The new Acura NSX reset our expectations of what a supercar can be

It is untrammeled automotive bliss!

Hollis Johnson

The only car I’ve driven all year that made as penetrating an impression was the Ferrari 488.

BI’s Ben Zhang sampled the NSX on a fine Connecticut race track and also richly enjoyed the car.

Ultimately, the Ferrari 488 is better. But it’s also hundred of thousands of dollars more expensive. As supercar goes, I don’t think there’s ever been a superior value proposition to the NSX, unless you go for a Corvette Z06 — a front-engined V8 that can be had for under $100,000. The new NSX is of course a mid-engine machine, and consequently more of a proper supercar than than the Vette.

Did I mention that you can extract a ridiculous 22 mpg combined from a car that has a 573-horsepower combined hybrid powerplant!

Did I mention that the other supercars that use the type of powerplant, such as the Porsche 918 Spyder, will set you back a cool million bucks?

Just wow.

There’s just nothing’ you can do with the NSX. Poodle around town? Check. Cruise on the highway? Check. Take it hard into the corners while flipping through the exquisite nine-speed gearbox (well, four or five of them, anyway) and playing with with responsive, juicy throttle response? Check. Punch it in a straight line? Check. Slide around a track? Check. Sit in the driveway and listen to Little Steven’s Underground Garage on Sirius satellite radio? Why not? The seats are pliant enough for napping.

The NSX is also a magnet for the eyes, as the countless passers-by at my house for a few days proved by taking no end of photos and videos of the car. I caught myself looking out the window plenty of times, just to get me a little dose of NSX beauty.

We could call the Audi R8 and maybe the Nissan GT-R or McLaren 570 competitors, but I’d take the NSX any day over those cars. It’s more stylish and comfortable that the R8. It’s far less overexposed than the GT-R. And it won’t beat you into submission like the McLaren 570. Those are all terrific cars, by the way. The NSX is just special-er.

I change my mind all the time. But not about stuff I consider truly fundamental, such as my gut feeling that the old NSX was cultishly unworthy.

But boy, did the new NSX ever do some damage to my pride. And I was more than happy to take the hit.