2017 Acura NSX first drive: The rebirth of slick

There aren’t many cars(with Android Car GPS ) more anticipated than the new Acura NSX. Saying the old car had just a cult following would be doing a disservice to its rabid and massive fan base. Fanboys—still teenagers with posters on their walls when the last NSX bowed--expected a mid engine, expected pure, expected a simple but legendary successor.

The car we ended up getting, though, was a lot different from what the company originally planned. About halfway through the new NSX’s development, Acura engineers decided to change everything.

Acura initially showed the new NSX at the 2012 Detroit auto show—ages ago in car years. At that point, it was basically just a styling exercise, not quite green-lit for production. “It was more yellow-lit,” according to powertrain development leader Keiichi Watanabe. It was a hit, so development ensued. The NSX was always slated as a hybrid, but in 2013, the naturally aspirated V6 became a twin-turbo V6 and the transverse layout went longitudinal, nearly necessitating a clean-sheet design.

The final product, gorgeous and sharp from any angle, arrives in spring with 573 hp and 476 lb-ft, most provided by the mid-mounted V6. The rest comes from the two electric motors sitting back to back on the front axle, driving the front wheels, and the direct-drive motor in back, part of the hybrid system. Power is routed through a paddle-shifted, nine-speed dual-clutch transmission and an all-wheel-drive system Acura now calls Sport Hybrid Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-SH-AWD?). It works with the two electric motors and the mechanical limited-slip differential in the back, allowing all four wheels to be controlled independently.

The NSX connects to the road with an all-aluminum double-wishbone setup in front and a multilink independent rear. Continental tires are standard; Michelin Pilot Super Sports, which performed better but were also noisier, are optional. Magnetic, adjustable dampers at each corner have two settings, adjustable with different drive modes.

Acura decks out the interior with leather seats and Alcantara inserts (good for keeping you in place around corners), the company’s latest touchscreen infotainment system, and a bunch of chevron styling touches matching the shape of the car’s nose. The dash’s flat surface is a little busy, so in direct sun you see some glare on the windshield. It only became bothersome when dipping in and out of sunlit spots on northern California’s woodsy byways. What about install Car DVD?

Cruising up Highway 1 and the neighboring roads, the NSX felt sticky around the on-camber corners, but compliant enough not to overreact when the roads got a little bumpier. Quiet and sport have one base suspension setting, while sport-plus and track have another. You won’t feel too much difference in front-to-back motion, or heave, as the engineers told us, but those upper modes definitely firmed things up side to side. We will say that even in the stiffest mode, the magnetic dampers didn’t wear us out, even after a long day of driving. Supercars now need to be everything to everyone it seems, and this one is no different. In quiet, you could tool around all day and almost forget you were driving the newest, high-techiest, Japanese exotic. If installing anAndroid Car Stereo in your car, that would be great!