NYCshopper
12-11-2006, 10:34 AM
Acura may be ready for a V8 (debut @ 2007 NAIAS?)
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061211/FREE/61211003/1057
Acura may be ready for a V8
LOS ANGELES -- Acura is moving closer to fitting its vehicles with bigger engines, including possibly a V-8.
A V-6 is the largest engine that Honda's luxury division now offers. Some company executives think that is a problem.
Acura has announced that the next-generation NSX sports car, due in 2009, will be powered by a 10-cylinder engine. But Hirohide Ikeno, president of Honda R&D Americas Inc., said the company is considering V-8s, too.
"That is our direction," he said last week during a reception for the opening of Honda's advanced design studio in Pasadena, Calif.
Ikeno said it's important that Acura have bigger engines. He added: "I'm pushing for it."
Honda has developed 8- and 12-cylinder engines, but they are used only for racing.
said Acura will hint at its new direction at the Detroit auto show in January, although he did not elaborate.
An Acura sedan concept was shown last month at the Los Angeles Auto Show. That vehicle did not have an engine but would require something bigger than a V-6.
V-8s are being considered only for Acura models, not for the Honda Division, Ikeno said.
Acura has been criticized for not offering a V-8, and some critics say the deficiency is reflected in its sales. Sales of the flagship RL sedan were down 33.7 percent to 10,799 units for the first 11 months of 2006. Sales for the entire division were off 4.6 percent for the period.
Honda's new advanced design studio will turn out mostly concept vehicles. A separate design studio for Acura is expected to open next spring at American Honda Motor Co. headquarters in Torrance, Calif.
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061211/FREE/61211003/1057
Acura may be ready for a V8
LOS ANGELES -- Acura is moving closer to fitting its vehicles with bigger engines, including possibly a V-8.
A V-6 is the largest engine that Honda's luxury division now offers. Some company executives think that is a problem.
Acura has announced that the next-generation NSX sports car, due in 2009, will be powered by a 10-cylinder engine. But Hirohide Ikeno, president of Honda R&D Americas Inc., said the company is considering V-8s, too.
"That is our direction," he said last week during a reception for the opening of Honda's advanced design studio in Pasadena, Calif.
Ikeno said it's important that Acura have bigger engines. He added: "I'm pushing for it."
Honda has developed 8- and 12-cylinder engines, but they are used only for racing.
said Acura will hint at its new direction at the Detroit auto show in January, although he did not elaborate.
An Acura sedan concept was shown last month at the Los Angeles Auto Show. That vehicle did not have an engine but would require something bigger than a V-6.
V-8s are being considered only for Acura models, not for the Honda Division, Ikeno said.
Acura has been criticized for not offering a V-8, and some critics say the deficiency is reflected in its sales. Sales of the flagship RL sedan were down 33.7 percent to 10,799 units for the first 11 months of 2006. Sales for the entire division were off 4.6 percent for the period.
Honda's new advanced design studio will turn out mostly concept vehicles. A separate design studio for Acura is expected to open next spring at American Honda Motor Co. headquarters in Torrance, Calif.