‘Electrified’ NSX not to be called a hybrid
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.: Is there a market for a logical supercar? A car with outstanding performance which, if driven gently, is so docile your grandma could drive it to her bridge club?
The new Acura NSX finally hits the streets later this year, with a starting price of – gasp – $189,500. The car
There is so much technology in the new NSX that I barely have space here to skim the surface.
The space frame structure is largely aluminum, including unique cast aluminum nodes for suspension mounting points. Strategic use of high-strength steel (notably in the roof rails and front windshield A-pillars) and carbon fibre (front floor panel) help achieve industryleading levels of strength.
The exterior is again largely aluminum with composite (read: plastic) fenders and engine cover/trunk lid.
All this material trickery results in a car that weighs in at 1,731 kilograms, which is hardly a featherweight. That's one downside of electrification motors and batteries can be heavy.
Electrification? Yes. Acura's parent company Honda doesn't use the term "hybrid" for this car.
Rather, electrification is used as a performance enhancer.
A 3.5-L twin-turbo V6 engine produces 500 horses by itself; no fewer than three electric motors add another 73 ponies.
One motor is integrated into the engine, effectively replacing the flywheel, very much like Honda's Insight hybrid. It, and the engine, drive the rear wheels through a nine-speed dual clutch transmission.
The other two motors each drive one of the front wheels, with the power split front-to-rear, governed by complex electronic circuitry. Those front motors can also apply negative torque to each wheel, aiding braking and assisting in corning.
Because torque can be applied instantaneously via the electric motors, every driver input is immediately applied to the car.