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Acura brought the ARX-02 to the table, but it was underpowered, even by gasoline LMP1 standards(it probably wouldn't have done crap in the LMS against Pescarolo, AMR, or Oreca except at the Nurburgring), and had too much drag for the power and torque it's engine made.
Maybe if there was a factory gasoline effort that maximized their package with areo, tires, AND power(ie, engine capacity-6 liter NA, 4 liter turbo, or 7 liter GT1 derived engine), but alas, the Acura program was hampered with limited engine power(even against other LMP1s) and a car biased towards the ALMS. The Intersport Lola has shown what a car with an engine could do, and sometimes gave Audi trouble if they got out in front, and would've done Peugeot the same. It also didn't help that as capable as Duncan Dayton and Gil de Ferran were and are, that they were essentially privateer teams, with support from Acura/HPD/Honda Racing, but certainly not full factory efforts.
If a factory team took a car like the ARX-02 and gave it a decent engine, it could've contended with the diesels, but the 4.0 NA V8 wasn't the answer, as we all know now.
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