Honda NSX fast-tracked to Oz by 2015

Start saving now because Honda's next-generation supercar is tipped to arrive here in 2015.

Expected to be Honda's fastest production car ever, the second-generation NSX will retain its predecessor's mid-mounted V6 engine but, as is the trend with modern supercars, will employ electric motors to improve performance.

Honda Australia Director Stephen Collins says the NSX is a high-priority vehicle for Australia.

"We definitively want it," he said. "It's high on our list".

The first-generation Honda NSX was sold between 1990 and 2005. Almost 150 Australians bought the car, a factor which could fast-track its return.

"We sold NSX previously, reasonably successfully. I think we sold around 150-odd last time round," said Collins. "And it's just an awesome, awesome car. So if we can get it, we'll take it. We're working on that.

"One of the things we're trying to do is minimise the time gap between launches in key markets and launches here. So I'm not sure what the pecking order is but I would certainly be pushing our case, given our history and given the importance of the car to the brand."

Collins confirmed that the car "is still at least a couple of years away", but as we previously reported after talking to car's creator, John Ikeda, right-hand drive versions are in the works.

"It should be available to us, we're just working through the process of making it all add up," said Collins.

Currently in development under the auspices of Honda's premium US brand Acura at Honda's Los Angeles and Ohio studios, the 2015 NSX is slated to be built in Ohio. But despite the car's North American design and manufacture, it is likely to wear Honda badges when it arrives in Australia.

"From time to time we look at Acura in the US and the product they've got, and we try and learn off some of the good things they do. There's always internal discussion, but there's no plan to launch Acura in Australia," said Collins.

The 2015 Honda NSX will follow in the footsteps of the current crop of supercars such as the Ferrari LaFerrai, Porsche 918, McLaren P1, in that it will make use of electric motors to boost performance.

However, the new model is unlikely to match its European rivals' power outputs, tipped to output around 300kW and focussing instead on weight reduction to improve its dynamic abilities.

In a departure from its predecessor's rear-wheel drive layout, the new NSX will be an all-wheel drive speed machine. Its mid-mounted V6 engine will be hooked up to a twin-clutch transmission that drives the rear wheels along with an electric motor, while another pair of electric motors are expected to drive the front wheels -- forming a new Sport Hybrid Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system.

First shown at the Detroit motor show in 2012, a second, slightly evolved NSX concept was unveiled a year later at Detroit 2013, showing a fully furnished interior for the first time.

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