Sunday, December 27, 2009

Honda HSV-010 caught testing at Suzuka [With Video]


Based on reports from the ground, Honda will campaign four HSV-010s in the 2010 season, each of which was testing at the racetrack late last week (check the differing window banners in the gallery below). The driver line-up hasn't been officially disclosed yet, but the new coupes will bear the numbers 8, 18, 32 and 100 at their debut May 20-21 at Suzuka.


Powering the HSV-010 (which stands for Honda Sports Velocity) is a 3.4-liter V8 mounted in front and sending power to the rear wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox -- the same transmission used by Nissan and Toyota on its GT500 contenders. The styling bears some resemblance to prototypes that ran the Nurburgring in recent years, but it's decidedly curvier, more aerodynamic and -- to our eyes -- damn sexy, particularly in matte black with the angry LED eyebrows.


As previously reported, Honda has no plans to sell a road-going version of the HSV-010 to consumers. Instead, the Big H has found a loop-hole in the SuperGT regulations that allows the automaker to campaign a car in the series that's "production feasible" but not in production. So unless Honda reverses course and pulls an LFA, the closest you'll come to seeing and hearing the all-new NSX is in the videos.






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