Automotive Design and Production

JUN 2017

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This is the Sport Hybrid's twin motor unit, derived from that used in the NSX super cars, which is positioned between the rear wheels, where the AWD rear differential is located in a non-hybrid MDX. It contains two 36-hp electric motors that are located back to back. The motors not only help improve launch performance, but because they operate independently, they facilitate dynamic torque vectoring. From 2004 on Ikeda focused on designing Acura products. Just how much he focused on Acura is manifest in his present position, which he attained in July 2015: vice president and general manager of the Acura Division of American Honda Motor Company, Inc. That's right. He's the guy in charge. Or, as Ikeda modestly puts it, "About a year-and-a-half ago they moved me over the fence to do what I think is needed for the Acura brand." And what Ikeda thinks is needed goes back to his days in Japan, where he thought that there was a great deal of enthusiasm for creating great-looking cars (yes, it was about cars back then, sedans and coupes and that nascent NSX, the first generation of which appeared in the U.S. in 1990) that had perfor- mance chops. "We are trying to get back to our roots," Ikeda says. And those roots are fairly well encapsu- lated by what is nominally a tagline used by Acura: "Precision Crafted Performance." But Ikeda says, "It's not just a tagline. We are the performance division of Honda," adding, "And if we're going to talk about per- formance, one of the key cornerstones is that we have a sports car." He's talking, of course, about the NSX, the second generation, in particular, which launched last year. He goes on to point out that if they're going to have a sports 26 COVER STORY

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