At the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Acura unveiled a new Precision Concept, developed by the company's California design studio. The concept is meant to express "Precision Crafted Performance," and carries familiar design elements from the brand – all in almost cartoonish dimensions, as befits a concept car.
The premium brand for Honda, Acura has made its name by delivering luxury vehicles with an emphasis on performance and style. In presenting the Precision Concept, Acura's executives at the Detroit show repeatedly uttered the brand's new tagline: "Precision Crafted Performance." A tagline so important that it must be capitalized, it seems.
The car itself is outlandishly beautiful. Its general body shape is best described as "Camaro-like power," featuring a low-crouched build and wide stance with tight wells to accentuate the huge wheels onto which thin-walled tires are clad. Design themes with mathematical-sounding, space-age names ("quantum continuum") are uttered when mentioning details such as the floating rear LED tail lamps and the blacked "floating" central pillar.
Every angle of the Acura Precision Concept is dominating, with a diamond-shaped front grille accented by a mirroring diamond on the fascia, whose deep cuts and sharp angles help emphasize the same on the very thin, blade-like headlamps. The hood continues this diamond-shaped theme, cutting upwards and flattening to the windscreen.
The body has deep insets and sharp protrusions to create lines along the sides of the car, all of which end at the bulging rear fender wells. The roof is short, clipped, and very coupe, pushing the car down to the ground to make sure we know that this is a performance car.
At the rear of the Acura Precision Concept, a fastback roof hatch comes down onto a narrowed rear end, with the bottom aero of the fascia coming up at an angle almost matching the roof's taper. Those fat wheel wells at the rear taper quickly, and sharp lines soften a bit in the upper portion of the rear to help make the cutting angles of the exhaust ports (shaped as two halves of the diamond) all the more dramatic. The side profile of the car also contains the diamond shaping seen throughout.
The angles of the exterior are mirrored inside the car, though softened with elegant materials. The diamond angles are found on the headrests of the front seating, in the center display and infotainment console bezel, and so on. The steering wheel is a squared circle to match the angled nature of the interior's design elements.
Being explored with the new Acura Precision Concept are new lighting techniques, including Jewel Constellation LED headlights which use fractal elements to enhance the lighting from the lamps.
A new Human Machine Interface (HMI) for the infotainment and vehicle information screens is also shown in this concept. It features a floating touch pad that is suspended on the center stack, which itself is cantilevered. The curved display screen helps enhance its visibility without requiring an increase in size. The HMI scans occupants and tailors features and functions to their tastes, which it learns over time as they use it. This includes tailoring vehicle performance settings to suit the driver's preferences.
The Acura Precision Concept is 84 inches wide, 204 inches long, and 52 inches high (213 x 518 x 132 cm) with a 122-inch (310-cm) wheelbase. Wheels are 22-inch 5-spoke machined alloys clad in 22-inch Michelin Pilot Super Sport Summer tires.
