So after watching the Jay Leno review of the NSX (great post - to self, remind me to Thank), I'm wondering about the RLX acceleration.

Is there any hesitation when you accelerate when driving at 30, 40 or so. In normal gas car, there is a hesitation to downshift. Do the EV's mitigate that hesitation?

I have an EV and when you accelerate from any speed, there is absolutely no hesitation. Acceleration is instant.

From the NSX video, it seemed to imply the same thing, i.e., the Electric Motors filled in, but it was not clear.

 

There is hesitation if you are crusing on the highway and have to drop a few gears.

However, if you are anticipating having to accelerate, you most of the time have time to press the "Sport Mode" button. Then.......this car is like a bat out of hell. No hesitation, just pure seamless, linear acceleration.

 

Felony speed is always just a few seconds away from dropping the hammer. If the non-believers got a chance to drive an SH, they would have a change of heart. This was the best review I can remember on our car: 2014 Acura RLX Sport Hybrid SH-AWD First Drive - Motor Trend

 

In the RLX Sport Hybrid, if you are not in sport mode, you might be disappointed when you drop the hammer because the car can take a full second to decide to force itself into sport mode and give you what you're asking for.

I don't especially like that, but once you know it's there you just adjust your driving style.

The programming assumes that there might be some reason you'd want quite a bit more right pedal angle without getting radical.

That's not the way I'd have left the programming, but I'm not the manufacturer, so there must be factors I'm not taking into account.

If I know I'm in an environment that is going to require likely passing of vehicles in the 45 mph - 70 mph range, I'll just reach down and feel the Braille on the sport mode button ahead of time. I'll also put it in sport mode for any number of anticipated difficult merging situations on the Interstate systems around Northern Virginia.

I'm curious to hear the final EPA ratings for the NSX Sport Hybrid, because the NSX does not behave this way and would require one of the sportier modes less frequently. You also have two more gears to deal with, and the NSX starts off in 1st all of the time whereas the RLX starts off in 2nd most of the time.