Lightweight ICE-Only Variant or A More Powerful Type-R

[Elistan]

I find it interesting how much weight difference there is between the regular and hybrid Accords, and regular and hybrid Civics. Which is not much - maybe 200 lbs. And the NSX's battery pack is about the same capacity as the Accord's. On the other hand, there's more to the NSX's hybrid setup than batteries and a few motors. Heat is much less of a concern on the Accord since it's not expected to do lap after lap on a track in 100 F heat, and the Accord has one motor instead of three. With simply pulling the batteries and three motors and the associated cooling systems, I wonder just how much of that 3800 lbs weight will be shed... 300 lbs? Would 3500 lbs be light enough? Or even 3400?

 

[9spd]

I find it interesting how much weight difference there is between the regular and hybrid Accords, and regular and hybrid Civics. Which is not much - maybe 200 lbs. And the NSX's battery pack is about the same capacity as the Accord's. On the other hand, there's more to the NSX's hybrid setup than batteries and a few motors. Heat is much less of a concern on the Accord since it's not expected to do lap after lap on a track in 100 F heat, and the Accord has one motor instead of three. With simply pulling the batteries and three motors and the associated cooling systems, I wonder just how much of that 3800 lbs weight will be shed... 300 lbs? Would 3500 lbs be light enough? Or even 3400?

The Acura RLX is a better proxy for the weight comparison. It shares the same tri-motor and 1.3kwh battery setup. Keep in mind that the non-hybrid version has rear wheel steering and slightly larger fuel tank that adds additional weight. So, the hybrid system probably weights between 350 to 380lbs?

The NSX might have additional cooling component, but the mounting hardware and even length of the high voltage cables are likely different. At best we are probably looking at a 4xx lbs saving removing the hybrid system on the NSX.