Every car is an argument about what matters, and the Acura ARX-06 makes its case with gasoline engine and 500 kW. Acura put it on sale and let the numbers do the talking. Its designer of record is David Salters (Technical Director, HRC US) / Mark Crawford (Large Project Leader) / Guy Melville-Brown (Exterior Project Lead) / Bill Yex (Special Projects Lead) / Jonathan Seaman.
The story
The Acura ARX-06 is a sports prototype racing car designed by Honda Racing Corporation USA, formerly known as Honda Performance Development (HPD), and built by Oreca. It is designed to the Le Mans Daytona h regulations, and competes in the GTP class in the IMSA SportsCar Championship since 2023.
The car has a bespoke 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine designated as the AR24e. The ARX-06 debuted alongside the BMW M Hybrid V8, Cadillac V-LMDh and Porsche 963 at the 2023 season opener of the IMSA SportsCar Championship at the Daytona International Speedway. The ARX-06 won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2023, the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2024 and Petit Le Mans in 2023, becoming the first car to win all three major IMSA endurance races during the GTP era.
What is underneath
Under the skin sits gasoline engine; it is rated at 500 kW. Kerb weight is 1,030 kg. Power-to-weight lands near 485 horsepower per tonne, which is hypercar territory, where the limiting factor is the tyre, not the engine. The wheelbase is 3148 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Acura's history is not in doubt: the Acura ARX-05 came before it. Nearby in the Acura catalogue sit the Acura ADX and the Acura CDX.