Apparently not satisfied with having one halo car in its portfolio, Acura says it will expand the NSX sports car range with as many as three more variants, according to a report published today by the UK's Autocar magazine.
In that article, NSX project lead Ted Klaus says the company is "contemplating" convertible, lightweight non-hybrid and all-electric versions of the $189,900 performance car, and one of those -- most likely the lightweight one -- will wear the brand's hallowed Type R badge.
It's all part of Honda/Acura's plan to get the most out of the investment and engineering work it put into the latest NSX, a car developed to help revive Honda's former reputation as a respected performance car maker.
Acura campaigned two standard NSXs at the 2016 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race, held last month in Colorado, along with an experimental four-motor all-electric version; the electric finished second overall, while the production models finished 20th and 74th. Klaus said Acura entered the all-electric version to "investigate torque vectoring and test battery durability and power electronics, and we think the car's performance suggests Acura's on the right track in considering that variant for a future in the company's showrooms.
Klaus said the NSX was purposely over-engineered to accommodate "harder, faster versions" of the NSX, and that a lightweight, performance-focused model wearing the Type R badge would likely use a gasoline-only powertrain.
The standard NSX is a hybrid that matches a 3.5L turbocharged V6 with three electric motors for a total of 573 hp; it is being built at Honda's Performance Manufacturing Centre in Ohio, USA.
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