Honda NSX Hybrid Undergoes Testing For 2012 Super GT Series

Jason Siu
by Jason Siu

While we continue to anxiously await a possible NSX successor for the street, Honda has been out at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan testing an NSX Hybrid for the upcoming 2012 Super GT season. The 2012 season will allow teams to equip and utilize a hybrid system on their race cars in the series.

Made by Zytech (the company that handled McLaren’s Formula 1 KERS system), the hybrid drive has 40kw of output power and can be used to power the car in pit lane (full electric).

The battery can be fully charged in just one lap on a course and has about 20 seconds of use when the driver opts to turn on the overtake button. The system adds another 220 lbs or so to the race car and to determine just how big of a difference it makes Honda enlisted the driving expertise of Katsutomo Kaneishi.

Kaneishi was able to lap Twin Ring Motegi in 1 minute, 49.468 seconds. It was 4.453 seconds behind the fastest lap time recorded in that session. Development of these hybrid systems for Super GT will continue for the next year and change, so we’ll anxiously await the results and how it’ll impact the Super GT race series.

Now if Honda could pair a powerful KERS system with a high-output version of one of its V6 engines and drop it in the HSV-010 GT race car chassis and make it street legal … now we’re talking!

[Source: 7Tune]

Check out more pics of the NSX Hybrid in action after the jump:

GALLERY: Honda NSX Hybrid Super GT

Jason Siu
Jason Siu

Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.

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