Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Driven

Video Review: Acura NSX, a Supercar in Almost All Ways

Video
Video player loading
Acura revives the beloved NSX name with a land rocket that produces 573 horsepower and gobs of torque, making drivers feel invincible. And it's also a hybrid.CreditCredit...Martin Campbell

Honda’s Acura division — the first Japanese luxury marque in the United States — didn’t aim for BMW and Mercedes the way Toyota’s Lexus brand did. Acura took a rational and practical approach to premium sportiness, perhaps to a fault.

But the second-generation Acura NSX is a punch to the face to the brand’s sensible ethos. It’s a two-passenger land rocket.

Acura claims it’s the first supercar designed, developed and built in the United States. Marysville, Ohio, isn’t Maranello, Italy, Ferrari’s hometown, but buy the team a round of espresso. In another first for a supercar, the NSX’s design group is led by a woman, Michelle Christensen. I’ll blame their fine work for making me late for everything for four days. Few cars draw as many camera phones, dropped jaws and requests for rides.

And what a ride. Pilots will be pinned to the seat back as they go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a brief 3.3-second tear. A few cars can beat that velocity (McLaren 570S and Audi R8 V10, to name two). But the beauty of the NSX is that it makes any driver feel invincible. Last September, I pushed an NSX maliciously on a winding, deserted Oregon road. Astonishingly, the calm Acura representative in the passenger seat suggested I drive harder. I was far more comfortable with the car’s ability than I was about coughing up bail money.

Did I mention this car is a hybrid? It might out-accelerate a Prius dropped from a building. Top speed is 191 miles an hour.

There’s a twin motor unit up front, meaning each front wheel gets its own electric power source of 36 horsepower and 54 pound-feet of torque. In back, a third motor with 47 horsepower and 109 pound-feet provides the rear tires with instant torque. The back motor is also the starter for the bespoke 3.5-liter twin turbocharged V6. Total power provided to the right foot is 573 horsepower and 476 pound-feet.

A 9-speed dual clutch transmission snaps through gear shifts. The lithium ion battery is below the triple-pane glass panel separating the driver from the engine.

The space frame is largely aluminum. Unique ablation-cast nodes (think high-tech aluminum Tinkertoy hubs) provide crush zones and mounting points for the aluminum suspension components. The windshield pillars are ultrahigh-strength steel shaped by robots while heated for maximum strength. Every slot and gill on the sinewy aluminum and sheet-molded skin has a purpose.

Four drive modes significantly change the driving dynamics. “Quiet” starts the car discreetly, allowing electric-only skulking about at low speeds. “Sport” is the grocery-getter mode. Meant as sincere flattery, the NSX can be as docile as a Honda Accord.

“Sport +” sharpens up 11 different parameters, including steering weight, throttle response and adaptive suspension while opening physical baffles to allow additional engine snarl and turbo breathing into the cabin. Those parameters are bundled and not individually selectable. “Track” is best for closed courses since it significantly relaxes the electronic stability and traction controls. They can all be turned off. It’s your money.

With the optional fade-free carbon ceramic brakes, this car stops ferociously, when need be. All-wheel drive affords dogged grip. The electric motors for the front wheels vary the power to each of those tires. By turning the outer wheel faster than the inner one during cornering, they provide true torque vectoring. The rear wheels do not have that ability. No matter. I’ve never used the cliché “on rails.” But to describe NSX’s lofty capabilities, I will. There’s no drama, just visceral athleticism. There’s refinement without sterility.

And NSX is miserly with a gallon of gas — for a supercar. I got 23 miles a gallon on the required premium fuel, beating the Environmental Protection Agency’s estimate of 21 city, 22 highway. My throttle foot was not always light. Surprise, surprise.

The interior is clad with swoopy aluminum extrusions and a cut-and-sewn instrument panel. Nice, if not up to Porsche exactness. It’s easy to see forward from the well-sculpted chairs, but I was glad there was a rearview camera system. The engine note is musical, but don’t skip the outstanding ELS sound system.

My complaints are about the cabin. The transmission selector and touch-screen user interface appear to be taken from any mortal Acura (which has always looked a bit “too Honda” to me). Same with the key fob. NSX weighs some 3,800 pounds, so an extra ounce for heftier door releases wouldn’t hurt.

And this is not a practical car. There are few interior storage cubbies, and the trunk is restricted to one carry-on-size suitcase. Make it soft-sided.

Criticisms like these are like faulting a supermodel for wearing the wrong brand of T-shirt. While the Acura isn’t as powerful or exclusive as hybrid supercars like the Porsche 918 Spyder or LaFerrari, the NSX is a fifth of their price — if you could find one. It starts at around $158,000. The $201,000 tally for my preproduction car includes extras like a $9,000 carbon fiber package and $6,000 crimson paint as deep as Gandhi’s soul.

Like other supercar marques, Acura allows buyers to travel to the Marysville plant to witness the final assembly, even affix the Acura badge to the car. That would put the “Oh!” in Ohio. The tech and passion of this halo car should trickle into mainstream Acura vehicles. For those who can’t afford this supercar, it may be the best thing about the NSX.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section B, Page 3 of the New York edition with the headline: Hold On to Your Hat: Acura’s NSX Is a Rocket. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT