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Acura NSX to end production in blaze of glory with Type S

Production of the Acura NSX is coming to an end after the 2022 model year. Before it goes, though, Acura is promising one last hurrah, in the form of a Type S variant. Said to have performance improvements and limited production, it will prove to be the ultimate form of Honda's second-generation supercar. So far, Acura has only released some teasers and a few vague statements. Now, normally when car companies make ambiguous declarations about improved performance, that means something like stiffer shocks or bigger rims (after all, handling is a form of performance, no?). In this case, Acura specifically says the NSX Type S will have more power and quicker acceleration in addition to sharper handling. That's some real talk, even if no hard figures were provided at this time. From the teasers, we can see a few visual signifiers that will distinguish the Type S from regular NSXes. Firstly, the engine cover is finished in red, a color that has traditionally been reserved for high-performance Hondas like the Type R Civic, Integra, and the NSX of the '90s. Much of the brightwork seems to be blacked out, like the door handles and rear badge. They've also added a small Type S emblem located just in front of the rear wheels. Only 350 Type S variants will be built, with 300 of them allocated for the U.S. market. And it looks like the regular NSX may not even be available. Acura's website no longer shows the regular NSX. Only the Type S is shown under the model selection menu. Prices of the first-generation NSX, introduced in 1990 and considered one of the best supercars of its era, have been on a steady rise in recent years. It's hard to say whether this generation NSX will follow suit in the collectors' market decades from now, as despite positive reviews it never quite caught with brand-conscious buyers. But if it does end up becoming a sought-after classic, though, the Type S will surely be worth a hefty premium. The NSX Type S will be fully revealed next Thursday, August 12, during Monterey Car Week, where the very first serial production 2022 NSX Type S will be sold to the highest bidder at Mecum Auction’s Monterey sale on Saturday, Aug. 14. All proceeds from the sale of VIN #001 will benefit charity, including a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) education program for underserved youth.

2019 Acura NSX vs. 1991 Acura NSX | Respect your elders

A car that forces the competition to head back to the drawing board does not come around often, especially when that competition happens to be Ferrari. Honda achieved such a feat back in 1991 when the original NSX was set loose in the supercar world. Not only did the NSX smack its contemporaries down in terms of performance and technological prowess, it also forced the Italians to make supercars with some semblance of reliability and manners. Spend only a few moments in an original NSX, and its specialness is palpable. The lack of power steering is acutely noticeable at low speed as I roll over little cracks and dips in the road, while the sticky rubber chucks small rocks up into the wheel wells. A near 360-degree view is at my disposal with the bubble-like canopy, and the ground right in front of the nose is visible from my vantage point. This is what control feels like, and we haven't even gotten to the reverie-inducing VTEC noises getting piped right into our eardrums yet. There are no dials to change the throttle response, no buttons to make the steering artificially heavy, no shift paddles behind the wheel to tell a computer to swap cogs. To my right is a manual shifter that can legitimately be described as perfect. This is a 1991 Acura NSX, and it is glorious. For some of the reasons I've briefly described, and plenty more, this car has reached legend status amongst enthusiasts. In the early 2000s it was a sales disaster, outgunned by pretty much every other supercar in the space. Honda/Acura was only working with a 3.2-liter V6 making 290 horsepower when that car finally met its maker after the 2005 model year. As collectable modern classics, the relatively low power output doesn't seem to bother folks spending close to, and over, six digits on low-mileage examples of these cars. What changed? Well, the passage of time tends to be the biggest factor in these things. Also, there's a new NSX out there, reminding the world that the old one exists. And just like when Acura discontinued the original, the new one is mighty expensive, selling in extremely low numbers, and generally regarded as lesser than other options in its class. This time around it has to deal with standout cars like the 911 GT3, McLaren 570S and Audi R8 V10. But perhaps even worse than that, the new NSX must withstand comparisons to the original. Can you think of any other legendary Japanese car with a similar image problem today? Yeah, the Toyota Supra.

Honda HR-V could spawn Acura variant

We've been saying it for months now, but the compact CUV is the next big thing. Everyone, and we mean everyone, is at least considering getting in on the action, if they aren't already actively designing or selling, and that's true whether they're a premium or mainstream automaker. That, of course, includes Acura, whose parent company, Honda, has a compact CUV of its own coming to market very, very soon. With the arrival of the Fit-based HR-V, that begs the question of whether the near-premium marque will join this burgeoning segment. The idea of building a car below the company's entry level CUV, the RDX, is an appealing one to Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel, who called it "potentially the only place you could go," and would occupy the "white space" the company is looking to fill. While we might chuckle about the idea of a luxurious, Fit-based CUV, it's fair to say it could do well for Acura. It could certainly provide a foil to the very hot selling Buick Encore, and may even capture some sales from the luxuriously outfitted Jeep Renegade Limited/Fiat 500X Lounge. It remains to be seen, though, if Acura could build an HR-V capable of tangling with the new entries from Lexus, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.