HPD tells the story of Acura's ARX-06 race car.
Before it enters the Rolex 24 at Daytona, HPD (Honda Performance Development) has released a 48-minute documentary looking into the development of the Acura ARX-06 prototype racing car.
The film is weirdly narrated from the car's perceptive, gets into the details, and features talking heads from Acura designers, HPD engineers, ORECA chassis specialists, and race team owners Wayne Taylor and Michael Shank.
The film covers everything from the Acura ARX-06's conception to its debut at Daytona International Speedway in preparation to compete in the GTP class of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. It will battle the all-new Porsche 963 hybrid racer, which made its debut a few days ago.
In the documentary, we get a look into the design, development, and testing of the race car, including the ups and downs and the challenge of doing so during a pandemic. Look out for HPD Vice President Kelvin Fu giving some straight talk.
Digging deeper, the film gets into styling, aerodynamics, the power unit, integration and simulation techniques, and how it all added up to Tom Blomqvist qualifying the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 for the endurance racing classic.
The film also makes the strong point that the new car has big shoes to fill. The ARX-05 had a terrific run that includes two overall wins at the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona races and three of the past four IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship manufacturers' titles.
The Acura ARX-06 arrives just in time for the new headlining GTP class in IMSA as an LMDh (Le Mans Daytona hybrid) vehicle.
It's powered by a twin-turbocharged 2.4-liter V6 that, with hybrid assistance, produces 670 horsepower. The engine, designated AR24e, is Honda's smallest racing unit yet but creates incredible power on sustainable low-carbon fuel while revving to 10,000 rpm.
The chassis was developed by Oreca, a long partner of HPD, while the exterior design is all out of Acura's design studio in California. Its design is a little polarizing, but to our minds, anything that looks like Cylon's (Battlestar Galactica) company car is excellent.
You can also see its influence on the Precision EV Concept, which will filter through to the new ZDX and ZDX Type S.
Keyword: Honda Performance Development Releases Acura ARX-06 Development Documentary