Since the end of production of Honda's world-class NSX, the Japanese company has not had a supercar contender. There is a race car in the form of the HSV-010 but despite its excellent ontrack performance and beautiful shape, there is no confirmation that it will ever see action outside of the racetrack. The HSV-010 is the result of a rules change in Japanese Super GT racing, where Honda have proven themselves to be a consistent winner with its NSX. When the rules were changed to allow only front-engine, rear-drive cars, the dominant NSX automatically became illegal. Honda announced towards the end of 2009 that it would campaingn a car for the 2010 season and despite Super GT requiring that race cars be based on production cars, the use of a production-ready car is technically allowed.
The HSV-010 is based on the development of the replacement for the NSX but is of course modified for racing. As with all race cars nowadays, the body is made from carbon fiber, and as per rules, has the engine mounted up front. The engine is a 90-degree V8 with 32-valve heads helping to produce its 500 horsepower. Engine output goes to a Ricardo 6-Speed sequential with actuation via steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. When you hear the engine, it sounds like a Formula car because the engine is reportedly a variant of the powerplant Honda uses in Formula Nippon.
Only four teams were supplied with these brand-new race cars and it is notable that in its first season, the HSV-010 was able to achieve a race win and ended up being third in the championship. This is a rare achievement for any race constructor and it speaks highly of the technical skill and racing experience of the constructor and the teams involved. Source article is here.
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