Confirmation of hybrid engine?

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soon2own

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Okay, I've been digging through the net, convinced I'd find photo or other evidence to support the hybrid engine theory. Is this it? Is this a reliable source?

http://motoring.asia1.com.sg/features/features20031101_001.html

I've been wondering where the trunk went and what might be hiding in there.

Does anyone that went to the auto shows have any good interior shots? I'm very interested in dash and gauge pics. None on the net.
 
soon2own said:
Also, does anyone speak Japanese? I found this video.
Click to expand...
You don't necessarily need to. ;) On the screen is written '300ps V6 VTEC' among the Japanese characters. There is a simllar page (and video) for the DualNote concept, and they write IMA in English as well.

http://www.honda.co.jp/motorshow/2001/auto/DUALNOTE/index.html

Since none of the HSC stuff mentions it, I would assume it does not currently have a hybrid engine.
 
As far as the video, I was just curious about the overall content, not whether they mentioned hybrid tech.

As far as the HSC not being a hybrid, the fact it is not a hybrid does not mean the next gen NSX won't be. In fact another source, fresh from the detroit show, again hints that the next gen NSX may, at the very least, be hybrid as an option if not standard.

http://www.duluth.com/placed/index.php?sect_rank=4&story_id=161677

I'll be at the St. Louis auto show later this week and will see what else I can find out. I plan on taking a lots of pics as well.
 
I would really like to know who told Honda that NSX buyers would be interested in a Hybrid Sports car. Sure seems to me like the majority of people here are against it. I would say we are the people they should be going after. This site represents NSX enthusiast across the world.

Who did they research? It just does not make any sense to me.

Why make a hybrib sports car if:
a) nobody asked for it.
b) nobody wants it.
 
Sheesh -

I, for one, think it would be innovative and trust that Honda would not degrade the NSX name by creating a car - hybrid or not - that did not perform very very well.

If it's a hybrid, it will probably be all wheel drive, get 30+ miles to the gallon in city driving, have a lot of low end power, and actually be something technologically advanced - not just another high horsepower, well balanced car.
 
If they can do a true sports car/exotic with the performance to back it up with a hybrid engine I'm all for it. What would be better than getting world class exotic performance and get 40+ MPG:D Can you imagine, in one of those Gumball Rallys or whatever they are you can hang with every other exotic and make less stops for gas:p

However, I thought Honda themselves said the world was not quite ready for hybrids overall. I'm not even sure they can get the technology to where they would want it to be for a sports car. Hybrids are getting close though. I believe the Lexus RX400 Hybrid not only gets better gas milage than the RX330 but also has much better performance as well.

I also think if the hybrid should get at least 35 MPG and hopefully in the 40 MPG range. Heck, some current NSX ownes are already getting over 30MPG on occasion. I get 23 MPG driving around in traffic on an Island with the JDM short gears and 4.235 Ring and Pinion. My friend whom I bought the NSX from said he lost about 2 MPG from the NSX-R change.

I sure hope the $450K price was a mistake. For that price they better be using their Jet engine:D
 
The first article I posted, the one that lists prices, was aimed at a Singapore audience. The prices were for their benefit. As of right now...

10 million yen = 94,204.68 US dollars
10 million yen = 159,625.67 Singapore dollars

Those are prices to buy and own one in Japan.

In Singapore it is EXTREMLY expensive to own a car. Singapore has imposed very harsh customs duties, taxes, license fees, etc in an attempt to curb traffic jams. The 450,000 is Singapore dollars for one in Singapore. Note the "before COE in Singapore" comment. That is a Certificate of Entiltlement, basically a 10 year license that lets you own the car. And at the end of the 10 years, another 30,000 - 40,000 fee.

A good site that exlpains it is http://www.expatsingapore.com/once/cost.shtml
 
Ok. I called the Senior Editor over news at Autoweek and asked him about the HSC and how it would perform on a racetrack if it was a hybrid. (ie. batteries dying and towing dead weight).

He was very interested in the question and said he would send a note to his guys in japan to get the answer.

So, I will let you know if I hear anything back.
 
Hybrid? So what...

I don't see why people are so against HSC/NSXv2 being a hybrid. To me, the numbers are the key. If the HSC can do 0-60 in 4 seconds, top out around 180 mph, and handle like a dream, I don't care if it's a "traditional" engine, a hybrid, or hamster-power. I'll be happy.
 
Re: Hybrid? So what...

flaminio said:
I don't see why people are so against HSC/NSXv2 being a hybrid. To me, the numbers are the key. If the HSC can do 0-60 in 4 seconds, top out around 180 mph, and handle like a dream, I don't care if it's a "traditional" engine, a hybrid, or hamster-power. I'll be happy.
Click to expand...

Ok. What if it does 0-60 in 4 seconds, goes 180 MPH with the assistance of a 200HP electric engine that powers the rear wheels. Just like the Eclipse concept at the detroit autoshow.

BUT, when you take it on the track, the electric engine loses it power in the first few laps and cannot recharge due to the aggressive track driving. Then after 5 laps you now have a front wheel drive car minus 200HP and towing 500lbs of extra weight.

What do you think of that?
 
soon2own said:
Does anyone that went to the auto shows have any good interior shots? I'm very interested in dash and gauge pics. None on the net.
Click to expand...
Just got home from the show. I was there on Sun and Mon. I talked to a woman Acura rep and told her I had an NSX .. also had my Acura shirt on in the hopes that I'd get some inside info.

I asked about hybrid and she said that no one at Honda has formally said anything about it being a hybrid and she did not give any innuendo about it being a hybrid. I talked openly about other Honda hybrid discussion; the dual note; the Mitsu talk and it appeared to me that she wasn't hiding anything .. she just didn't appear to know. I asked if she could open up the engine hatch and she said that the only thing she was allowed to open was the doors (which she did for me).

The most disturbing thing I saw in the interior (I have a digital shot which I will try to post later) was that there was NO CLUTCH PEDAL and NO SHIFTER. In fact, what I could clearly see on the center console was (honest to God) a round dial with PRND on it (may have been a few other characters but blocked by the steering wheel. The dash pod was very game console looking but I could not see any evidence of paddle shifters although there may have been +/- buttons on the steering wheel which I saw on another non Acura car.

She asked what I thought of the HSC and I had to tell her the truth that I really don't like the B pillar and don't like the concave way the side slopes away from the side windows. She said I was only the third person who had said that they didn't like it. I mentioned I had seen an article saying that it was only one of three designs being considered .. and she said that her sources were saying that 80-90% of the current HSC design will be on the next NSX. If I recall correctly, she said we'd see it in 2006.
 
Interior shot

OK .. here's my first attempt at a re-size. You won't be able to read the PRDL on the dial on the console (you'll have to take my word for it) but you can see it just to the left of the steering wheel (about the 9 o'clock position)
 

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Re: Re: Hybrid? So what...

NetViper said:
Ok. What if it does 0-60 in 4 seconds, goes 180 MPH with the assistance of a 200HP electric engine that powers the rear wheels. Just like the Eclipse concept at the detroit autoshow.

BUT, when you take it on the track, the electric engine loses it power in the first few laps and cannot recharge due to the aggressive track driving. Then after 5 laps you now have a front wheel drive car minus 200HP and towing 500lbs of extra weight.

What do you think of that?
Click to expand...

Just as soon2own mentioned I bet it will use some sort of regenerative charging via the brakes. This is exactly how the new Lexus RX400 Hybrid SUV charges its electric motor batteries. According to Lexus, during high speed most of the power comes from the engine while the electric motors assist as needed. The benefic comes at low speed driving in the case of this SUV. However, for the NSX, I'm sure they can arrange the electic power assist to come on for performance driving. Still, it more than likely will use braking regenerative charging of some sort. While I'm definately no expert at this hybrid technology, I think it can work out. I'm sure if Honda puts a hybrid in the NSX it will work as they intend it to work. If they feel the technology is not yet there for a performace sports car I bet they will no included it just yet.
 
It has to be a track car?

I know you're all gritting your teeth, :mad: closing your eyes, holding your breath and wishing with all your might that Honda will come through and deliver another dream car, only this time with more HP. Some of us were doing all that starting back in 97 or 98. Some of us quit waiting and I, for one, am frankly skeptical that Honda cares much about a few dozen trackers. There are damn few cars out there for 14 years of production and a small percentage of those cars are tracked. So, if a hybrid is a smart marketing path and works well for 95% of the other NSX potential buyers, why would Honda cater to the trackers?

But, in the end, it's all speculation because Honda is secretative, innovative and unpredictable. I'm prepared to polish/cruise the new NSX and get a different toy for the track. (Easy for me to say, since I just did)
 
I owned an Insight for a year and I can tell you that it is an amazing car! It does many things well, but it does others poorly. If I were out on the freeway hard on the throttle I would desimate the charge in the batteries in a matter of minutes. But around town with ample opportunities to brake and downshift to recharge the batteries the car was awesome!

Perhaps a track situation would provide enough braking and downshifting opportunities to properly regenerate battery power, but those long trips down the interstate? Hardly! Getting on the throttle with empty batteries would be akin to taking on a race with your NO2 bottle empty (although I don't have one, you get my drift), there's plenty of power, but not what you would prefer.


I guess Honda just doesn't want us to take on any street racers after our batteries are drained. ;)
 
I don't see why people are so against HSC/NSXv2 being a hybrid. To me, the numbers are the key. If the HSC can do 0-60 in 4 seconds, top out around 180 mph, and handle like a dream, I don't care if it's a "traditional" engine, a hybrid, or hamster-power. I'll be happy.
Click to expand...

I'm sure they can arrange the electic power assist to come on for performance driving. Still, it more than likely will use braking regenerative charging of some sort. While I'm definately no expert at this hybrid technology, I think it can work out. I'm sure if Honda puts a hybrid in the NSX it will work as they intend it to work.
Click to expand...

People are against a hybrid NSX because it would go completely against what the NSX is all about.

There's no way with present technology to regeneratively recharge the batteries on the race track. And by race track I mean road course (you might be able to make the case for the 1/4 mile).

I don't know if ChopsJazz ever took his Insight onto the track but I've read accounts of people who have. You might be lucky to get one lap before the batteries were depleted. The extreme braking found on the race track simply can't channel enough of the braking energy back into the batteries. It's lost as heat.

Honda's certainly going to come out with more hybrids and some of them may even be "sporty" or have interesting street performance (i.e 0-60 one time) but forget about a true hybrid sports car with the pedigree of the NSX in the foreseeable future.

-Jim
 

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