Acura NSX: Here At Last
Finally, here it is! After years of waiting, the final version of the new NSX was revealed at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show, following a lengthy development process during which one of the prototypes caught fire and burned to the ground during testing at the Nürburgring in Germany. The second-generation NSX aims to deliver the performance of a Ferrari 458 for the price of an Audi R8, as Acura endeavours to repeat the coup it had with the original NSX, which could match the exotics of the time at a fraction of their price.
The tone was set from the beginning of the press conference, with an exchange between comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno, both of them car nuts, who were eager to get their hands on the very first NSX, in an echo of a television ad shot for the Super Bowl a few years ago. The new NSX is visually striking, with a design that is even more expressive than the 2013 concept and makes more extensive use of aerodynamic elements, according to Michelle Christensen, who was responsible for the exterior design and who also penned the Acura ZDX of 2009.
The NSX is technically impressive with a hybrid power unit consisting of a twin-turbo V6 developing over 550 hp and three electric motors, Super Handling All-Wheel Drive, a 9-speed dual-clutch transmission, a carbon fibre floor, extensive use of aluminum in its structure, aluminum suspension components and carbon-ceramic brakes. All these elements come together in the production NSX, which will be built beginning in the fall of 2015 at a plant in Marysville, Ohio.