Gran Turismo 5: The Dual Note

Well, I'll be honest that the Honda Motor Co., Ltd of today is not quite as good as the Honda Motor Co., Ltd. of the past that we all loved to. The Civic is dead when it pulled out from its lineup in the summer of 2010, their hybrid 3-door CR-Z is not quite as cheesy as its CR-X predecessor, and since there is no more Type R at the moment, the Honda of today can now be easily mocked because the one that was famed for making cars for "speedo boys"...gone and took too much ritalin to make their lineup free from their ADHD...and that makes them sad.



I once drove a futuristic Honda saloon car in the world of Gran Turismo 5, called the Honda Dual Note concept, and after much science abuse with this car, this concept car did raised a question on which direction did this Japanese carmaker went. In fact, this concept hybrid saloon doesn't feel like it's been taking too much ritalin nor is the 3.5L V6 hybrid powertrain suffered from autism that most Hondas of the past had.



Premiered at the 2001 Tokyo Auto Show and then in 2002 New York International Auto Show as the Acura DN-X Concept, the Honda Dual Note is a concept sports saloon that, true to its name, uses Honda's IMA system consisting with an electric motor paired with a 3.5L V6 engine mounted in the middle, an uncanny attempt for this 4-door saloon car built for the opulent green. It might seem obvious for a sedan to be mid-engined but let's not forget that this is a concept car so it's impossible to see it coming into reality. Anyway, the Dual Note's 3.5L V6 engine transmits its power to the back while two separate motors are powering the front. With the electric motor and the V6 engine combined forces, it develops under 400HP of power and an impressive fuel consumption of about 18kmpl.



Now, what seems to be uncanny for the Dual Note is they way it performs and because this is a 4WD saloon car, it's not quite as related as the Scooby Leggy B4 but it's nearly close. What's also uncanny was its powerplant because when I'm trying to unleash all 400HP to the Dual Note on the high-speed straights, the battery is depleting easily, and when I hit on the brakes, thanks to its regenerative braking feature that you get on most hybrids, it restores its batteries to its full self. This is like good news and bad news as going full speed ahead is bad news while braking is good news for the battery. Touche...

This is one of the most notable Honda concepts I have ever tried in the world of Gran Turismo and the blue window tint adds a nice touch to the Dual Note's fluidic styling, though. While this concept saloon proves that even the most uncanny tricks can be added on hybrid saloons, the Dual Note sure knows that it's refusing to take too much ritalin from the doctors and wants to go Braniac on the run. What this is, is a Braniac with two hearts and an unstoppable autism far beyond compare to the Type R Hondas of the yesteryear and in fact, this is the kind of car that Honda should have made a few years ago but thanks to the economic downturn, their hopes and dreams had been flourished and because of that, Honda lost their autism and their present lineup's been taking too much ritalin to keep themselves acting like a bunch of boring businessmen.





Pity and if there's such thing as an alternate universe, this hybrid sports saloon would have been a hit instead of a CR-Z...