Time has officially run out for the much loved Honda NSX. After 13 years of top class racing in the Japanese Super GT, Honda has confirmed that the NSX will be retired.
The Honda NSX was only produced from 1990-2005, but Honda continued to race it in the Super GT series because of its popularity among the Japanese race fans.
The race car sports a number of important race upgrades to the road going version; the chassis has been tuned by the renowned Dome race team, and the engine particularly has been tuned by Mugen and is now a longitudinally mounted 3.5-liter V6 unit that produces around 500bhp. For comparison, the road-going version is powered by a 3.0-liter transversely mounted powerplant that produces a puny by comparison, 270bhp.
In its 13 years, the NSX-GT has won the drivers and team championship in 2000 and again in 2007. The car has also sat on pole position 49 times and won 36 races.
As to the reason behind it’s retirement, the NSX-GT has effectively been forced out of the championship as 2010 regulations state that all GT500 cars must be front-engined and rear-wheel drive.
Honda says it will announce a replacement car for the series in due course, but has not confirmed what this will be. Reports suggest a reworked front-engined version of the NSX or a modified Super S2000 car could be used, although neither would have any direct marketing value.
Source: AutoCar
