cars news 10: Drool Over the Acura NSX GT3’s Exposed Carbon Fiber Bodywork

Acura gave us our first glimpse at the NSX GT3 race car during this year’s New York auto show, and now the automaker has revealed more images and details ahead of the GT3-class racer’s competition debut next year.

We get to see the car sans racing livery in all its exposed carbon fiber glory. The large fixed rear wing, front splitter and canards, and protruding rear diffuser of the show car are still present, as are the deep hood vents for improved engine cooling. The GT3-spec car uses the same 75-degree, twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 as the production NSX, but foregoes all the fancy hybrid tech to comply with class rules. The engine by itself is good for 500-plus hp in race tune. That power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential racing gearbox.

“Building on the very solid foundation of the production NSX, we’re making steady progress in our development and looking forward to campaigning the GT3 race car next year,” said Art St. Cyr, president of Honda Performance Development, in a release.

The NSX GT3 will be produced at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Ohio, alongside the road-going NSX. Initial development for the race car was carried out by Honda’s Japanese race engineering arm at various tracks in Japan and Europe. The car is being further developed in the U.S. by Honda Performance Development (HPD), Honda’s North American race engineering wing. HPD will oversee final testing and homologation to FIA GT3 specifications. Honda says it expects the NSX GT3 to be homologated this fall.

So far Honda has only announced plans to campaign the NSX in North America next year, but being built to GT3 specifications means the car will be eligible to compete in many racing series around the world.

Source: Acura