The Acura RSX is Back!

Hey everyone, it's Mike from AutoGuide, and in case you didn't hear the news yesterday

the Acura RSX is coming back. You called us crazy last year when we uncovered the patent that said the RSX was coming back

but it finally has officially been said by Acura. So, is the new RSX going to be a two-door coupe version of the Integra

No. Is it gonna be maybe the Acura sibling to the new Honda Prelude

No. The RSX is going to be an electric crossover. At this point, we shouldn't be surprised when we hear an old nameplate come back

and find out it's gonna be some sort of small SUV or sort of some small electric vehicle

or in this case, both. So now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about the actual vehicle that is coming

So this is not going to be a joint venture with GM like the ZDX was

It's going to be Acura's first homegrown, all new, built from the ground up EV

that's also going to share its platform with the upcoming Honda Zero sedan and the Honda Zero EV

It will be built at the Honda EV hub in Ohio. So it's a very North American specific vehicle

So with CES having just passed where the Honda Zero was introduced and the Detroit Auto Show also just passed Why is Acura announcing this now Well it coincides with the starting of real world testing

I guess they kind of want to get ahead of the game before spy photos start showing up of the new RSX

although we wouldn't know what it was called at the time. Prototypes covered in camouflage will

start appearing at various Acura test centers around the world. So Acura only gave us this one

photo to see for now and it's camouflaged but we kind of get an idea of what's under there so it's

clear the RSX is going to be one of those crossover coops or coop overs or SUV coops whatever you

want to call it it's got a very raked rear roof and it kind of I guess if you squint has a bit of

the old RSX profile we can also see there's an angular vent cutting into the front door there's

flush door handles and of course full with tail lights because everybody's doing that oh there's

no picture of the front. If you look you can see the very end of the usual squinty Acura headlight

so it should have a lot of family resemblance. Although we don't know the exact size Acura did

confirm that this will be smaller than the ZDX so expect it to be more RDX or even maybe upcoming

ADX in size. So details were super light and that includes anything to do with drivetrain powertrain

We have no idea what going to be underneath that skin or battery size but if we look at the Honda Zero which as I said this will share a platform with we know that there going to be a 241 horsepower single motor rear drive

model so that would be kind of cool and it's also going to be a 482 horsepower all-wheel drive model

now this is going to be maybe smaller than those two I don't really know but being Acura and being

more luxurious and usually performance orientated I'd expect to see at least something up around that

dual motor output and that would probably be the RSX Type S. One detail we do know is this will be

Acura's first vehicle, actually it'll be the first production vehicle period, to feature Honda's

newest in-car infotainment setup that they're calling Asimo OS. You know, named after that

little robot guy. So this isn't some way off concept car either. Acura's saying production

should start by the end of this year for the 2026 RSX. So again, let's kind of talk about that name

Why did Acura use RSX, which was really the Integra in other markets

So why bring it back and put it on an SUV? Well, according to Acura, the official statement was

the nameplate pays homage to the Acura RSX with its coupe-like silhouette

but it truly represents a forward-looking approach to fun-to-drive performance. Our second all SUV will solidify our EV credentials even as its ICE stablemates so gasoline internal combustion engine cars the all new ADX RDX MDX TLX and Integra continue to attract new buyers to the Acura brand

So that's a lot of words and basically it got the name because it has a coupe-like profile

which I get. I mean, it'd been cool if they brought back, say, the Vigor name or even the CL

but I guess maybe we're too old, those of us that remember those cars, and we need something younger

But forget about the name for a second. If Acura truly can deliver a driver-focused performance-first little electric SUV

maybe not quite as hardcore as the Hyundai IONIQ 5N, it could do something really good for the brand

and it could be actually quite fun. I mean, if it has almost 500 horsepower in something ADX-sized, sign me up

I'm just not fully sold on using the RSX name, but I get it. Acura is trying to differentiate this Couple Crossover from its other SUVs by

using the SX moniker at the end instead of the usual DX. Of course, more details will be available

later this year. You know, dimensions, powertrains, price, things like that. But we won't have to wait

too long because like I said, this vehicle is going into production before the year is over