It's been awhile since we heard anything about the 2009 Acura NSX. It was over a year ago when Honda officials confirmed a V10 engine for the next-generation NSX, but since then all we've heard or seen out of Japan was the - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER shown in Detroit. These latest spy photos taken just outside the Nurburgring suggest work is still very much in progress. This chopped up S2000 features four tailpipes in back and a heavy-duty double wishbone suspension. There's also a makeshift hardtop and some big time wheels and tires. Stay tuned for more shots when this prototype hits the 'Ring.

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Interesting prototype. I cannot wait for the new NSX

I can't belive that would be NSX :/ it looks too small and too high

This might look like a long-wheelbase version of the Honda S2000, but it isn't. Autocar can reveal that the car you're looking at is, in fact, the replacement for Honda's NSX supercar, caught lapping the Nordschleife only last week.
Our spy photographers took these pictures at a Nurburgring "Industry Pool" test day; click on - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER to see more of them. They also managed to catch the intriguing development mule on video; click - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER to watch our video preview. That done, read on for the very latest information on Honda's forthcoming supercar.

Underneath the disguise


Given the look of the body panels of this mule car, you might assume that Honda has had a major rethink of the layout of its forthcoming supercar. However, Autocar has learned that the car's mechanicals will be very similar to those hinted by the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept that appeared at the Detroit motor show in January.

Unlike the original NSX, this NSX replacement will have a front-mounted V10 engine and a two-plus-two seating arrangement. It'll offer around 500bhp – it'll have to in order to compete with Nissan's new GTR and Lexus' LFA – and, if the ASCC is anything to go by, a rear-biased version of the Super Handling All Wheel Drive system that's employed in the Honda Legend saloon.

Back to the drawing board


What's still unknown – and about which this development car reveals little – is what the finished car will look like.

Honda's decision-making on the look of its NSX replacement has been very patchy indeed. Four years ago it showed us the HSC, only to scrap it; earlier this year, we saw the ASCC, and Honda bosses are rumoured to have sent that design back to the drawing board too, on the grounds that it wasn't bold enough.

The word is that a third and final, more dramatic design proposal will appear at the Tokyo motor show this autumn and, in an attempt to steal the limelight from Nissan's finished GTR, that will be announced as the blueprint for the finished NSX replacement.

The appearance of this development mule suggests, for the first time, that there may be some truth in that rumour. If Honda's form is anything to go by, though, all will depend upon the reception that the concept receives.

On the circuit


It's been suggested that the move away from a mid- to front-mounted engine, and from two seats to four, will give this new flagship Honda a very different character from the last NSX. Sources say that it'll be more of a rounded GT than a hardcore sports car. But it should still be fast.
Our spies have reported timing this development mule, in its unfinished state, putting in laps of the 14-mile Nordschleife in just 8 min 20 sec. Honda is clearly targeting the performance levels of Porsche's 911 Turbo, as you can see in our video; tellingly, Nissan did exactly the same during the development of the new GTR. And that means that it's unlikely to be happy until the car is lapping regularly, and reliably, well inside eight minutes.

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I don't like Honda ...!

Honda CEO Takeo Fukui has confirmed that the next-generation NSX supercar won’t be shown at the Tokyo Auto Show in October. The development of the car continues with various NSX test mules recently caught running laps at the Nurburgring, but Honda won’t say when the new model will launch.

A few days ago we reported that the - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER until 2010 but this may have also caused the delay for the NSX. Since the Tokyo Auto Show is in run once every two years, and the 2009 show will be too early, it’s possible the NSX may be postponed till 2011 according to Autocar. One possible look for the NSX was shown as the - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER (pictured). The concept was unveiled at the Detroit auto show this year and Honda claimed it would get a front-mounted V10 engine with rear-biased AWD.

Honda’s sports car development has been a joke in recent years. The S2000 is old and doesn’t compare favorably to its competitors, the Civic Type-R is being outgunned by its competitors, and now the NSX is on hold. Even the F1 team has been ridiculed this season after being overtaken by the much smaller Super Aguri B-team.


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I guess they figured out that the compitition is tough these days. I hope the final product is worth the wait. I believe Honda's are Japan's BMWs. More driver oriented + MAXed engines. Great driving experience

Honda hasn't had a clue as to what they want to do about the NSX for years now. I'm at the "who cares" stage now. I can't remember a car that has delayed, cancelled etc. etc. so much in my life. You debut a mid-engine concept and then scrap it and then a longish front-engined coupe that looks like absolutely nothing and then delay it. Who the hell cares. Honda: Come back when you're ready to actually show a real car.

M

Here here!