nsx

Acura wants to assure dealers that its plan to become a Tier 1 luxury brand - able to hang with Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus - is still underway. But according to Dick Colliver, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., the key to playing with the big boys isn't limited to what's on showroom floors. Colliver told Automotive News, "Being a premium luxury brand is not just about product. It's the way dealers handle customers. You've got to earn your way into the segment. You don't necessarily have to have a $90,000 sedan to get there."

Just two weeks after we learned that Honda had suspended plans to introduce a new V10 NSX sports car in 2010 comes word that we may see the car anyway. Sort of. The production program is still dead, but it is being reported that the previously scheduled "concept" will appear at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in a couple of weeks.

Click above for hi-res gallery of the Acura Advanced Sports Car concept

Amidst a troubled global economy, Honda is actively scaling back its operations, and its performance programs are sadly bearing the brunt. After canceling its participation in Formula One and the AMA motorbike road racing series, the Japanese automaker has reportedly announced that it is nixing development of the next-generation NSX supercar.

We don't know what the next Acura (Honda) NSX will ultimately look like, but we do know that it will have a 5.5-liter V10 throwing down 560 hp through a torque-vectoring SW-AWD setup. The folks over at Auto Express have a cutaway view of the NSX's gizzards, and what lurks beneath the creased and chevroned skin of the next do-it-all-faster supercar could be good for a few extra heartbeats. We do hope, however, that these exterior renderings are quite a ways off. Otherwise, it might not be so bad if Acura offers a cutaway version of the actual car so that you don't have to see its body, because even under the camo, the new NSX is shaping up to be um, homely.

We've seen plenty of shots of the Honda/Acura NSX hangin' 'round the 'Ring, but unlike previous photos, the crew at Cartribe was able to catch a brief glimpse of the cloaked mule's interior. A clearer view of the gauges reveals a clean chronograph-like arrangement, with large numerals framed by chrome rings. Although the rest of the dash is covered by camera-proof camo, the three-spoke, flat-bottom steering wheel and integrated switchgear certainly speaks to the V10-powered super coupe's intentions. We're hoping to see the next NSX debut during the upcoming show season, reportedly packing over 500 hp and sending power to all four wheels.

Not only is team Corvette taking shots at the Nissan GT-R, besting its 'Ring time in the process, so is Acura with its well-publicized NSX replacement.

AutoExpress is just as interested in the styling of the next NSX as the rest of us are, so they pressed a digital artist into action to 'chop the shots of the car running on the Nurburgring. What they've come away with isn't nearly as bad as we thought it might be on our last podcast. It still looks like a hotted-up Accord Coupe in some ways, though the lines and proportions are rather classic, and the anti-flamboyance creates a car that wouldn't look ridiculous next to an F430, except for the quad stacked exhaust tips.