Several cars are to be entered by Acura in the 2023 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The recently launched Integra Type S will make its motorsports debut in the 101st running of the ‘Race to the Clouds’ alongside three additional race entries including ‘Yamabiko’, an NSX Type S race car modified specifically for the hill climb and featuring active aerodynamic elements.
Acura is bringing the first race-prepped 2024 Integra Type S to Pikes Peak. The HPD Integra Type S race car will compete in the Exhibition division driven by fourth generation racer Loni Unser, while Acura engineer Paul Hubers returns for his second year on the mountain behind the wheel of an Integra 1.5T built by the Honda of America Racing Team (HART).
Designed, developed and built explicitly for maximum aerodynamic performance on the historic high-speed mountain course, the Acura NSX Type S Active Aero Study is the next project (after the Honda CR-V “Beast”) of Crazy New, a skunkworks division of HART, which consists of Honda associates across North America. With a mission to dream up and build unique concepts before they’re funneled into the mainstream HART race team programs, Crazy New serves as a creative playground for Honda associates.
“The HART program embodies the Honda ‘Racing Spirit’ by providing associates with invaluable experience through motorsports, while transferring vehicle performance learnings into the development and manufacturing of next-generation Honda and Acura products,” said Aaron Kerestan, Honda principal engineer and team leader for Crazy New. “Crazy New takes that to the next level with a focus on bigger, forward-thinking ideas and more extreme builds, like the Acura NSX Type S Active Aero Study.”
Nicknamed ‘Yamabiko’ (a mythological mountain god or spirit in Japanese folklore) during development, the Acura NSX Type S Active Aero Study features a bespoke carbon shell, with aero development undertaken at the new Honda Automotive Laboratories of Ohio (HALO) facility. The aero package includes an active rear wing, which acts as a drag reduction system (DRS), and also an air-brake under heavy braking.
The Acura NSX Type S Active Aero Study will be driven by Honda engineer and experienced Pikes Peak racer James Robinson, who drove an NSX to the current Hybrid fuel class record (10:01.913) in 2020. “We created the Acura NSX Type S Active Aero Study, aka ‘Yamabiko’, to improve our own Pikes Peak record,” said Robinson. “It’s by far the most extreme machine the Acura Race Team has ever raced to the clouds.”
