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Spy Shots: 2009/10 Acura NSX

The side view of the ASCC is pretty good. I like it as much as the front of the R8. Maybe you have to see it in person. Maybe it will sell like hot-cakes. Maybe rich people don't care that much what their car looks like as long as it looks new and it functions like a top tier car. How else do you explain increased BMW sales?
Honda might make a bold move with that GT or they might try an NSX part II. The first NSX was a technical success.
 
the ascc photo shouldn't count since thats just a show body (probably made out of styrofoam) compared to two cars that actually run. the body designer can do whatever he wants with how it looks until the engineers say no
 
i still hope its midengine. look at the hood, yes its bigger and fatter, but when you are building FR car with such a big engine, you must put the engine as far back as possible. with this layout, the engine is above front wheels which will make weight distribution terrible for a sportcar. somebody mentioned the trunk is too big for MR. do we know that there is a lugage compartment underneath that trunk? i guess not. the only thing that i'm afraid of, is the size of the wheels but that may be du to different offset.

bmw_6series_650icoupe_2007_exterior_4_346x270.jpg


this is an actual FR sportcar. compare driver positions on both cars
 
I noticed the german cars in the background, so I think it is the next gen Z4.
The other possibility is that the car is battery powered. The extra length in the front and the mid section are for battery placement to get 50/50 weight distribution.





Of course, just kidding. I have no clue what it will be.
 
i still hope its midengine. look at the hood, yes its bigger and fatter, but when you are building FR car with such a big engine, you must put the engine as far back as possible. with this layout, the engine is above front wheels which will make weight distribution terrible for a sportcar. somebody mentioned the trunk is too big for MR. do we know that there is a lugage compartment underneath that trunk? i guess not. the only thing that i'm afraid of, is the size of the wheels but that may be du to different offset.

bmw_6series_650icoupe_2007_exterior_4_346x270.jpg


this is an actual FR sportcar. compare driver positions on both cars

Like I said earlier, there's no engine vents for a mid engine (Intake or cooling). I too want it to be mid-engine but doens't look like it from these pix. . :frown:

If you look closely at the pictures, it looks like area behind the seats is hollow. . . nothing there. I'd bet on Front Engine AWD layout for this machine.
 
The exhaust is a dead give away it is mid-engine. I've yet to see that exhaust configuration for a FR setup.
My mom's Audi TT has that setup and it's front-engine, AWD. The '90-93 Integra and '88-91 CRX are two other front-engined cars with a transverse exhaust - and they are FF with more room (in the Integra's case) for a normal exhaust.
Where did you hear that the next S2000 was going to be less powerful and FF?
Current (or last month's?) issue of Road and Track, and I have also heard it from other sources before that. Let's HOPE NOT!!

comparo.JPG


If you will notice, the mule has the exact proper proportions for a mid-engined layout. The seating position, wheel base, and proportioning are all spot on with the current generation.
I wouldn't say that. The area between the front wheel and the door is at least a foot longer, in addition to an already slightly longer front overhang. and bigger wheelarch. Tons of space up front I'm afraid.

The proportions look depressingly similar to the 6-series and ASCC pictured - lots of space between the door and both front and rear wheels.
 
My mom's Audi TT has that setup and it's front-engine, AWD. The '90-93 Integra and '88-91 CRX are two other front-engined cars with a transverse exhaust - and they are FF with more room (in the Integra's case) for a normal exhaust.

Ok, but none of the cars you mentioned has a longitudal mounted Front engine, which is what the ASCC. The exhaust configuration is so similar to the current NSX. Note that in the on road pictures, Honda put on a cowling to cover up the exhaust.


The area between the front wheel and the door is at least a foot longer, in addition to an already slightly longer front overhang. and bigger wheelarch. Tons of space up front I'm afraid.

In reference to the door, again pay no attention to the body, the body is a decoy. Yes, there is more front overhang, but Honda could have done that to fool us. You can put a Longitual V10 in there, but the engine will hang out in front of the center line of the front wheels. This would be uncharacteristic like for Honda.

I could be wrong and Honda could be sprucing up a 2+2 with engine sticking at the overhang location. What the hell kind of "sports car" is that.

The rear suspension arms are extremely beefy. Looks cast aluminum, not Forged. This isn't your nimble and lightweight NSX formula.
 
Ok, but none of the cars you mentioned has a longitudal mounted Front engine, which is what the ASCC. The exhaust configuration is so similar to the current NSX. Note that in the on road pictures, Honda put on a cowling to cover up the exhaust.
That's true, we can only hope. The cowling I can't say for sure is only to cover the exhaust, although I'm sure they would like to cover it anyway - to me the shape resembles a venturi-effect diffuser... perhaps they are trying to simulate at least to a certain degree how the rear diffuser will behave on the production car.
In reference to the door, again pay no attention to the body, the body is a decoy. Yes, there is more front overhang, but Honda could have done that to fool us. You can put a Longitual V10 in there, but the engine will hang out in front of the center line of the front wheels. This would be uncharacteristic like for Honda.

I could be wrong and Honda could be sprucing up a 2+2 with engine sticking at the overhang location. What the hell kind of "sports car" is that.

The rear suspension arms are extremely beefy. Looks cast aluminum, not Forged. This isn't your nimble and lightweight NSX formula.
I'm just saying the driver's position in relation to the front wheels is much further back than in the NSX. Even if there were virtually no front overhang on the production car, it's hard to imagine that much space between the driver and front wheels in a mid-engined car.

I sure hope it's not a 2+2, and I do fear that I agree about the suspension arms looking cast rather than forged. I thought this was going to be an expensive car... looks like it'll be more of an expensive GT tank, than an expensive lightweight sports car.:mad:
 
oh no! there is no hope, we're all gona die! :eek:
 
Found this while surfing:

According to spies, Honda engineers are holed up in a workshop along the Nürburgring. Inside, they're apparently attending to a bizarre test mule built from an S2000 roadster. Though basically stock looking, a curious set of panels have been tacked on for length and width, the passenger compartment appears larger, and a case of elephantiasis appears have affected its hoodline. Thus, the shooters surmise the underlying structure could belong to Honda's next NSX supercar, which many had been expected to be based on the Advanced Sports Car Concept (below). The latest loose talk indicated Honda execs were unsatisfied with the path of development, and sent design engineers back to the CAD workstation to make some major tweaks. Notwithstanding the dichotomy of a front-engined NSX, this car will likely show up early next decade, wearing a $150,000 sticker. – Mike Spinelli

http://www.buzztracker.com/permalin...r-Chassis-Potential-Spy-Photos-Honda-NSX-Mule
 
oh no! there is no hope, we're all gona die! :eek:

As long as we keep our original works of art, we will be fine.:wink: The next car shouldn't even carry the NSX name. It should be called something else.
 
As long as we keep our original works of art, we will be fine.:wink: The next car shouldn't even carry the NSX name. It should be called something else.

i wish i had that original work of art. i'm not the owner of NSX and will not be for the next couple of years. i'm only 24 yet :wink:

that front engine layout is a big white flag hangin out of honda's high ambitions. they should update the NSX much frequently, they should replace it in 200 or 2001. i cant imagine why they dont want to keep up with competition. ferrari updates cars every 7 years or so
 
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The exhaust is a dead give away it is mid-engine. I've yet to see that exhaust configuration for a FR setup.

350Z exhausts are like that. Below are aftermarket items, but you get the idea.
503350_800%20350Z%20exhaust.jpg

inv_350z.jpg


I'm linking to the stock exhaust picture I found - it's a huge pic.
http://www.clearimageautomotive.com/Pictures/Stock exhaust.JPG

It looks like in Honda's case, that exhaust configuration allows the muffler cans to be placed rather high in the body, giving plenty of room for the underbody diffuser seen in other pics.

There's simply no reason, that I can think of, to put such a large front end on an MR car. Especially considering that the front end was deliberately made larger than an existing FR car, the S2000. Therefore my speculation, at this point, is that we're looking at a FR, 2+2 chassis. (Or, the extra space in the rear is where the electric motor and batteries go. :) )
 
Sadly, I believe this is FR.

Other FR with similar styled OEM exhausts

350Z
inv_350z.jpg


RX8
maxspeed%20exhaust.jpg
 
thats sounds right. front engine, AWD and 2+2. the worst combo one can imagine for a pure sportcar.

and yes, we're all gona die!
 
Ahhh Crap, with the exhaust pictures of 350Z and RX-8 goes my theory of mid-engine NSX mule. Thanks for sharing the pictures guys.

For me, it’s a done deal. We are back to the FAT PIG concept with FR platform and 2+2 seating. Forget writing letters to Fukui. Just go kick his ass. The Honda dream is dead.
 
Mid Engine wish is NOT dead-

How did they tuck a V10 under the stock cowl height of an S2000 hood?

The extended roofline still gives me cause to think there might be a transversly mounted engine back there.

Well dude, we just don't know...

P
 
Well, I guess the bright side of the news is that our NSX will continue to keep its value and continue to be a sought after sports car by enthusiasts :smile:
 
The S2000 already has 4 cylinders behind the front wheel center line. Honda extended the overhang to locate the 5th cylinder in front of the center line.

Then make the car wider to accomodate 2 banks of 5 cylinders for that heavy ass V10. Done.........Fat pig in the making.
 
Mid Engine wish is NOT dead-

How did they tuck a V10 under the stock cowl height of an S2000 hood?

P
It looks to me like the hood bulges more than the stock S2000 hood. Especially if fitted with a dry-sump oil system, I bet a V10 could fit pretty easily in there... that engine bay is big even before lengthening and bulging it out.
 
It looks to me like the hood bulges more than the stock S2000 hood. Especially if fitted with a dry-sump oil system, I bet a V10 could fit pretty easily in there... that engine bay is big even before lengthening and bulging it out.

ever seen the s2000 with the 2jzgte stuffed under hood? it barely fits, long AND wide. and i believe they had to cut the core supports to get it in there. you *might get the ten in there. if it was sohc or ohv and had no manifolds.

2jzs2k.jpg


and fwiw, if i'm wrong and the engine IS up front, its going to be an understeering pig :frown:
 
looking at this picture we can see that there is no problem im length of the engine bay, but in width. on the other hand, stock S 2000 headlights on that mule look so small. because of wider front i guess :frown:

what i like in honda strategy, is that they are trying to put the car in production later than nissan, toyota rivals. its a clever move, once you know what your rivals are capable of at the point when they can not change the car much, you can easily outperform them.
 
This is probably a dumb question. If it is a test mule for engine testing, then does it matter where you put it as long as it is getting air into the engine?
 
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