Honda revives sporty name from the past for first model on new EV platform

The Acura RSX is the latest sporty nameplate from yesteryear that’s been revived, and reimagined for the modern automotive landscape.

Instead of being a sporting-ish three-door coupe, the new RSX is a high-riding five-door SUV with an “expressive coupe-like silhouette”.

Scheduled to make its in-the-flesh debut at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance this weekend, the RSX Prototype is in true Honda fashion a very thinly disguised version of the production vehicle, with the wing mirror design likely the only change.

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It will be the first production model based on Honda’s new in-house EV platform, and will be manufactured in the company’s Ohio factory. Sales of the new RSX will begin in the second half of 2026.

According to Acura, the production RSX will have a dual-motor all-wheel drive system, double wishbone front suspension, and Brembo brakes as standard. No word yet on outputs, performance figures, battery capacities, or range.

It will also feature the company’s new Asimo OS that controls not only the infotainment system, but also driver assistance, autonomous driving, and basic hardware functions.

Likened to a smartphone operating system — not to mention OSes in other brands, such as Tesla and Rivian — Asimo OS supports over-the-air updates, high levels of driver customisation, connected services, and machine learning to adapt to the driver’s entertainment and driving preferences.

The RSX is the second model name Acura has brought back from the dead for an electric SUV; the ZDX holds the honour of being the first.

While the second-generation ZDX stayed true to the coupe SUV silhouette of the original, it and the closely related Honda Prologue are actually Honda designs on top of GM’s BEV3 platform. Both not only use GM’s EV technology, but are built by the General.

Acura began mining its nameplate history in 2022 when it released the Integra liftback, basically a lightly restyled Honda Civic equipped with its most powerful engines.

Sold for just one generation from 2002, the original RSX (above) was a rebranded fourth-generation Integra. Unlike the Integra, which was available in both three- and five-door liftback guises, the RSX only ever came with three doors.

When it departed the scene in 2006, it became the last-ever non-NSX coupe from the brand, and ended the brand’s opening era where it deliberately courted young enthusiasts.

The shift from Integra to RSX came at the tail end of the marque’s dumping of its original model names: Legend for RL, Vigor for TL, and Integra for RSX. The shift to letters was reportedly due to a desire to focus owners’ affections on the overall marque rather than individual models.

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