ACURA - NSX has been canceled

[VenSeattle]

Banzai burned? Honda confirms NSX is DOA

by Noah Joseph on Dec 17th 2008 at 9:25AM

Link to Autoblog

Amidst a troubled global economy, Honda is actively scaling back its operations, and its performance programs are sadly bearing the brunt. After canceling its participation in Formula One and the AMA motorbike road racing series, the Japanese automaker has reportedly announced that it is nixing development of the next-generation NSX supercar.

The unfortunate news will undoubtedly come as a stunning disappointment for the loyal legions of Honda/Acura sportscar fans. The new NSX, which looked to be nearing the end of its development on the road to production, was slated to be the most powerful car ever made by Honda, driven by an anticipated 560-horsepower V10.

According to Autocar, the goal-line audible came from none other than Takeo Fukui, Honda's CEO, who dropped the bombshell as part of a end-of-year speech to the troops. The news also means that Honda is suspending plans to finally bring the Acura nameplate to Japan, and it also calls into doubt the fate of the V10 engine itself, as well as any long-rumored V8 powertrains.

Honda hasn't ruled out the possibility of picking up where it left off once business is back in order, but in the meantime the original NSX, which ceased production in 2005 after fifteen years on the market, will have to remain without an heir.

Update: Acura spokesman Mike Spencer has confirmed to Autoblog that the NSX has indeed been canceled. We'll now never know how good it might have been.

[Intrepidation]

Not surprising, and it would make perfect sense if they picked up where they left off once t hings get better.

[siegen]

It really sucks. But it does make business sense. A super expensive luxo-GT car isn't exactly Honda's core business, and if they did bring it out they likely wouldn't make their money back from R&D, at least for several years. What's more upsetting to me is that they delayed the CR-Z another year.

[A Horse With No Name]

Honda really needs another Civic SI as good as the 1999-2000 model year car much more than the NSX, IMHO.

But the (first gen) NSX is really a cool car. Beat the utter living dog crap out of it during a track day, and it just utterly, absolutely doesn't care. These cars seem to be like hunting dogs...the harder you run them, the happier they are.

Sad they couldn't build another.

Chris

[Z-06]

If Honda would have shot for the Z06 -ZR1 price and performance category, may be it would have been a good decision to keep the vehicle. But they wanted more than that.

I agree with you stang regarding how good the NSX was. If only they had taken the power equation off with a V-8 then, the vehicle would have been an instant classic.

[FAPTurbo]

This is a real shame. I hope someday that it'll be back, because I was really hoping to see how this car would turn out.

[siegen]

The more and more I think about it, the more I really don't mind that the V10 SH-AWD NSX was canceled. What I really want, and what most NSX fans want, is the HSC still. Mid-engined, RWD, lightweight, true successor to the NSX. The only component missing is a new high-performance V6, which I'm sure is being cooked up considering how old the current j-series V6 is (and even older c-series in the first NSX).

Hell, if I had the money I'd pay Honda to build me one of these as is (in black of course):

[Robert Hall]

The more and more I think about it, the more I really don't mind that the V10 SH-AWD NSX was canceled. What I really want, and what most NSX fans want, is the HSC still. Mid-engined, RWD, lightweight, true successor to the NSX. The only component missing is a new high-performance V6, which I'm sure is being cooked up considering how old the current j-series V6 is (and even older c-series in the first NSX).

Yes... I'd love to have seen a new mid engined RWD NSX. the V10 SH-AWD front engined car wouldn't have been price competitive with the GT-R, would have been an NSX in name only, IMHO. I love the old NSX.

[A Horse With No Name]

Hell, if I had the money I'd pay Honda to build me one of these as is (in black of course):

I wouldn't push silver out of my garage, either. Nice looking car, IMHO.

Chris