The latest version of the Acura NSX hasn’t been quite the smash hit die-hard Honda fanboys might have hoped for. While its hybridized twin-turbo V-6 powertrain and wedge-like styling certainly seemed to fit the “affordable exotic” bill on paper, it’s never caught fire in showrooms. (As a result, it’s not hard to find brand-new NSXs for tens of thousands of dollars off the sticker price.)
Not helping matters: While competitors from Porsche to Mercedes-AMG to McLaren have revised and refreshed their own sports cars time and again over the last few years, the NSX has gone mostly unchanged. That could be about to change this October, though. At long last, Honda may be about to drop a faster, racier version of its mid-engined sports car on the world in the form of a new Acura NSX Type R.
That’s the word from Forbes, at least. The financial publication claims that Honda plans to reveal a 650-horsepower NSX Type R at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2019. In addition to the added power — up from the base car’s maximum output of 573 horses — the Type R will allegedly score a stiffer suspension, stronger carbon-ceramic brakes, and a front splitter inspired by the aerodynamics of the NSX-GT race car. And, much like the Honda Civic Type R, the hotted-up NSX will also reportedly score a rear wing big enough to loft a Boeing.
At least, that’s the claim. Forbes‘s writer doesn’t cite any sources or say how he came about this information, so it’s possible that some or all of it could be, as they say, fake news. Still, considering Honda’s propensity for whipping up spicy Type R versions of its performance cars in the past, the PR success of the new Civic Type R, and the arguably-desperate need to add some excitement to the NSX story…we wouldn’t be shocked at all to see a more potent NSX with a giant wing affixed to its ass in Tokyo five months from now.
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