Acura Nexera Vision Concept

[Cueyo]

Acura released a concept for what they want the design language of all their future acura's to look like, and called it the Nexera.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a73414496/acura-nexera-vision-concept-revealed/

No details on the car were released, but from looks alone it's an EV (at least this mule was). They claim this is just a concept and has no chance at production, but Honda has said this in the past. If this is to be the car the next-gen NSX is based off, then what does that mean for the the rest of Honda? Will the next gen type R be a e-manual EV? This entire thing has me worried about what kind of sports car Honda makes next.

Pictures:

 

[AZCWTypeR]

Not impressive and impractical. Looks like a car design college art study.

 

[Cueyo]

What's funny is the cancelled ev rdx was based off this design - and probably those concept cars they showed recently

Compared to the last gen nsx, this thing looks like crud! L

 

[TypeRD]

Not impressive and impractical. Looks like a car design college art study.

Yep. That’s pretty much exactly what it is. It’s not intended to be a finished, for-production, design. It’s a design language concept which inspirational aspects are taken from and applied to future production cars. All manufacturers do this stuff. BMW is perhaps the most famous for it over the last ~20 years.

 

[Nothing]

When manufacturers make a concept that everybody goes oOooooh... And then they get disappointed every time when the design language gets gimped beyond recognition. Subaru might be the worst offender of this, having concepts that look like it could pass for production. They can and will borrow from this as they can justify, but doesn't mean it'll all be a sleek mid engine or EV. It also has the Acura badge, so it'll likely apply to models that aren't already manual. Remember, ITS isn't a unique car, it's a reskinned CTR, and all the other acuras are auto. Honda just pulled back significantly from EV after the afeela disaster. The recently paused model changes and refreshes are linked to it. I'm not moved by concepts.

Maybe EV is inevitable, but it just earned a few more years delay, which under the current political and global economic machine will probably mean even longer to EV.

What it does mean in the short term is bad news for people who hop around to the next model every time it comes out, and those who wished for low production numbers for FL5 and DE5. Good news for those who intend to keep it and drive it, parts will continue to be available.

 

[Cueyo]

I think my problem here is twofold:

1. I think this design language kind of sucks. At least the nsx design queues actually made Honda's look cool. The crz front end, the accord 2.0T, the fk8. All of them looked cool because they reused those design queues.

2. I think this design language hints at EV underpinnings. Lexus seems or be making the lfa a solid state battery ev, and that's the halo car. The purpose of a halo car is for people to be like "yeah I have the same engine as that car" or "these are the same rims from that car". It's intended to help move units and make people feel like they're car is special. Just look at how many people with accord 2.0Ts say it's a "detuned type R engine" (which it's not). The Nexera may never be made, but acura (and by extension Honda) will integrate bits and pieces from this concept into it's other cars. I fully expect the long term goal for Acura to be mostly EVs. Like you said it's probably an inevitability anyways tho.

Example of the design similarities I was referring to with second NSX:

 

[Nothing]

I guess I don't see much design language shared between them except the nose to eye-mask "T" and maybe headlight cues on the accord and NSX, but the jewel headlights originated on the RLX. Yeah there's "brake ducts" but Honda has always had some version of those. I'm thankful the NSX evolved that godforsaken beak design into something less horrendous, but the accord picked up a nose bridge. lol.

I'm not much of a fan of the 2nd gen NSX so I'll stop here. Pre 2002 NA1/NA2 forever. That actually shared a lot of design cues from the 3rd gen prelude. Halo-up.

 

[optronix]

Everything has been flipped on its head in the auto industry.

The EV rush was a byproduct of regulations. I'm not sure what the deal is with Tesla- there are FAR too many of them- but for the most part outside of Tesla the market has pretty much rejected EVs. Combine that with relaxing regulations and we're in a position where we can start to consider the possibility of a world where manual, ICE-powered sports cars are not extinct.

That said, the entire industry spent the last 5 years at least obsessing over how to essentially convert their entire product line to EV of some sort. I'm not sure it's reasonable to expect that momentum to completely shift in the opposite direction, so the best we can hope for as the "enthusiast" market is maybe one more generation of extension.

But personally, I doubt that's what we're looking at. There's not enough evidence to convince me that there will be another generation of enthusiast-marketed ICE cars with god forbid a manual transmission. I think that applies to the next gen Type R; and I agree, the Integra Type S was just a pure luxury for enthusiasts to have an optional configuration of an amazing platform- but ultimately just a reskin of the already-great FL5. I just don't think we're going to get an evolution of that. At least not in the form of an all-new development process. The one they're working on now is almost certainly going to be some sort of hybrid drivetrain. I think they've even alluded to such in statements to the press.

So maybe we get an infotainment revision with some aesthetic tweaks.

As for design language, who cares. As someone else mentioned, prototypes can't be taken seriously. The post above suggesting that the last gen NSX influenced design language for all of Honda- sure buddy, looks just like an FK8 lol. Whatever you say. But even if there's a grain of truth to that, just note that the NC1 NSX was put into production. What you see of this "Nexera" thing is anyone's guess. Getting bent out of shape over it is something you can choose to do, but I'm pretty sure your energy could be better spent on something else.

 

[Cueyo]

I guess I don't see much design language shared between them except the nose to eye-mask "T" and maybe headlight cues on the accord and NSX, but the jewel headlights originated on the RLX. Yeah there's "brake ducts" but Honda has always had some version of those. I'm thankful the NSX evolved that godforsaken beak design into something less horrendous, but the accord picked up a nose bridge. lol.

I'm not much of a fan of the 2nd gen NSX so I'll stop here. Pre 2002 NA1/NA2 forever. That actually shared a lot of design cues from the 3rd gen prelude. Halo-up.

The front fascia is mainly what I meant. That little "T" you mentioned has been a mainstay across a few models. The CR-Z less so, but it has a similar grille and ducts. Again, halo cars exist to be something people aspire to have.

Contrary to what the previous post suggested, the Nexera explicitly is meant to influence all Acura models in the future, as said by Acura in the attached article and evident by the few prototypes they've already revealed. Case in point the SUV concept. Same tail lights to the Nexera and similar front fascia.