The NSX was a seminal car for Honda. First all-aluminum space frame chassis, first use of variable valve timing (V-Tech) in a production car, and so on. This was a car that really showed just how bad Italian and British exotics could be once you got past the performance and looks. Unlike those cars the NSX provided all those things while still being reliable, easy to live with, and easy to drive. Its chassis had been refined and redesigned countless times until Formula-1 legend Ayrton Senna put his final stamp of approval on it.  With a high-strung naturally aspirated V6 putting out almost 300hp at nearly 8,500rpm’s, the NSX could be a real rush too, but it always had a docile side. It really was the everyday supercar!

When Honda announced that they were stopping production of the NSX you could here a collective sigh of disappointment from sports car enthusiasts the world over. Honda was going to stop making the one car that is first and foremost the symbol of a company. Yet eventually those sighs turned to crys of excitement when rumors started flooding in that Honda was preparing a successor to the NSX. Could it be? Was Honda really going to do it?

The rumors died dowm though once a few years went buy and nothing materialized. Still, I knew that Honda had something up their sleeve, and I had a feeling it was something special. What started trickling out of the rumor mills startled many at first.

At first it was confirmed that the new NSX would not be mid-engine, but rather front engined. This came across as sacrilege to some who thought the NSX had to be mid-engined . Then came the rumors of the powerplant. No one was complaining now as the rumor suggested that the engine in this new halo car was going to be a naturally aspirated V10 with between 4.5 and 5.0 liters of displacement and at least 500hp. Chnaces are it could feature Honda’s awesome SH-AWD system, but there is still a chance it might just be rear-wheel drive.

Though it is heavily camouflaged, it is easy to see at least that this will be a front engined car. The long sloping hood has to hold something quite large, a V10 maybe… Besides all the regular prototype testing going on, there were several drivers directly testing the NSX mule against a new Nissan GT-R. There is no way that the NSX cannot be faster than the GT-R when it comes out. One engineer was quoted as saying; “We know what lap time we have to beat. Now it’s just a matter of making a car that will beat that time.”

From the looks of it they are well on their way of accomplishing this goal. The rumors from those who’ve seen the real car lapping is that it is mighty fast, and that it sounds awesome. A all new, 500hp, V10 NSX?? Sounds awesome to me!

Source: Road and Track

Photos: KGP Photography for Road and Track