2018 Honda ZSX a.k.a. Baby NSX

2018 Honda ZSX – We have already published an article about the 2019 S2000. According to the rumors, this car should be as good as any other sports car, but it is believed the price would be way below the average. Honda S2000 was being produced for ten years and we could see two different generations during this period of time. This should be the first model after the production was discontinued in 2009. However, rumors about this 2-door roadster haven’t been confirmed yet and certain experts see some other car as the successor.

And the successor is…

It is not a secret that the Japanese car manufacturer submitted an application to the European Union Intellectual Property Office in order to protect “ZSX” name. Honda hasn’t released anything about it but, allegedly, 2018 Honda ZSX should be the successor of the S2000. This means new model would take after the old one. However, it would also take after one other vehicle. Surprisingly, many journalists call it “a baby NSX”.

Baby NSX vs. NSX

Acura NSX is one of the most popular luxury cars manufactured by this Japanese automaker and 2018 Honda ZSX should have strong connections with it. Reportedly, ZSX design was inspired by NSX hence these two are going to be quite close cousins. Actually, the upcoming model is believed to be a scaled-down version of Acura NSX. This means it is going to have slightly lower performance thus it’s also possible that new model will cost less. MSRP of the current model is $156,000 which is way too much for an average customer. On the other hand, luxury cars are not for people with the average salary. However, there are some indications Honda is trying to decrease production costs and make its cars affordable to more people.

Under the Hood

Acura NSX has a real beast under the hood. A 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged six-cylinder is one of the mightiest engines Honda has produced so far. We were naturally expecting a deteriorated version of the 3.5l but it seems that our expectation wasn’t 100% correct. The 2018 Honda ZSX is going to share the engine with Honda Civic Type R.

The current model uses a brand-new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder which comes with an output of 306 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. According to an unnamed source, this engine won’t be changed for the upcoming ZSX, but there is one major difference. ZSX is believed to get two electric motors thus it would actually be a hybrid. There is also a rumor the second option will be a 1.5l petrol unit combined with an electric motor. However, there are no many sources who would confirm this claim.

2018 Honda ZSX Design

Since it resembles NSX in terms of powertrain you are probably wondering whether the 2018 Honda ZSX is going to be based on the same platform or not. Well, we’re asking that question ourselves as well. At this point, it is hard to tell what ZSX will look like. We believe it is going to share some features with NSX. It is definitely going to be a sports car, but less luxurious than its older cousin.

Release

Please have in mind that 2018 Honda ZSX is not even a concept and it might not even enter the market. Such thing happened with Nissan recently when they just abandoned a concept they had announced. We still need to wait a few months before Honda confirms these rumors and allegations.

Several sources believe this concept will be presented at 2017 Detroit Auto Show, but there are no indications when this car will hit the market. Our prediction is a year after, but we’ll see. When it comes to price there is absolutely no information about it. However, it’s quite obvious it will cost far less than NSX. After all, we’re talking about “baby NSX”.

Video

Take a look at the 2017 Acura NSX while we are waiting for the official confirmation about a new one.