Acura definitely presents the ARX-06 LMDh

It's been several weeks since we knew the main points of Acura's future LMDh in IMSA for 2023, the ARX-06. But with a camouflage livery and a few stolen photos, it was not possible to understand the exact contours of the American prototype. This Wednesday, August 17, the high-end Honda brand in North America presented several photos of the beast with its official livery.

Of course, the photos are taken in 3D, but the ARX-06 reveals itself like never before. “The process we used to create the exterior design of the Acura ARX-06 is exactly the same process used to create a new Acura passenger vehicle”, said Dave Marek, executive creative director at Acura. “As part of our Performance Crafted Precision brand promise, we have treated it as an integral part of our range.

The same stylists who lead the design of Acura production cars created initial sketches, then narrowed them down to several potential designs. Next, we created a scale model, conducted aerodynamic and wind tunnel model testing, and brought in Honda Performance Development (HPD, Honda's racing branch in North America. Editor's note) and to our partner teams to collect their comments.

The wait is over! 🤩

Get your first full look at the all-new, electrified @Acura ARX-06 prototype sports car that is set to take the @IMSA grid in 2023!

📰 Read More: https://t.co/wvhFczN72j#AcuraMotorsports pic.twitter.com/YKeDphigZb

— Honda Racing US (@HondaRacing_US) August 17

The design continued to be refined throughout the testing and evaluation process, until we came up with a final rendering that met our performance goals while retaining the most important Acura styling cues. It was an exciting process. »

The Acura is based on a chassis built by Oreca. HPD was responsible for creating a 6-liter twin-turbo V2.4 engine. A hybrid system is supplied by Bosch (MGU) and Williams Advanced Engineering (battery). « We are extremely satisfied with our relationship with Oreca, said Mark Crawford, HPD project manager for the ARX-06. They have been great partners throughout our ARX-05 DPi program and now with the ARX-06. The GTP project [Grand Touring Prototype] brought with it a new set of challenges and, while you can certainly see Acura's family resemblance to our previous collaboration, the ARX-06 is an entirely new design. »

David Salters, President and CTO of HPD, praised the Oreca-HPD relationship during the development process. « I would like to highlight the remarkable collaboration between the Oreca and HPD engineering groups. Working with ORECA's extremely talented engineers on the chassis design, aero and powertrain installation was a real pleasure. Both groups have invested body and soul in this project », did he declare.

THEAcura ARX-06 is expected at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2023 before competing in the entire IMSA season with two teams: Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing, where the Frenchman is officiating. simon pagenaud, winner of the Florida double round of the clock in 2022 on the Acura ARX-05 DPi.

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