Civic Type R and NSX Supercar Lead Host of Premieres from Honda at 2015 Geneva Motor Show

January 28, 2015 - Signaling a new era for the Honda brand in Europe, every model in the range will be new or refreshed in 2015, with many being unveiled in production guise for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show in (this coming) March (2015). Performance cars for road and track, family cars and a fuel cell concept will all feature on the Honda stand.

The return of two performance legends

Geneva will see the global premiere of the Honda Civic Type R production car. The ‘race car for the road‘ will be the most extreme Type R ever built, with blistering performance and thrilling dynamics that set new standards in the segment. A world-first application of Honda’s new 2.0 liter VTEC Turbo engine, aggressive function-led styling and pioneering new chassis technologies combine to deliver one of the most immersive and rewarding driving experiences available in any sector.

For fans keenly anticipating the launch of Honda’s latest hot hatch icon, a dedicated Type R microsite goes live on 28 January. Here fans can explore and share Type R content, in order to gain access to exclusive snapshots of the performance hatchback ahead of its debut in Geneva: http://youtu.be/LJla-AlnlqY

Hot from its global debut in Detroit, the much-anticipated production Honda NSX will make its European debut in Switzerland, twenty-five years after the original. The hybrid supercar has been specifically created to deliver a ‘new sports experience,’ challenging conventional beliefs about the supercar segment.

New HR-V and Jazz

Production models of Honda’s all-new HR-V and Jazz will debut ahead of their market launches later in 2015.

The all-new HR-V blends the styling of a coupe with the toughness, space and utility of a SUV in a sporty, characterful and versatile B-segment crossover. Re-entering the segment that Honda pioneered with the original HR-V in 1998, the new 2015 model features eye-catching exterior styling, fun-to-drive performance, class-leading fuel economy and unmatched interior spaciousness.

With a sophisticated new look and an upgraded interior, the third-generation Jazz also makes its debut in Geneva. This car has been redesigned from the ground up, building on the strong reputation of its predecessors and featuring a brand new 1.3 liter petrol engine.

Looking to the future

The Honda FCV Concept demonstrates the exterior and interior styling evolution of the next-generation zero emissions Honda fuel-cell vehicle.

The FCV Concept is intended to provide significant gains in packaging, interior space, cost reduction and real-world performance, including an anticipated driving range in excess of 300 miles and a refuelling time of three to five minutes.

Iconic McLaren-Honda partnership returns

The 2015 McLaren-Honda Formula 1 racecar will also be on show at Geneva ahead of its competitive debut at the season opener in Melbourne, Australia on March 15. The new partnership aims to create a legacy to surpass that of the original, when four Constructors’ World Championships were won in four years between 1988 and 1991.

Honda can be found at stand 4250 in Hall 4 at the 85th Geneva Motor Show (March 3 - 15).

New NSX to debut on Jan 12th next year !

Acura NSX Production Model to Make World Debut
at 2015 North American International Auto Show

TORRANCE, Calif., Dec. 17, 2014 – The production version of the highly anticipated Acura NSX supercar, successor to the legendary original NSX, will make its world debut at the 2015 North American International Auto Show on Jan. 12, 2015. The model will reflect the production design and specifications of the mid-engine Acura supercar that is slated to launch in 2015. To celebrate the impending debut of NSX, Acura released a 30-second teaser video that gives an early glimpse of the production car and the sound of its three-motor, twin-turbocharged Sport Hybrid power unit. View the video on Acura’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/Acura.

“The next-generation NSX will deliver a ‘new sports experience’ true to its heritage and to the supercar concept that originally gave rise to the name NSX,” said Mike Accavitti, Acura division senior vice president and general manager. “The NSX will serve as the ultimate expression of Acura performance that is fueling a reenergised brand.”

An Acura NSX concept model made its debut at the 2012 North American International Auto Show, where Honda Motor Co., Ltd. President & CEO Takanobu Ito announced that development of a next-generation NSX would launch in three years, led by an American R&D team and produced at a state-of-the-art new plant in Ohio.

“After three years of intensive development work we are excited to reveal this next-generation supercar—the Acura NSX—to the world,” said Ted Klaus, chief engineer and global project leader over NSX development. “We’ve developed a human-centered supercar that responds to the will of the driver and that builds upon the NSX heritage.”

The next milestone in the launch of the NSX will be the reveal of the production version at the Acura press conference at the North American International Auto Show on Jan. 12 at 11:50 a.m. ET. Watch the press conference live at youtube.com/Acura.

The NSX is being developed by a global team of engineers led by the company’s North American R&D operations in Raymond, Ohio, with design led by the Acura Design Studio in Torrance, CA. The Acura NSX will be produced exclusively at the new Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, using domestic and globally sourced parts.

New rumour - 2G S2000 coming, 2G NSX delayed

One of our members with insider connections told us this latest 'news':

1)The 2G S2000 just got the greenlight from Management.
 

It will be hybrid and MR. The engine will be a version of the CTR Engine, redesigned to be higher revving than the one in the CTR. Unlike current IMA implementations however, here, the electric motor will be used to counter the effect of turbo-lag. I.e. it will be used to supply low-end torque to fill in the 'gaps' in the powerband when the turbocharger is spooling up. Gearbox will be Honda's i-DCD with a '50/50' odds of a manual version as well. He also thinks Honda will be looking at making it a 2+2 instead of the original 2-seater. 

This new 2G S2000 will be built in Ohio next to the new 2G NSX. 

2)Speaking of the 2G NSX, it seems that Nurburgring fire will now delay it from 6-12 months ! This means the new 2G NSX will now be launched in 2016 instead of the original plan of 2015.

As usual, all these 'info' are un-verified.

Matsumoto-san Report from the ground

Preview AUTOPOLIS at the foot of Mount Aso at about 900m above sea level, the highest among all circuits in Japan.

As you know aero (body panel) packages and suspensions are heavily regulated so they can't be changed during the season. Engine development is still allowed but 3 engines per car, per season are allowed, so we'd have to wait 3 races before we could put in the new engine with the new developed parts.

How about the Hybrid, you ask?

Hybrid system is highly regulated, too. Any changes to the hybrid outputs or the power band are not allowed although it could only shorten the time comma 2 or 3 (i.e. 0.2 or 0.3, not sure what Matsumoto is referring to here) so it wouldn't really change anything today.

Only thing left there to do is the car settings. It is clear now that our current challenge is the car settings. Hopefully we'll do better jobs this time though we won't be challenging the top.

We're anticipating #18 Weilder Modulo with Michelin's would perform better at Autopolis considering the results after the tire tests.

We're doing the best we can as always. We appreciate your unconditional supports. We thank you very much. 

Translation (very much appreciated) provided by TOVA reader 'CR-V9'

Honda Post Race report - Super GT Fuji Speedway circuit

Honda publishes regular reports about their Super GT races on their main website at www.honda.co.jp in Japan. Unfortunately those reports are written in japanese. Nevertheless, one of TOVA's long-time support who goes by the nick of 'CR-V9', have been regularly posting his english translations of those reports here on 'TOVA Honda Fan' but on the feedback/comment sections of our regular articles.

The recent Super GT Fuji race ended in very heavy tears for Honda. All but one of the NSX'es retired from the race. The last one ended 15 laps behind the eventual winner (Impul R35). How can that happen? 

As usual, CR-V9's provided a translation of Matsumoto-san's post-race report, in the feedback/comments section of our 10G CTR Geneva article. However, this time I felt it is too important to lament there so I have elevated it to a full blown article on Honda Fan. CR-V's translation below will serve to answer the many questions and concerns  Honda and Super GT fans have. Sentences in italics are CR-V9's own thoughts.

Matsumoto Report from the ground : post-Fuji Speedway.

(This is hard. This is very hard for me. Matsumoto-san poured his soul out.)
 

The race ended in a blunt total unconditional defeat (!). Our 5 NSX Concept-GTs had qualified in 11th to 15th out of the 15 GT500 cars, and in the race 4 out of 5 retired, the last one finished the race but 15 laps behind. There is no excuse. None. There can't be any excuse. We did everything we could to prepare not to end up like this but to no avail in the end. It ended up in a regrettable result. There is nothing but to apologise to our fans who had expected us do better. I am sorry from the bottom of my heart.

There are a couple of reasons for our most devastating defeat. First, the 70kg weight handicap for the MR and hybrid cars because it was discussed (or negotiated or consulted) that a MR and a hybrid are considered advantageous in the race.

However, it has turned out to be very challenging to get the 100% out of the regulated common monocoque chassis which is originally designed for FR cars. Also it is in accordance with DTM regulations and that makes the car with more downforce than we need, thus tend to make the cars perform better at the corners. Then again, the 70kg extra weight makes it harder at the corner (exit speed) as you can imagine.

Having said so, the weight handicap was negotiated upon so it's not fair to complain now. I just wanted to explain that it is one of the reasons why we're struggling with now. (not an excuse) Anyhow we are doing our best to overcome the challenges.

Another challenge is car settings in weight balance, suspension, etc. We haven't learned quite worked it out yet.

We didn't even participated in the testing at Sepang in Malaysia. We were busy finalizing the design and basic layout of the car until the last minute because we realized the new regulation wouldn't allow any changes to the basic of the cars once it's done. But at the end we didn't have enough time to work out the car settings on the ground.

Another problem is overheating. The engine is sitting right behind the driver compartment. There is no room in between in this FR designed monocoque chassis. We could make the air-intake opening bigger if it's a commercial car to ensure enough cooling but in racing cars, the bigger the openings the bigger the air drags. So we'd want them as small as possible. And there the placements of radiator or intercooler are also regulated so we can't just do so much what we want.

At the Fuji speeday, the engine room got overheated and the overheat-safety program (system) kicked in to shut the throttle system down. That was why the NSX GT that stopped by the side, after cooling down was able to be driven back the pit once the safety system was resetted. This happened to all the 4 cars that retired.

(If someone from Honda racing is reading ... The air coming from the front of the car is routed out to the sides. Is it possible to reroute some of that air into the engine room? Maybe lowers the down force a bit, too? Just a thought)

I'm repeating again but I'm feeling full with regrets not be able to respond to our royal fans who have been supporting us all along. I am sorry from the bottom of my heart.

Anyhow, drastic changes can not be done right now because of the new regulations. For now, we only can work our magic on car settings to better our cars' performances in coming races.

We still continue keep doing our best to develop further and we truly appreciate your royal, uncompromising supports, from the bottom of our hearts.

Prototype 2G NSX crashes during testing

The japanese newspaper Hokkaido Shinbun (Hokkaido News) reported a car crash at Honda's Takasu proving grounds at around 11am on May 13th. The car under test went off the track on a left hander and crashed into the woods besides the track. Report says that two persons in their forties were hurt with the passenger admitted to nearby hospital in Asahikawa city. Also stated is that there were around 60 persons at the track at that time. 

While no official release was made by Honda, initial speculation is that this is Honda's new 2G NSX that crashed into the woods. The aerial photo published by Hokkaido Shinbun which is reproduced on the left shows a car with an exterior design that suggests this is so.

Our (TOV/TOVA) resident insider also confirms this on our forums, with additional info that the testers, both of whom were powertrain engineers are ok. The passenger experienced pain on his side after the crash so he was admitted to ER for X-Rays.

TOV talks to Erik Berkman on the new NSX

For readers who are not members or a regular at our forums, TOV principal Jeff Palmer met up briefly with Erik Berkman, one of the lead designers of the new 2G NSX during the recent NAIAS. As the conversation was informal, Jeff did not put it in a formal article but shared it in our forums. Extracted and quoted below are Jeff's quick summary of his conversation with Berkman.

Basically he re-affirmed some of the stuff that been out there, particularly the 'reference list' of 3 or 4 performance targets (458, GT-R, McLaren MP4-12C, R8 GT). Said they have very rigid targets on power to weight ratio (which implies performance bogeys) and are very serious about meeting or surpassing those targets, but said top fuel efficiency is #1 target. Acknowledged that the competition is pretty stiff and they love the challenge. Hoping to beat the targets but noted something to the effect of 'even if we fall short, it won't be by much and it will still be one HELL of a performer' (that's paraphrased). I indicated that to me a 10th of a second here or there wouldn't matter as long a the overall driving experience was one of the best, as the past NSX offered a very rewarding driving feel/connection that other 'faster' cars couldn't touch. I said it needed stay true to Honda/NSX's roots, and to have a visceral element (high revs, high hp/l, etc...). Low mass very important to me (I DEFINITELY don't want a fat TECHNO-tank like the GT-R). He didn't comment much but seemed to be in general agreement with my sentiments. Indicated that there's a LOT of work to be done. Oh, I suggested that since they boxed themselves in with the V6 hybrid decree that a turbo would almost be a necessity to meet their performance targets and I didn't really get much of a denial, nor any sort of confirmation on that. Now I'm wishing I remembered his exact words there but several times during our conversation he indicated I should probably see if I could get any more info from some of the team members. We have a pretty good relationship with Erik, and I told him I'd like to speak to him more formally at a later point and he said he'd love to talk to us some more, but we'd obviously have to go through the proper channels to get it set up. (PR gatekeepers).

      

New NSX Concept at the 2013 NAIAS

Currently, all our attention are focussed on the NAIAS, the North American International Motor Show where three significant cars are on display from Honda and Acura. These are first and foremost the much anticipated updated new NSX concept car, this time with a full concept interior as told to us by our resident insider. Honda/Acura also put up the prototype of the new Acura MDX for the show. And on the Honda side, the new Urban SUV Concept, based on the Fit/Jazz platform, makes it world debut at this show. We have multiple, in depth coverage of these vehicles on our main site the Temple of VTEC. For the convenience of readers, the articles related to the new NSX concept car are below:

Honda PR for the new NSX concept

TOV proprietry photos of the new NSX concept

TOV exclusive video - interview with John Ikeda on the new NSX concept

The photo above is from our own collection. Our complete selection can be viewed at our relevant article in the 2nd link above.