"Once again, Honda and Acura will have a halo product — a stunning, eye-catching supercar to get buyers in the showroom and to stroke the egos of the brand's owners," we wrote in 2016, when we named the NSX our Car of the Year. "It's a car that will set the pace and the tone for Honda and Acura in the coming years."
And indeed it has. In fact, we thought the updated NSX was as much fun to drive in 2018 as it was two years ago. We should note that the NSX has been a bit of a sluggish seller for Acura. So a few tweaks were in order. But selling a lot of supercars isn't Acura's bailiwick; selling crossovers is. If the NSX performs its roles as a halo car, mission accomplished.
The car still gets a ridiculous 22 mpg combined while producing 573 horsepower. Other supercars that use elaborate hybrid-electric technology, such as the Porsche 918 Spyder, cost ten times more.
"There's just nothing you can't do with the NSX," we noted a few years back.
"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."
None of that has changed.
The bottom line is that supercars are objects of desire — and often extremely difficult to live with. For 10% of thrills, owners have to put up with 90% hassles. Not so with the NSX, which creates nearly 0% hassles in no-hassle Quiet mode — and delivers 100% thrills in Track mode. That range is unlike anything else in the segment. OK, at close to $200,000, it doesn't come cheap. But that's reasonable in supercar country. The last Lambo I drove was $120,000 more than the NSX.
To answer my own question, I'm not sure the NSX is the best, best, best value in high-performance motoring. That honor would go to a Corvette or a Mustang. But among serious supercars, the NSX continues to stand out.