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LEXINGTON, Ohio – Acura provided a treat for IndyCar fans by showing off the NSX Prototype before Sunday’s race.  Just before the two-seater pace car came out, the Acura NSX Prototype took to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course track for a few laps. 

It was the first time the Acura NSX was publicly showcased while running and it handled itself well through the 2.4-mile (3.86 km) course. The Honda Indy 200 was a perfect opportunity for Acura to show the world the steady progress that has been made ahead of the planned 2015 launch of the supercar.

The Honda 200 was the perfect setting for the display as not only was it a home-sponsored race, but the research and development of the NSX is being conducted in Raymond, Ohio (97 kms away) and produced in Marysville, Ohio (93 kms away). Raymond is home to the global development of the NSX and Marysville will soon be home to a state-of-the-art Performance Manufacturing Center that currently is still under construction. 

“With leadership from our R&D and manufacturing teams here in Ohio, we are developing a next generation sports car that will be equally at home on the street and on the race track, so it is natural for us to showcase the prototype vehicle here at Mid-Ohio,” said Ted Klaus, chief engineer of Honda R&D Americas, Inc. “It is exciting for us to see the prototype running on track, reflecting the great progress we’re making toward the 2015 global launch of the NSX, as we engineer a new sports-car experience for customers around the world.”

It was nice to see the NSX in action considering the amount of teasers we’ve received over the years. When released in 2015, the NSX will be powered by a mid-mounted, direct-injected V-6 engine mated to Acura’s three-motor high-performance hybrid system known as Sport Hybrid SH-AWD. 

For some more pictures of the Acura NSX Prototype, check out The Driver's gallery page.

MISSISSAUGA, ON - Subaru Canada, Inc. (SCI) is pleased to continue to support Georgian College's Automotive Business School of Canada, today announcing its donation of a four-cylinder engine cutaway and drivetrain display as new learning tools for the automotive program.

Before reaching Georgian College, the horizontally opposed 4-cylinder engine cutaway and drivetrain display travelled across the country as part of the Canadian auto show circuit, illustrating the unique layout of the SUBARU BOXER engine and the Subaru symmetrical full-time All-Wheel Drive system.

"Subaru has a long history with Georgian College," said Shiro Ohta, president and CEO of Subaru Canada, Inc. "We've been involved with the Georgian College auto show from the beginning as well as donated teaching resources in the past. We're pleased to lend support to the Automotive Business School of Canada by providing these great learning tools, which represent the same technology used in our vehicles today, and we're proud of our industry partnership with Georgian College."

"For as long as I can remember, Subaru has always been a great contributor to our program," said Dr. Marie-Noelle Bonicalzi, Dean, School of Business, Georgian College. "From providing guest speakers, advisory committee members, scholarships, donations, Auto Show members, co-op placements and hiring alumni, Subaru truly exemplifies the nature of our relationship with the industry."

Georgian College offers the only Bachelor of Business Automotive Management degree in Canada and Automotive Business diploma in Eastern Canada. Graduates of these two unique programs secure employment in many sectors of the automotive industry including dealerships, aftermarket, finance and insurance, corporate head office, fleet management, marketing and advertising, and event management. 

It appears that the McLaren and Honda relationship will stretch beyond their Formula One engine supply deal in 2015 and into road cars. 

Speaking to autocar.co.uk, McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh said the deal is strictly a Formula One contract, but the parties have worked together before and are open to share technology information with one another.

“It’s a pure Formula 1 contract, but we’ve already been looking at automotive technology and we’re sharing that very openly,” said Whitmarsh. “Our road car strategy at the moment has no other automotive partner and Honda would be a good place to collaborate.”

If there’s to be any collaboration on road cars between the two companies, you won’t see it for a few years. Keep in mind the Formula One deal doesn’t start until 2015 and McLaren just launched the P1 and the 12C is fairly new. They’re also in the development stage of the P13, which will have no Honda input.

For now, hopes are high for both companies to have a successful future down the road with a partnership that sees McLaren obtaining Honda engines and Honda on the receiving end of McLaren technology. They will also be pursuing a commercial partnership together to bolster the finances of McLaren Racing.

LONDON, UK - A British university says it is delaying the publication of an academic paper on electronic vulnerabilities in high-end Volkswagen cars following legal action from the German automaker.

In a statement, the University of Birmingham says it will "defer publication" of the paper, which explains how researchers were able to hack the sophisticated anti-theft system used in Porsches, Audis, Bentleys, and Lamborghinis.

The academics had hoped to publish the paper at the USENIX Security Conference in Washington next month but Volkswagen sued to prevent them from disclosing key details of their work, arguing that publicizing the flaw would put the security of some of its most expensive vehicles at risk.

The University of Birmingham declined further comment Tuesday. Volkswagen also declined comment, citing the ongoing legal proceedings.