The Pikes Peak hill climb in Colorado is a fearsome event for the participating cars, and Honda will be taking on the challenge with a unique all-electric version of their new supercar, the NSX.
Honda is hoping to dominate in the event’s Electric Modified Class in the same way they did with last year’s CR-Z-based electric prototype with veteran racer Tetsuya Yamano at the wheel, with last year’s time of 10:23.829 set as the benchmark.
He will be in the hot seat for at this year’s Pikes Peak (or the 2016 Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, to call it by its full title), and has been practicing the run for the past few weeks.
“We’ve been tuning the car for several weeks at Pikes and have advanced its performance significantly,” said Yamano. “We’re honored to be running at Pikes in this historical, anniversary year – an event respected by racing fans all over the world.”
Actually, it’s debatable just how much of the actual production NSX comprises this new racing EV concept. The all-electric car Honda fielded last year, based on the CR-Z, really had very little to do with the hybrid three-door hatchback apart from sharing a similar body shape.
The NSX EV will also be powered by a similar that drive system to last year’s car that won last year’s Challenge Exhibition class, composed of 4 electric motors that make up the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive powertrain.
The team have updated the system to yield more precise thrust at each wheel, which uses torque vectoring to give the car incredible handling characteristics and highly responsive acceleration from its high output electric motors.
That will come in handy come race day on June 26th, where a 19.9km drive to the (4302m above sea level) top and 156 corners await.
For more on Honda vehicles, including pricing and specifications, check out our Showroom.
