excerpts from Chicago Tribune article (October 16, 2002)
A sleek and powerful hybrid sports car concept that Honda Motor Co. unveiled last year at the Tokyo Auto Show could be the basis of a real production car from Acura.
If given the go-ahead, the car--code-named the DN-X--would turn heads not only because of its looks but also because it would show that hybrids don't have to be automotive milquetoasts.
The concept car used a 300-horsepower V-6 coupled with a 100-horsepower electric motor to give it the performance of a 400-horsepower muscle car with excellent fuel economy.
...
Acura spokesman Mike Spencer, at American Honda Motor Co. in Torrance, says there's been no decision on a production version of either concept, but repeats what top Honda officials have said several times in the last two years: The company wants to go beyond its present hybrid offerings, the two-seat Insight and the five-seat Civic Hybrid, with gas-electric powertrain technology.
"It could be an all-wheel-drive system" suitable for a hybrid SUV derived from the RDX concept "or an all-wheel-drive, high-performance system" such as that shown on the Dualnote/DN-X "or both," he said, leaving open the likelihood that both an SUV and a sports car are on the table but offering little clue as to which might be first.
Detroit-based AutoWeek magazine recently reported that it will be the sports car, and no less an authority than Tom Elliot, American Honda's executive vice president, also has said that a hybrid Acura sports car is the likely follow-up to the Honda Insight and Civic hybrids.
Justification for a hybrid high-performance Acura, other than helping spread the word about dual-power systems, is that it enables the car maker to boost performance without installing "a gas-guzzling V-10 or V-12," as some of the competitors are doing, Spencer said.
Using the smaller V-6 and integrated electric motor also gives Honda designers lots of room for a large passenger cabin in a compact exterior package.
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see full article at Chicago Tribune -- http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-021016acura,0,6341914.story?coll=chi%2Dtechnology%2Dhed
A sleek and powerful hybrid sports car concept that Honda Motor Co. unveiled last year at the Tokyo Auto Show could be the basis of a real production car from Acura.
If given the go-ahead, the car--code-named the DN-X--would turn heads not only because of its looks but also because it would show that hybrids don't have to be automotive milquetoasts.
The concept car used a 300-horsepower V-6 coupled with a 100-horsepower electric motor to give it the performance of a 400-horsepower muscle car with excellent fuel economy.
...
Acura spokesman Mike Spencer, at American Honda Motor Co. in Torrance, says there's been no decision on a production version of either concept, but repeats what top Honda officials have said several times in the last two years: The company wants to go beyond its present hybrid offerings, the two-seat Insight and the five-seat Civic Hybrid, with gas-electric powertrain technology.
"It could be an all-wheel-drive system" suitable for a hybrid SUV derived from the RDX concept "or an all-wheel-drive, high-performance system" such as that shown on the Dualnote/DN-X "or both," he said, leaving open the likelihood that both an SUV and a sports car are on the table but offering little clue as to which might be first.
Detroit-based AutoWeek magazine recently reported that it will be the sports car, and no less an authority than Tom Elliot, American Honda's executive vice president, also has said that a hybrid Acura sports car is the likely follow-up to the Honda Insight and Civic hybrids.
Justification for a hybrid high-performance Acura, other than helping spread the word about dual-power systems, is that it enables the car maker to boost performance without installing "a gas-guzzling V-10 or V-12," as some of the competitors are doing, Spencer said.
Using the smaller V-6 and integrated electric motor also gives Honda designers lots of room for a large passenger cabin in a compact exterior package.
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see full article at Chicago Tribune -- http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-021016acura,0,6341914.story?coll=chi%2Dtechnology%2Dhed
