Price (as tested) 💲: $185,995
Powertrain ⚙️: Twin-Turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 + 3 Electric Motors
Output 💪: 600 hp/492 lb-ft of torque
Transmission 🕹: 9-Speed Dual-Clutch
0-60 MPH 🚦: 2.9 seconds
Top Speed 💥: 191 mph
MPG (as tested) ⛽️: 21 city/22 hwy/21 combined
Curb weight ⚖️: 3,898 lbs
On a typical Saturday morning in 1998 (after I’d consumed my doctor recommended portion of cereal and cartoons), you’d either find me outside scraping knees, or booting up our PC to play Need for Speed.
In the eternity it took to bring the computer to life, I’d dream of driving the game cars in real life. Maybe I was taking a Ferrari 355 down Rodeo Drive, or whipping a Porsche 911 through a canyon, or bringing a Lotus Esprit V8 to a car show.
But among all the fantasies I’d play in my head, the Honda NSX got the most airtime. That impossibly low body, saddled with a compact V6 and what I could only imagine (hard to get the feel through a keyboard) was a terrific gearbox, was good enough for Ayrton Senna, so it was good enough for me.
As an adult, I’m scarcely closer to driving an original NSX than I was in my Captain Crunch phase, but I have driven its hybridized successor.
Though fully aware of its specs, my 2017 encounter with an Acura NSX was perplexing. Perhaps the only thing this 576hp, triple electric-motor, all-wheel drive supercar had in common with its predecessor was a mid-mounted V6 (now twin-turbocharged). It was heavier and more complex, with a driving character all its own. I enjoyed whatever this new concoction was, but it was so removed from my childhood fantasy that I struggled to embrace it fully.
Six years later, Acura is retiring the NSX name once more. As a parting gift, the Japanese automaker pinned the Type S badge on limited production, hardcore model. Meet the NSX Type S.