same dimensional realm as the lithe and slim original from 1991.

Upon our half-jokingly expressing this sentiment to the folks at Acura, something unexpected happened — they opened their doors. They made the NSX Concept available for us at their Torrance, California-based design studio to pore over, measure, move around, sweat on (hey, it was hot in there). No chaperones, and no limitations other than "please don't break it." We spent an entire day with the 2-of-a-kind car (the other, redder NSX Concept recently made an appearance at the Beijing auto show).

For perspective we brought along our long-term 1991 Acura NSX. That ought to bring into stark contrast just how gargantuan the concept is. Right?

Deception
When you finally set eyes on the Acura NSX Concept in a more natural setting than the glitzy show floor, the thing that 1st strikes you is that it is not the sprawling colossus of a supercar you expected. It's actually fairly tidy, the form compact and dense, the silver skin like Saran Wrap pulled tight over the mechanical bits. The car occupies less volume than you think.

That leads us to the next illusion: There are no mechanical bits. The NSX Concept doesn't steer, go or brake. It weighs as much as an SUV, a trait with which we became intimately familiar when we tried to roll the zoomy car around on the wheel jacks. A resin-board "structure" fills in the voids to be occupied by the mid-mounted V6, hybridized dual-clutch transaxle and twin electric motors that will provide drive to all 4 wheels of the production version. It's no exaggeration to say that everything beneath the concept's surface serves solely as a canvas upon which its bodywork can drape.

Yet a stylist's throwaway flight of fancy the NSX Concept is not. Far from it, the concept serves as the company's template for the production 2015 Acura NSX. There will be no Chevy Volt-like styling about-face when the production car drops. In fact, Acura officials tell us that their objective is to ensure that the 2015 Acura NSX's dimensions and styling mimic those of the NSX Concept as closely as humanly possible. Then again, that's the objective. Who knows where the realities of a street car will lead them?

Truth
The tape measure doesn't lie. Our measurements were within a 10th of an inch of the basic dimensions released by Acura at the time of its unveiling. Props to Acura for its truthiness, then. And it turns out a lot of wheelbase has been packed into the Acura NSX Concept. Its 99.6-inch wheelbase is within an inch of an Audi R8 and Ferrari 458 Italia, yet the concept's 170.4-inch length is between 4 and 8 inches shorter than those cars. It's also considerably lower — the NSX Concept stands 45.7 inches high to the Audi's 49.3 inches and Ferrari's 47.8.

Given free rein with a tape measure, we gleaned further insights. We measured its front track at 63.6 inches and its rear track at 63.3 inches, dimensions that again place the NSX Concept in the same realm as the midengine Audi (64.3 and 62.8 inches, respectively) and Ferrari. (65.8 and 63.2 inches). The zoomy Acura's front and rear overhangs measure 36.3 and 32.6 inches, respectively. Each angular mirror protrudes 5 inches prouder than the widest point of the car. Have tape measure, will scrutinize.

But it's in comparison to its predecessor that the Acura NSX Concept is most revealing. Would you believe the NSX Concept is 3 inches shorter in length than the original 1991 Acura NSX? You should, because it is. It's also less than a quarter-inch taller than the original car. The concept's rear overhang, meanwhile, is 5 inches shorter than the long-rumped 1991 car.

Reflecting the Past
Why, then, does the concept seem so much larger than the original car? Part of this perception is due to the narrowness of the original car and the Concept's aggressive styling elements that accentuate its width. Mostly, though, the visual deception is down to the vast, vast difference in wheel size. The Concept rolls on 19- and 20-inch wheels that dwarf the 15- and 16-inch alloys on our long-termer. These, in turn, require tires of significantly larger rolling diameter, much larger fender arches and so on.

In isolation, the NSX Concept's visage recalls the Audi R8 far more than it does its own predecessor. Ancestral cues emerge more clearly once the two Japanese sports cars are placed in the same room. They're found in the details rather than overall form, as the new car owes little to the original's wedgy, somewhat slab-sided shape. Those hood contours, for example, and the characteristic light bridge that joins the taillights. The gentle creases at the top of the Concept's fenders are present in primordial form on the 1991 NSX. Even the headlights on the Concept are a remix of the parking lights and turn signals on the 1991 model. What, you expect flip-up headlights in 2015?

These are subtle cues, but they're there. Still, there are more differences than similarities between new and old, especially as the concept has prominent body-color roof arches that cascade into stout-looking C-pillars where the original has a blacked-out, jet cockpit-styled greenhouse. A greenhouse that, oddly enough, was painted body color in later first-gen NSXs. The blacked-out one looks better, though. Indeed, our 21-year-old 1991 NSX has aged more gracefully than said later NSXs and contemporaries like the Z32 300ZX and Ferrari 348.

We'll have to wait until the calendar rolls around to 2036 to see whether the same can be said about the 2015 Acura NSX. By then we'll know whether the new car redefined traditional sports car thinking the way the original NSX did, or if it's merely an update of the original. Either way, it's shaping up to be an Acura worth waiting for.

The manufacturer provided Edmunds access to this vehicle for the purposes of scrutiny.

[Chu_Viet]

I guess the nsx 2.0 won't have a trunk like our's.. That's why it's 3 inch shorter?

[Olyar15]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I absolutely love the look of the concept. It is way more stylish than the old model. Even the beak looks appropriate on the car. My biggest concern will be how dissapointing the production model will be, especially the headlights. Those segmented LED lights look perfect on that front end, so I am dreading how badly the production headlights will mangle the appearance of the front.

[sadlerau]

Count me in as another one who thinks the concept is a stunner. Much as I love my '98, it don't look as good as the concept.

[WingZ]

Count me in as another one who thinks the concept is a stunner. Much as I love my '98, it don't look as good as the concept.

I'm with you. I love my 04 but the new car absolutely dates the old one. Love at first site for me.

[PHOEN$X]

I wonder what's going to happen to the used NSX market once the new model hits the showrooms. I'll either be able to pick up a lot of nice old NSXs for cheap, or I'll be very glad to have my existing NSXs as their values escalate. Win-win either way!

[nsxotic911]

F*n beautiful car. Now to find the $$!!!!

[Chu_Viet]

As good as that car looks... I really wish the NSX never came back. I wanted our's to stay legendary.

[PHOEN$X]

As good as that car looks... I really wish the NSX never came back. I wanted our's to stay legendary.

I think it will stay legendary regardless of what happens. People aren't going to forget about it just because there's a new model out, especially one that is so drastically different. And of course Senna.

[Chu_Viet]

I think it will stay legendary regardless of what happens. People aren't going to forget about it just because there's a new model out, especially one that is so drastically different. And of course Senna.

I guess you're right.. Just want the young crowd to know the 1st generation was a bad ass car even without the crazy HP.

[enesexo]

Damn the new nsx is just pure fu$#@ng sex on wheels.....

Where is the drool icon??? Lol

[nsx_2k]

I agree with others. The new NSX is really quite attractive. The comparison to the original NSX gives me a better perspective of its overall dimensions. I, for one, don't really mind the shorter rear end.

I can't wait to see a test mule on the track or some spy shots of the interior. In the meantime, I'll save my money in anticipation of its arrival.

[A.S. Motorsport]

I guess the nsx 2.0 won't have a trunk like our's.. That's why it's 3 inch shorter?

Keep in mind it has a J engine those are a lot narrower than our C engines

The new NSX runs the standard '60 degree bank angle, although not sure if it will be DOHC it could very well be SOHC.

Our C engines are '90 degree which is quite a bit wider.

You could quite easily save the 3 inch just in engine bay width.