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Acura NSX bodywork to be sheathed in zirconium e-coat, fewer paint layers

Automakers make halo cars to drum up excitement and show off what they can do, but there's more to it than that. Advanced platforms allow a company's engineers to experiment with all sorts of technologies. And in the case of the upcoming new Acura NSX, that includes new paint processes.
Speaking with Autoline in this video interview, Honda's North American Senior VP Jon Minto talked about an innovative zirconium e-coat which it's applying to the new NSX. Unlike some experimental paints developed for Formula One, however, this coating is not designed to minimize drag or enhance cooling: it's designed to be more environmentally friendly.
It's one of a few measures which Honda is implementing on the NSX before expanding it to more accessible models, along with another process that uses fewer coats to reduce energy consumption by 40 percent. Watch the interview with Autoline host John McElroy right here.

2017 Acura NSX production launches in April

After a decade of waiting and a few false starts, the new Acura NSX will finally start rolling out of its Marysville, OH, factory in late April. Customer deliveries won't be too far behind. We can't wait to hear whether buyers find the supercar as fast and comfortable as we did during the First Drive. Trial production is already underway at the NSX's bespoke factory called the Performance Manufacturing Center. The plant is specifically for production of low-volume vehicles with cutting-edge tech. The site employs 100 people to construct, paint, and check the quality of the new supercar, and they need 14 hours to build each one. Robots take care of some of the more intricate tasks like MIG welding the space frame. View 6 Photos It also takes workers six hours to build each NSX's 3.5-liter V6 by hand at the nearby engine plant in Anna, OH. They machine balance every one and run the powerplant through a 150-mile break-in procedure. While the supercar isn't at dealers yet, you can already build your own 2017 NSX online. Prices start at $157,800 (after $1,800 for destination), but the first examples only come with carbon-ceramic brakes, which add at least $9,900 to the price. When Autoblog editors optioned them out, the cheapest we managed was $172,700. Related Video: ACURA ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR START OF SERIAL PRODUCTION OF THE 2017 ACURA NSX Performance Manufacturing Center is exclusive global production home for Acura NSX with serial production to begin late April World-class facility boasts quality, craftsmanship and technological innovation Mar 17, 2016 - MARYSVILLE, Ohio -- Acura today announced that the all-new Performance Manufacturing Center will begin serial production of the next-generation Acura NSX supercar in late April, with customer deliveries to commence thereafter. The new Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) is the exclusive global manufacturing facility for the all-new Acura NSX supercar and is structured around an innovative blend of people and technology. Combining human craftsmanship and technological innovation, the PMC utilizes new approaches to vehicle construction, paint, assembly and quality confirmation to deliver on the Acura brand DNA of Precision Crafted Performance.

Acura built just 91 examples of the ILX last month, here's why

The short life of the Acura ILX has been vexed by one glaringly odd standard equipment choice, mediocre reviews, getting outsold by its competition as it posted slower-than-projected sales and a pledge by Honda to upgrade its supposedly upgraded offering. Therefore, when Automotive News reports that just 91 of the Civic-based Acura sedans were manufactured last month - after a string of production months in double-digits - it would be easy to press the button for the alarm bells.
But that would be hasty, because it is actually the 2013 Honda Civic that is crimping the production pipeline of the ILX. The vastly higher sales numbers of the Honda meant that all three North American plants that produce it needed to crank up output to satisfy dealer inventory needs, including the Greenburg, Indiana plant that makes both the Civic and the ILX. As the classic guns-vs-butter Economy 101 lesson taught us - in which making more of one necessarily means making less of the other - well, the Civic is the gun.
Honda prepared for this eventuality by cranking out the Acuras while it got ready for Civic production. The ILX has held steady at about 500 units shy of company projections every month, and the current inventory represents about 90 days worth of sales. That makes Greenburg's ostensibly low numbers in line with the realities of the ILX, and the situation probably won't change much as Acura gets ready for the improved 2014 ILX.