Acura may be ready for a V8 according to AutoWeek

[NSXGMS]

What I wonder is...

So they make the car...maybe V-10 FR or mid V-8. Shock the world with new techology etc, sell the first year or two....Then What?

Will they be dedicated enough this time around to build on the design and keep it current?

This is something Honda does with there top sellers but it just doesn't seem to be in there make-up to do the same with there sports models...after all there are only two. The other brands OTOH, are totally dedicated to there models and upgrade accordingly.

Pains me to say this but...I don't think they should build anything.

spooler

Well, if you're concerned with Honda's bottom line then no, they should not build anything. But holding to that logic the NSX should never have been produced to begin with.

If Honda actually decided to update and market the new NSX properly they would do fine. Sure, they would lose money overall but that's expected for a halo car. Why are they participating in F1? Losing lots of money there.

The NSX sold fine in the first two years and then got slammed by a global recession. By the time the economy picked back up again the NA2 hadn't even debuted yet. The NA2 changes were far from drastic. They would have made much more sense in 1994-95. By 1997 it was a band-aid on a gaping wound. No wonder no one bought it...

If the NA2 had been introduced in 1994-95 and the 02+ changes implemented in 1997-98 with a 3.5L 320hp engine (an NA3, perhaps?) the NSX would have done quite a bit better over the years. But seeing as how Fukui can't even update and market the S2000 properly I'm not surprised.

 

[Spooler]

Understood,

I added paragragh to previous.

I do think Original should have been built though,absolutely..it served it's purpose well...Engineering capability that still holds up today and even though it was not a great seller itself, added prestige to entire Acura line.
Mission accomplished. A great Reason to build the car and there must be one.

What would be Reason to build another Halo car particularly since you've waited to long already and the other's are already there?

spooler

 

[ericwgnsx]

What I wonder is...

So they make the car...maybe V-10 FR or mid V-8. Shock the world with new techology etc, sell the first year or two....Then What?

Will they be dedicated enough this time around to build on the design and keep it current?

Who cares? As long as I can afford a used one when they are 5 years old!:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

Oh, and make it a mid-V8, please.

 

[Tom239]

Well, there's a reason only three manufacturers have developed a V-10--it's a inherently difficult engine to produce and support.

What in particular makes it difficult?

 

[ChrisK]

Ikeno said V8s are only being considered for Acura, and none would appear in the Honda lineup.

Not even for the Ridgeline? That would be the one car in the Honda/Acura line up that surely could benefit from a V8, especially to compete with the other competitions trucks.

 

[NSXGMS]

What in particular makes it difficult?

A V-10 is inherently an unbalanced design. There are many vibration issues that are difficult to engineer around and that can affect the reliability and lifespan of a V-10, particularly one that has a massive output of 120+ hp/L.

Here is a great post and thread regarding Honda and the V-10.

 

[NSXGMS]

Not even for the Ridgeline? That would be the one car in the Honda/Acura line up that surely could benefit from a V8, especially to compete with the other competitions trucks.

Honda isn't interested in doing anything that makes sense anymore. The entire Honda lineup could benefit from the V-8, especially the trucks. Might allow them to come out with multiple trucks like Toyota...

How about Acura? One can point to the V-8 as the defining moment when Lexus stepped ahead of Acura. I guess the fact that Acura is being launched worldwide doesn't inspire Fukui to want to improve Acura's status as a luxury car.

What is Fukui doing? He has a second chance to re-launch Acura to the world as a luxury brand to compete with BMW, Audi and Lexus but does he really expect the world to embrace the Acura as luxury without a V-8? A V-6 luxury car will be laughed out of town.

This V-10 talk is rubbish. Even if they had one it would be a specialty engine. They need the V-8 any way you slice it--for their trucks, their sedans and for their performance cars. Again, the longer Honda fails to develop one the longer Toyota and Nissan have the upper hand.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

One can point to the V-8 as the defining moment when Lexus stepped ahead of Acura.

Well, next year will be another defining moment as Hyundai steps ahead of Acura.

Hot and Bothered - Hyundai’s RWD V8 Flagship Caught Testing!

-- Joe

 

[NSXGMS]

Well, next year will be another defining moment as Hyundai steps ahead of Acura.

Hot and Bothered - Hyundai’s RWD V8 Flagship Caught Testing!

-- Joe

Wow. Honda has screwed around so long even Hyundai is catching up. Hyundai's overall reliability has already equaled Honda's.

I guess as long as Civics keep selling Fukui doesn't have to answer to the board of directors. Fukui doesn't answer to anybody. Honda doesn't want anyone to know what they're doing (which clearly isn't any kind of positive development of any kind.) Civics sell and they're cheap to keep rolling out so that's what they do. Nope, all we get since Honda doesn't say a word is a pieced-together S2000 mule spied on a test track with the engine who-knows-where and what.

The ASCC is a joke, we all know it, and so is the V-10. I'll believe the ASCC might come but it will basically be a re-worked RL by that time. And who here really believes we'll see anything like that in 2009? That's less than 18 months away!

And the V-10 project was doomed from the beginning. Fukui went and opened his mouth and had no idea what he was getting into. Developing a V-10 is pointless and futile and doing so in lieu of a V-8 that is much more flexible in terms of design and could be platform-shared is insanity. A V-10 goes against everything Honda claims to hold dear--efficiency and economy.

I think this recent silence is due to the engineers telling Fukui he's out of his mind to develop a V-10 because the ASCC is going to cost $175K if it has all the technology he's boasting it will. Just absorbing the development costs is going to be enormous. I think they told him it couldn't be done the way he wanted it and the whole ASCC project--in its Detroit Auto Show form--has been scrapped.

If the ASCC were going into production in 2009 we would have plenty of official statements by now. Was there any doubt in 1989 that the NSX was imminent? Honda was blitzing the press with statements, pics, specs and tests. Of course, it was Soichiro's company then.

S2K going bye-bye, no V-8 for their trucks or wanna-be luxury marque Acura on the verge of worldwide release, no sports cars in their lineup, reliability suffering, developing impractical engines...what a sorry state of a once-great company...:frown:

 

[JoeSchmoe]

Damn I just noticed that news article is almost a year old. The Hyundai website already shows the V8 option. That defining moment we were talking about has already happened! :frown:

Hyundai equus engine choices

Hyundai centennial
Click on "specifications" tab and see "engine type".

-- Joe