The media days for the 2006 North American International Auto Show are quickly approaching and Honda has been uncharacteristically quiet about their plans. Generally by this time they will at least release a few sketches of the concepts that they plan to show, but so far we haven't seen anything come down the pipe this year.

That being said, it's been no secret that the production Fit will make its North American debut in Detroit this Sunday, and we don't really expect any major surprises. A few details have leaked out, and it seems that we're pretty much getting what we've been expecting, and that means a 1.5L 105hp 4-cylinder motor, coupled to your choice of a 5-speed manual transmission or 5-speed automatic. According to dealer order sheets, the Fit will be offered in base and "Sport" trim levels, with the following colors offered in each model:

Over on the Acura stand, the big news is the reveal of the production protoype of Acura's upcoming RDX sport ute. There's been virtually nothing coming our way from official channels, but apparently the owner magazine "Acura Style" has quite a bit of info on the prototype. In their piece, it's reported that the long rumored turbo motor is in fact a reality. There's no mention of the power of this unit, but it's said to displace 2.3L, which confirms another part of the rumor. SH-AWD has already been announced as was DVD-A 5.1 audio system, Bluetooth, VSA, and Navi, but "Acura Style" adds to the list and reports that the RDX's audio system will be an Panasonic ELS design, just like on the TL and the Navi will feature the realtime traffic capabilities currently found exclusively in the RL. Additionally the RDX prototype is said to be fitted with HID headlights. And if that's not enough, the photo of the RDX Prototype seen to the left of this paragraph is reportedly shown in the magazine.

Now on to the mysterious portion of our headline. Before we share this, we can't emphasize enough that everything you are about to read is based upon a completely unsubstantiated rumor. Furthermore, if this rumor is correct, it could spoil a surprise, so you may not wish to read any further if you like surprises. We don't even know what to think of it ourselves because we're hearing about it so late and it seems a little bit too good to be true. So PLEASE treat it as such and don't be surprised if it proves to be 100% false. Anyhow, with all these disclaimers in place, we very recently heard from unnamed sources that there are plans for Acura (or possibly Honda) to surprise everyone in Detroit this year by revealing a never-before-seen concept vehicle. According to the rumor, this concept is said to be a mid-engined, V6 sports car, and though the details are sketchy, from what little we've heard, (if there are in fact plans for such a concept) we would assume that this could possibly be a concept of the rumored "sub-NSX" sports car that some of the Acura dealers have been mumbling about for a year or two. We don't know if this rumor even has a 50/50 chance of being true because it would seem odd that Acura (or Honda) would deflect attention away from their official Detroit intros, but it's not unprecedented. Of course we'd love it if such a concept were shown, but until we get some sort of other confirmation, we're playing it safe and straddling the fence on this one. We've contacted Honda representative Sage Marie and he stated that there are no such plans for Honda at the Detroit show. We also left a voicemail with Acura representative Mike Spencer, and have not heard back from him yet. We will provide updates if we learn anything else.

Our Detroit coverage begins this Sunday, so be sure to check the site often for updates.

Below are links to the original TOV forum threads that contained the new info on the Fit and RDX.

Fit Thread
RDX Thread