Anyone who follows the motor industry will know how long and protracted the wait was for the new version of the legendary Honda NSX to finally go on sale under the Acura banner. It was in the pipeline for years before it eventually arrived after much delay, but it doesn't look as though it's going to be a similar story with the track version, the Acura NSX GT3.
The GT3 is the racing version of the road-going NSX, and it was unveiled to the waiting world just over a year ago. The GT3 has been developed in a comparatively short amount of time, and it's already competed in a number of races under the factory banner, completing 50,000 miles and picking up two race victories along the way. Honda and Acura have now confirmed the NSX GT3 will now also be offered for sale to private teams shortly.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the NSX GT3 is the fact that despite it being based on a stripped-down version of the NSX road car, one of the things that have been stripped-out is the hybrid propulsion system. The 3.5-liter twin-turbo remains in place, but the electric motors up front have gone and the power is now sent to the rear wheels through a XTRAC semi-automatic six-speed sequential transmission.
The chassis and the engines for the GT3 are built right alongside the road version at the Honda plant in Ohio, and components such as the block, heads, valve train, crankshaft, pistons, and the dry-sump lubrication system are exactly the same specification as the regular NSX. However, the final assembly of the race car is completed on the other side of the Atlantic in Italy.
The reason the car has ditched the hybrid system is the FIA weren't happy about allowing it to compete in the GT3 race series, which is the only place to showcase a global sports car of this stature. It's more cut-and-dry when it comes to all-wheel drive though, as that is specifically forbidden in GT3.
The exposed carbon, race-ready NSX GT3 will be offered for sale with a staggering starting price of €465,000.
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