We already know what the new Acura NSX GT3 race car looks like because it was presented at the 2016 New York Auto Show back in March.
However, Acura has now released photos taken during testing and this time the car is shown in its bare carbon fiber, and boy does it look menacing.
Compared to the road-going NSX, the race car features custom bodywork and aero components including a large deck wing spoiler, underbody diffuser and enlarged hood vents for efficient engine cooling.
Under the skin, the complex hybrid drivetrain has been removed. In its place is a race-bred twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 that shares many specifications with the engine in the road-going NSX, including for the block, heads, valvetrain, crankshaft, pistons and dry-sump lubrication system. Drive is to the rear wheels via a 6-speed sequential transmission.
2017 Acura NSX GT3 race car
Acura hasn’t said which series the NSX GT3 will compete in, only that the debut will be in a North American series starting in 2017.
It’s likely we’ll see it in the United SportsCar Championship, where many of its rivals already compete. Then again we could just as easily see it compete in the tamer Pirelli World Challenge, where Acura already fields its TLX GT racer.
Development is taking place in Europe and Japan as well as here in the United States. Some of the photos show the car testing at Michigan’s GingerMan Raceway. Acura is hopeful the NSX GT3 will complete its homologation as an FIA GT3 class race car this fall.
“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, head of Acura performance partner Honda Performance Development.
