A company official insisted...
A company official insisted that the MPV, unveiled recently at the Tokyo Motor Show, wasn"t simply a "pie in the sky" prototype. "There"s a lot of it which we will see in the future, particularly the seating arrangement," he confirmed. "It has three rows of two chairs, but the middle pair are the ones that fold out of the way. Traditionally, that"s always been the role of the rearmost seats."
It hasn"t got its own...
It hasn"t got its own body just yet, because bosses at the firm sent the designers back to the drawing board to come up with a new look. In fact, the styling was supposed to follow that of the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept, which made its debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January. But its design wasn"t well received.
The top speed will be around 200mph, while the sprint from 0-60mph should take 3.5 seconds
There"s also uncertainty over the model"s name, as Honda is keen to distance itself from the mid-engined NSX tag, and wants to reflect the new car"s grand tourer credentials.
According to our sources, the model will use a new front-mounted 5.5-litre V10 engine with around 550bhp - which will make it Japan"s most powerful roadgoing car ever. The top speed will be around 200mph, while the sprint from 0-60mph should take 3.5 seconds. The unit is also capable of running on only five cylinders while cruising, which boosts fuel efficiency and reduces CO2 emissions.
The GT will use a six-speed automated manual gearbox and Honda"s Super Handling-All-Wheel-Drive system, as seen on the Legend saloon.
A concept car previewing the look of the firm"s latest offering will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, while the production model is set to hit showrooms sometime in 2010.