2011 Acura TSC: Another Four-Door Coupe?

2010 Honda four-door coupe illustration

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Honda's luxury arm, Acura, may have more than coupe-like vehicles on its mind.

Earlier this year, the 2010 Acura ZDX broke cover. In the mold of the new BMW X6, the 2010 ZDX takes a sport-ute set of mechanicals and tops it with a swankier four-door "coupe" body. Though it's not really a coupe, vehicles like the ZDX and the X6 are being pushed by automakers as a slinkier alternative--and you can thank the Mercedes-Benz CLS for jump-starting it all.

Now, Honda might be prepping another four-door coupe--this one a passenger car based on its 2009 TSX sedan. Various Web sites are suggesting a new Acura sports "coupe" is in the works, sharing the TSX's platform and its running gear, down to its front-drive setup and four-cylinder powertrain. Other rumors say the new car will get a turbocharged engine and Acura's SH-AWD all-wheel-drive system.

Nothing official has come from Honda--the initials TSC sound as good as any. The illustration above comes from a Japanese enthusiast magazine, and like it, the details on this purported Acura project are sketchy at best.

While other automakers like Mercedes-Benz are pruning and merging model lines, though, Acura is going in the other direction with the ZDX crossover. Will the rest of the Acura lineup broaden, too? Keep it here for coverage from the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show.

[Auto Motor und Sport, via Temple of VTEC]