GIVE ME A SPORTY HONDA. HOW 'BOUT THE HSV-010 GT?

Where have all the sporty Hondas gone? They haven't left Honda looking for a more luxurious home at Acura, that's for sure.

Iconic nomenclature like Acura Integra, the Acura Integra Type-R, and the Acura NSX are dead and gone. The Honda S2000? She gone. The Honda Prelude is no more. The Acura Integra became the Acura RSX. Acura's RSX is.... dead and gone.

What are we left with? The Honda Civic Si is no joke; a blast to drive and affordable for regular folk, too. We've all heard about the Honda CR-Z. But the preliminary specs, especially in regards to weight, are discouraging. Then there's the.... Wait a second, there isn't really anything else. The Honda Accord V6 Coupe is fast, but not a truly sporting vehicle. Anybody looking for true dynamic ability isn't buying a front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive Acura TSX - they'd buy a BMW 3-Series or Infiniti G37 first.

Whither the NSX?

In the pictures of this post you're looking at the Honda HSV-010 GT, Honda's entry in the GT500 class of the 2010 Super GT Series. Races take place at Fuji, Suzuka, and Sepang and a few other tracks. Competitors for the Honda HSV-010 GT will include GT500-spec versions of the Nissan GT-R, Ferrari F430, Aston Martin DB9 (the DBR9), and even the Lexus SC430. Rules are loose, although the cars have way more relation with their donor vehicle than in NASCAR or probably even the DTM.

So isthe Honda HSV 010-GT the awkwardly named replacement for the Acura NSX, a car which was labelled the Honda NSX outside of North America? This seems more than likely. The front-engined HSV pulls its engine so far rearward that balance is 50:50, perhaps even biased to the rear as in the mid-engined Acura NSX. The engine, by the way, is a 3.4L V8 with 496 horsepower and 289 lb-ft of torque. The Honda HSV is just over 15 feet long and nearly 79 inches across.

Abandoning the mid-engine placement of the Acura NSX seems like a strange move at first until you realize the ease with which automakers place their big V8s so close to the cabin these days. Naturally, this dramatically differentiates the HSV-010 GT's proportions when contrasted with the old NSX. It's difficult to imagine what this race car would look like without all the racing addendum. Noting a few specific areas of the bodywork might help you picture the road car result.

The front fenders of this car swoop up and over the wheels before dipping slightly as the hip-line flows toward the windshield. This is a good thing. Honda designed a small greenhouse which takes shape similarly to that of the Nissan 370Z, merging simply with the rear deck. The cat eyes on the front end are hugely striking regardless of your like or dislike for the otherwise simple front view. Through the vast rear wing at the back you'll notice taillamps which span the body's width. And a diffuser the size of Wakayama.

Honda's HSV-010 GT could translate into a very good-looking road car. In spite of this, I have fears that the production version could be dumbed down to a level where we'll appreciate its shape but wonder at its lack of exotic appeal. Nevertheless, we're forced to wait and see.