When Acura announced earlier this summer that they were returning to prototype racing with a two-car Team Penske-led IMSA DPi effort, we couldn’t help but to be excited about it. Now Acura unveiled the car that Penske hopes is made out of 100 percent pure domination-anium, the ARX-05.
I’ve never seen a white, pastel blue and orange car look this mean. Look at this car. It wants to kick not just your ass, but everybody’s ass in the room.
This ARX-05 doesn’t just have some of the coolest headlights I’ve seen on a race car, but it packs a 3.5-liter AR35TT twin-turbo V6 based on the production J35 series of engines used in the MDX, RDX, TLX and RLX road cars. Only this time, it’s tuned less for taking the kids to school and more for the DPi specifications’ target horsepower of around 600 bhp.
This is by no means the first time the AR35TT engine has gone racing, though. It’s been in class-winning cars at Sebring and Le Mans, overall winners at Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans, and has won championship titles in the World Endurance Championship and the American Le Mans Series.
The ARX-05's chassis is based on the existing Oreca 07 chassis, which is one of the four approved for IMSA’s DPi spec. Acura, of course, took care to make it look like their Acura road cars somewhat, right down to the headlights they call “Jewel Eyes.”
Two of the ARX-05's drivers have already been announced. Dane Cameron, a past IMSA prototype-racing champion who’s been racing an Action Express Cadillac DPi this year will be switching teams to drive the Acura. One of Team Penske’s most beloved IndyCar drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya, will also drive alongside Cameron. The other two full-season drivers will be announced at a later date.
Acura unveiled the nutballs-insane ARX-05 one at The Quail, one of the hard-parkin’ displays of cash in car form during Monterey Car Week. It will be on display later in the week at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (August 19) and on the Concept Lawn of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance (August 20).
This is no mere pedestrian concept, though. We want to see it in motion. Somebody please hop in while it’s on display at Laguna Seca and drive it on track.