NEW YORK MOTOR SHOW: Hard-core NSX unveiled

The prospects of a hard-core Type-R version of the new Honda NSX supercar are growing stronger with the unveiling of a GT3 racing version overnight at the New York auto show.

The new racer strips away the production car’s hybrid system and all-wheel drive to comply with GT3 regulations – which is just what a Type-R version would supposedly do.

However, the base engine 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbocharged engine is the same and the spaceframe construction is also retained from the road car.

On the stand in New York, American Honda executive vice-president John Mendel left the question of a hard-core NSX GT3 or Type-R road car open, suggesting at least that it’s under consideration.

“We won’t make news on that today, but I’d certainly love to see that happen,” said Mendel.

“I think the performance aspects of the NSX are incredible. It sounds simple -- you just strip out the hybrid system and strip out all the other stuff.

“It’s a little more complex than that, but it would certainly be a fun project to work on.”

The racer was unveiled just weeks before production of the NSX road car begins at Honda’s Marysville plant in Ohio.

It is expected to be be homologated later this year for FIA GT3 and start racing in North America in 2017.

Badged as an Acura in North America, the reborn 427kW/646Nm NSX road car is an all-wheel drive petrol-electric V6 hybrid that will go on sale in Australia in late 2016 as a Honda.

But to comply with GT3 regulations the racer is rear-wheel drive with no hybrid system. It also replaces the production car’s nine-speed dual-clutch transmission with a six-speed sequential shift racing gearbox.

The president of Honda Performance Development, Art St Cyr, said that retaining links to the production car was a critical reason Honda opted to take the NSX into the GT3 category.

“The main appeal is because it (GT3) is a production-based class,” he confirmed. “We developed the car with racing in mind.

“This car is using our production engine, using our production spaceframe, to show the car in a racing environment.

“That is the motivation behind the GT3 class.”

Entering GT3 also pitches the NSX up against a raft of luxury and performance car brands including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi, Aston Martin, BMW, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche.

As unveiled, the racer featured custom bodywork and aero components including a large deck wing spoiler, underbody diffuser and enlarged hood vents for efficient engine cooling. Under the skin is the production NSX’s lightweight multi-material body and aluminum-intensive spaceframe

The 75-degree V6 retains the block, heads, valvetrain, crankshaft, pistons and dry-sump lubrication system from the production car. No power and torque figures have been revealed, but St Cyr confirmed they would climb compared to the road car.

“The addition of motorsport electronics and slight modifications to the exhaust system will allow us to bump up the peak outputs to meet GT3 performance targets,” he said.

The GT,3 including its engine, will be produced at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio

Initial development of the racer was conducted by the company’s Japan race engineering arm with testing on race circuits in Europe and Japan. Additional development, testing and final homologation to FIA GT3 global racing specifications is currently being undertaken by the company’s North American race engineering group, Honda Performance Development (HPD), in Santa Clarita, California.

Teams, drivers and other aspects of the 2017 GT3 program have yet to be announced.

Plans to offer the car for sale to privateer racers around the globe as other GT3 manufacturers do are also yet to be confirmed. It would certainly attract interest in Australia where the category is booming.