911 Syndrome: Acura NSX May Add Convertible, Type R Variants
March 9, 2016 at 1:13 pm by Joseph Capparella | Photography by James Lipman and the Manufacturer
This info comes straight from NSX development engineer Nick Robinson, who told Autocar that Honda wants to create a lightweight, hardcore NSX to live up to the hallowed “Type R” badge. This reportedly would involve a use of more exotic materials to cut weight, possible active aerodynamics, and even a reworked drivetrain that could make the car rear-wheel drive.
The standard Acura NSX uses a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 along with three electric motors, two in front and one in the rear, that give the car all-wheel drive. Cutting out the dual front electric motors and their associated batteries would save plenty of pounds, although the rear electric motor likely would remain. There’s even a precedent for a rear-drive NSX (other than the original, of course): One of the modified Acuras set to race the Pikes Peak hill-climb apparently does without the hybrid machinery, and uses a more powerful version of the V-6 with electric superchargers to supplant the twin turbos. Robinson also let on that the existing NSX has a sort of “cheat mode” that disconnects the front motors and turns the car into a “drift machine.” Sounds plenty enticing to us.
As for the topless NSX, Robinson said it was a distinct possibility because the car’s body is so stiff. To minimize the structural changes and mitigate any possible weight gain, an open-roof NSX would most likely feature a removable roof panel in the vein of the Chevrolet Corvette. If you remember back to 2012’s The Avengers, Tony Stark’s NSX convertible [pictured below] might give some indication of what the NSX would look like without a roof, although that car was a one-off concept created specifically for the film
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