Not that you would need a reason to visit the Goodwood Festival of Speed, but this year’s event has just became a must-see as they announced they are bringing the new Honda NSX Concept to the show. The successor to the legendary NSX is a hugely important car, as it previews what the sports cars of the future will be like.
The Goodwood-bound Honda NSX Concept is not a static display, either. The car is set to take on the famous Goodwood hill, which means it has a working powertrain, which means we get to hear it, and see it in action, and compare its time to the likes of Porsche 911 and Nissan GT-R, and see if it lives up to all the hype.
On paper at least, it should do that, and then some. The new NSX is powered by the same sort of hybrid drivetrain you find in the latest hyper cars like the Porsche 918. It consists of a mid-mounted, direct-injected next-generation longitudinally placed twin-turbo V6, coupled with Honda’s Sport Hybrid SH-AWD with three electric motors.
In this innovative and complicated system, one motor is integrated with the V6 engine and its all-new dual-clutch transmission (DCT) driving the rear wheels, and two motors drive the front wheels. This setup, according to Honda, results in a new level of driving performance unparalleled by current AWD systems.
Besides all the technicalities that make the Honda NSX Concept such an exciting proposition, the design of the car is a huge attraction. It makes the GT-R looks very unsightly, and the 911 look boring. The new NSX enters production in 2015.