The 2001 Honda Dualnote concept combined a V6 with which hybrid system?

The 2001 Honda Dualnote combined its V6 engine with Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist, or IMA, hybrid system. Honda unveiled the Dualnote at the 2001 Tokyo Motor Show as a mid-engined, four-door sports-car concept that paired performance ambitions with hybrid efficiency.

Its powertrain used a 3.5-liter DOHC i-VTEC V6 and three electric motors. The concept’s IMA system was a high-performance adaptation of Honda’s gasoline-electric technology, with additional electric drive for the front wheels creating an advanced hybrid all-wheel-drive layout. Honda estimated total output at about 400 PS and targeted fuel economy of roughly 18 km/L.

The Dualnote was also known as the Acura DN-X when shown for the North American market. It never entered production, but its ideas anticipated later Honda performance-hybrid themes, particularly the use of electric motors to supplement a centrally mounted gasoline engine. IMA is easy to confuse with Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, but IMA was Honda’s own system name and was used in models such as the Insight and Civic Hybrid.