Flames & Drag Cars

Hot Rubber + Bleach + Serious Horsepower = Madness!

(and i'm lovin' it!)

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Things To Do Before You Die: Go Drag Racing

Drag Racing

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In theory, drag racing sounds like the least involved of all motorsports. From a dead stop, you are trying to cover a specified distance in the shortest amount of time. There are no corners, no elevation changes, no layouts to remember. Pretty basic, right?

Not so much.

Honda's Next NSX

Honda's Next NSX Will Be Based On The HSV-010

(finally!!)

Back, we wrote a short story regarding a piece of heartening news: Honda president Takashi Ito had announced his company would be resurrecting the beloved NSX. However, our enthusiasm was blunted by the fact we’d heard the next-gen NSX would be based on a rotated Accord chassis and use a hybrid V6 powertrain—hardly the traditional recipe for sports car pleasure.

Well, good news—turns out we didn’t know everything Takashi said that day. Turns out he not only confirmed the NSX’s return, he also said it would be based on the HSV-010 race car pictured above. The HSV-010, which can be seen competing in the GT500 class of Japan’s SuperGT racing, is in turn based on the front-engined V10-powered NSX that was killed off back in 2008 due to the recession, so Takashi’s announcement can be seen as the return of that long-thought-dead car.

Sadly, the V10 engine reportedly didn’t come back with the car; the HSV-010 uses a 3.4 liter V8 making around 490 horsepower, and a related engine is supposedly a likely candidate for NSX duty. Beyond that, details are pretty hard to come by at this point, but considering much of the development work has been completed, we’re hoping Honda can pound it out and have it in our hands in the next year or two.

In the same statement, Takashi also said he hopes his company will market both “high-performance” and “affordable” sports cars in the future; according to Motor Trend, this may include the return of the Acura RSX coupe (which would be based on the 2012 Civic Si), an Accord-based C-segment sport coupe (perhaps a return of the Acura CL?), even the possibility that the aforementioned hybrid V6 sports car could make it to market alongside the NSX. Glad to hear Honda’s planning on barging back into the sports car game like SEAL Team Six

Spoon Sports DC5 Post Tsunami

DC5 vs. Tsunami

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(*coverage by speedhunters)

Revival of NSX

Takanobu Ito: Honda to revive NSX replacement plans

(like, finally...)

The Honda NSX deserves a successor, but plans for one were scrapped along with Honda’s Formula 1 involvement back in 2008. It was the power of the accountant, not dreams, that was stronger during that period, but since then the economy and car sales have rebounded, and many carmakers are even breaking records these days. So is it finally time for the NSX replacement?

According to a report by Asahi, Honda is revisiting plans to make one, and it was revealed by no other than company president Takanobu Ito at a motorsports function. The new model will be based on the HSV-010GT race car that is currently competing in Super GT. That racer was supposed to be the road going NSX before the detour, so it’s essentially a continuation of the project.

Ito said he wanted to commercialise the HSV because other automakers participate in the competition with racing versions based on cars sold on the market. “I think Honda should respect the history of the Super GT competition (as a stock-car race),” he said. Honda found a loophole in the regulations that allowed it to campaign a “production ready” model in the HSV-010.

There could be more good stuff besides the flagship, something more attainable. “There are two types of sports cars-affordable and high-performance. I hope we will be able to market both,” the boss was quoted as saying.

Pictured: HSV-010GT Race Car