Acura Precision Concept: The Future Is Now?

Infusing its models that aren’t the $150K-plus Acura NSX with passion and personality is a work in progress at Acura, and the latest weapon in the brand’s war on ambiguity is the Precision concept. A sharply hewn four-door sedan that was developed at the maker’s California design studio in preparation for its debut at the 2016 Detroit auto show, the Precision is a design-study model that Acura says “literally will shape the direction of all future Acura products.”
Following the NSX’s lead, the Precision concept features large, blocky rear haunches that shroud big—for an Acura sedan, anyway—22-inch wheels wearing Michelin Pilot Super Sport summer tires. (Michelle Christensen, principal exterior designer, and John Norman, principal interior designer of the Precision concept, also worked on the NSX.) At 84 inches wide, it’s nearly eight inches wider than the NSX and, more critically, nearly 10 inches wider than the RLX, the current top dog of Acura production sedans. The profile view features deeply sculpted side surfaces, a low stance, and almost rear-wheel-drive dash-to-axle proportions, although no powertrain details have been revealed as of this writing

Given the concept’s quoted length of 204 inches and a wheelbase of 122, it’s clear the designers worked hard to keep the wheels pushed out to the corners. Height measures 52 inches­—four more than the NSX but roughly 5.5 inches fewer than the RLX. The greenhouse follows the trendy four-door-coupe ethos—notice the lack of a pronounced B-pillar—similar to the Audi A7, Mercedes-Benz CLS, andBMW 6-series Gran Coupe, but the large fenders and pointy trailing edge of the taillights and the fastback-like rake of the backlight ensure a bit more surface drama. The Precision concept also debuts the brand’s aggressive “Diamond Pentagon” front grille. A welcome relief from the Acura beak, it nicely complements the rest of the fascia’s sharp geometric elements, including the “Jewel Constellation” LED headlamps and the lower air dam.

Acura designers wanted to create a “seamless transition of materials and structure from the exterior to the interior,” an example of which is the way the rocker panel flows into the doorsill and then transitions into a cantilever for the ultrathin rear seats. A racing-inspired steering wheel with paddle shifters, controls for Acura’s Integrated Dynamics System (IDS), a floating center meter, “high-contrast” front-seat surfaces, and speaker grilles crafted from wood continue the clean and modern motif.

Tech features include an ultrawide and curved center screen, which is operated by a floating touchpad on the angular center stack. Acura’s “digital human-machine interface” (HMI) is said to be capable of recognizing each occupant when they enter the car and loading personalized features and functions, including maps, audio preferences, and vehicle performance settings. Sounds interesting, but we’d prefer Acura to hold off on the gee-whiz gimmickry until it has some brand-defining powertrain and chassis developments in the bag.

Ultimately, the Acura Precision concept represents a bold styling step for a brand that has been teetering on irrelevancy for far too long. Let’s hope the attractive Precision follows the Honda/Acura tradition of appearing as a little-changed, genuine production vehicle soon after its show-circuit debut.

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