2018 Acura NSX Road Test and Review

2017 Acura NSX ・ Photo by Acura

The everyday supercar. The elusive combination of speed, sex appeal, efficiency, comfort and of course reliability. Acura invented the concept back in 1991 when it introduced the first NSX. Hand-built in Japan, the NSX was a mid-engine two-seater powered by a 290-horsepower V6 that could rev to almost 8,000 rpm. It was a technological tour de force at the time, featuring all-aluminum construction and everyday civility. It sent Ferrari and other sports car manufacturers back to the drawing board. Production ended in 2005, and today the original NSX is an automotive legend. 

Well, the NSX is back. Last year Acura introduced the second generation of its flagship sports car. Like the original, it’s an everyday supercar, only this time it’s an all-wheel drive hybrid, designed and built in America. It’s also the sexiest, fastest, most powerful, and most technologically advanced Acura of all time. And, of course, it’s the most expensive, with prices starting over $155,000.

Much Cheaper than a Ferrari 488

Although there have been rumors of a future NSX convertible, it's currently only available as a coupe. A very low, very aerodynamic, very sensual, and seductive coupe. It’s proportioned perfectly and looks larger in photographs than it really is. At just 176 inches long, Acura has kept the NSX shorter than a Porsche 911, but its long 103.5-inch wheelbase helps it deliver a roomy cabin and a smooth ride. Remember, this is an everyday supercar. It’s also voluptuously wide, and at only 47.8 inches tall its roof is about waist high.

Acura builds the NSX in a new facility in Marysville, Ohio, and prices start at $157,800, including a $1,800 destination charge. With a few options, including carbon-ceramic brakes that cost $10,600, a $6,000 carbon fiber roof, and a $3,000 carbon fiber rear spoiler, the price of our NSX test vehicle jumped to $199,700.

Photo by Acura

Hybrid Power and Fuel Economy

Every NSX is all-wheel drive and powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine mounted just behind its driver and passenger. But it doesn’t work alone. There’s also a small electric motor mounted inside the sports car’s nine-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which adds 47 hp to the equation, as well as two 36-hp electric motors mounted up front that power the sports car’s front tires. That’s a total of 573 hp. But the real performance advantage of the Acura’s hybrid system is the instant torque provided by those electric motors. The V6 makes plenty, 406 lb-ft starting at 2,000 rpm, but those electric motors add thrust as soon as you hit the gas pedal. Nail the throttle off the line and the NSX bolts to 60 mph in just 3.1 seconds. Hold your foot down and the supercar can hit 191 mph.

Another advantage of the Acura’s hybrid powertrain is fuel economy. The NSX can be driven very short distances on electric power alone, and it’s one of the most fuel-efficient supercars in the world. The EPA rates it at 21 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the highway. That might not sound impressive, but those numbers make the NSX the Toyota Prius of supercars. We averaged 19 mpg during a week of mixed driving.

Photo by Acura

Comfortable and Quiet in the City

You can drive the 2018 Acura NSX to work every day as easily as you could a sedan. It’s that easy to drive. That easy to live with. The NSX is refined with a compliant ride and a comfortable interior. Please don’t misunderstand: It feels like a sports car, and it performs like one, but it never beats you up or feels unrefined.

The NSX has four driving modes, selected using a knob on the dashboard. It always starts in Sport mode, but the driver can also choose Quiet mode, as well as Sport + and Track. In Quiet mode, the V6 shuts off at slow speeds and allows you to creep along in traffic or roll through a parking lot on electric power only. When you’re driving, the engine turns itself on and off so smoothly you often don’t notice until you see the tachometer needle sitting on zero. Tickle the throttle, however, and the V6 quickly fires up to supply serious power, but it starts more quietly than in other modes and its active exhaust and intake sound control valves remain closed to hush the engine. In Sport mode, the engine stays on and the transmission even starts in second gear in the interests of refinement and fuel efficiency.

Photo by Acura

Crazy Fast in the Mountains

Hit the start button on a cool morning and the NSX’s twin-turbocharged V6 bursts to life and then idles at 1,500 rpm for more than a minute before settling in a steady 1,000 rpm idle. Yup, your neighbors heard that, and they probably didn’t care for it. Below 2,500 rpm the V6 sounds a little agricultural, but at higher rpms it sounds like a proper supercar, with a guttural howl above 5,000 rpm. And there’s plenty more after that. The NSX delivers great power throughout its rev range, which hits a fuel cutoff at an astronomical 7,500 rpm.

This is one of the best-handling cars in the world. In Sport + mode the suspension stiffens up, the throttle response increases, and the perfectly geared dual-clutch transmission holds gears longer. Throw it around and the NSX feels small and light. Its steering is racecar quick, its chassis is wonderfully balanced, and its massive high-performance summer tires are superglued to the road. This supercar is extremely stable and much too easy to drive much too fast. And its gargantuan cross-drilled carbon ceramic brakes could stop continental drift.

Photo by Acura

Turns Heads

People don’t just look at this car. They gawk at it. They stare at it, their eyes wide and their mouths hung open. It’s a look that says, “I want that.” The NSX is a striking car and it looks exotic on the road. There are similarities between the designs of the original NSX and this new version, including thin A-pillars, a low cowl, and those sizable air intakes behind its doors, but this new design is so much more aggressive, so much more severe. While the old NSX was perhaps overly simple and little too friendly, this new NSX is packing more than a little attitude.

Much of it, however, is form following function. Acura says, “The NSX’s design and development team utilized a total airflow management approach to the give the NSX superlative aerodynamics, while simultaneously providing the effective and efficient thermal management required for it hybrid power unit.” Wow, we just thought they drew a cool-looking car.

Photo by Acura

Interior Pros and Cons

The NSX interior is part supercar, part luxury car, and part racecar. Forward visibility is fantastic thanks to thin A-pillars and low cowl, but rear visibility is a bit dicey, especially when backing out of a parking space. Build quality is flawless, the seats are firm but comfortable, and there’s more room inside than you would expect from a car in this class. Acura doesn’t offer a sunroof on the NSX, but there’s plenty of glass, so the interior feels well lit and airy. The gauges and steering wheel look and feel like they’re plucked from a Formula 1 car and the driving position is perfect.

Unfortunately, the NSX’s infotainment system is a disappointment. The 7-inch screen seems small, the navigation system’s graphics are dated, and there’s no volume knob on the radio — a design flaw Acura and its parent company Honda have fixed on many of its other models. And although we’ve grown accustomed to Acura’s push-button shifter, it just seems out of place in a supercar.

Photo by Acura

Sizable Trunk

The NSX’s cupholders and its interior storage are also disappointments. Its cupholders reek of an afterthought. It’s as if Acura’s engineers and designers finished the car and went out for beers. Then one of them said, “I feel like we forgot something.” They ran back to the office and created the NSX’s two plastic cupholders, which you install in a slot on the passenger side of the console. And yes, they interfere with your co-pilots legs.

For storage, there are just a couple of small bins behind the shifter, one of which is covered, and there are no door pockets. There is a trunk, however, and it’s decently sized at 4.4 cubic feet. That about the size of the front trunk on a Porsche 911, but the Acura’s is in the rear of the car where you would expect it to be. Acura says it’ll handle a golf bag if you remove the drivers and load them separately.

Photo by Acura

Stiff Competition

The list of competitors for the 2018 Acura NSX reads like a list of the world’s greatest sports cars. It includes the mid-engine Audi R8, Ferrari 488, and Lamborghini Huracan; the rear-engined Porsche 911 Turbo; the front-engined Aston Martin DB11; and of course the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid.

And that is the NSX’s biggest problem. Although the Acura is worthy of being talked about with these other world-class supercars from Italy, Germany, and Great Britain, and it’s priced below many of them, this is a very competitive market for very few buyers. The NSX is an incredible machine, but the Europeans invented the exotic supercar — and they still do it better than anyone else.

Photo by Acura

A True Dream Machine

For those in the market for a sexy high-performance coupe, the 2018 Acura NSX is a very desirable overall choice. It’s fast, refined, and packed with personality. It’s also comfortable enough to be driven every day and it’s surprisingly fuel-efficient. It’ll also blow the doors off its supercar hybrid rival, the BMW i8.

Well done, Acura — the NSX is simply one of the best cars in the world.

Photo by Acura