Heralded in its heyday as the “$40,000 Ferrari,” the Acura NSX carved new ground for Honda in the performance enthusiast world, winning praise everywhere it went, and remaining highly sought after today. Yet, somehow, Acura and parent company Honda let the NSX flounder and eventually fade into the history books. No more. The NSX is back.

Unveiled today at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show after a preview to select media last night, the new Acura NSX (or Honda NSX as much of the rest of the world knows it), sports considerably higher technology than the original, but its bloodlines are clear.

From the mid-engine layout to the exterior design, it’s clear Honda and Acura are seeking to evoke the memory of the original; at the same time, it’s equally obvious that this is an entirely new—and very different—car.

The engine is still a V-6, but this time it’s a 75-degree unit mounted longitudinally in the chassis, rather than a 90-degree bank angle and transverse mounting.

The 75-degree angle is a bit of an odd one for a V-6, but it’s been proven in Honda’s twin-turbocharged Indycar engines over the past several seasons. The valvetrain of the new V-6 is also race-derived, with a compact layout, and the oil system is of the dry sump type. Of course, the NSX’s new V-6 is also twin-turbocharged, but that’s not all the assistance it gets: there are three electric motors aiding the acceleration, offering hybrid and electric drive modes, and more.

Up front, a pair of electric motors help provide more forward traction, as well as vector torque to improve handling. The rear electric motor aids accelerating, braking, and transmission shift quality.

Despite these details, Acura has yet to release any power output, performance, gas mileage, or electric range capabilities for the NSX.

A nine-speed dual-clutch transmission developed by Acura delivers the shifts, promising race-car-quick gear changes. After all, Acura calls the NSX a “human-centered supercar,” and promises “an uncompromising focus on the driver.” Despite this driver focus, Acura makes no sounds about the potential for a true three-pedal manual transmission.

Fans of the NSX will recall the saga of Acura trotting out the concept car at several shows over the past three years. While the new production version of the NSX shares much of its aesthetic with the concept, some changes had to be made on the road to the final design.
Among those changes are a longer body (about 3.1 inches) due to the change to a longitudinal layout for the V-6 engine and 9-speed transmission; it’s about 1 inch wider for greater comfort in its more cab-forward packaging; and the wheelbase and height have grown 0.8 inches and 0.6 inches respectively.

Other visual differences include new vents in the front bonnet; new front fender vents; modified side air intakes (including a flying buttress-style design not unlike the BMW i8’s) as well as an optimized rear deck spoiler.

The changes, in other words, have come from necessity, dictating that form follow function.

Underlying the visual and mechanical bits is a multi-material body composed of aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, and other materials. The space frame itself is made largely of aluminum with ultra-high strength steel; a carbon fiber floor adds torsional rigidity. The body panels are a combination of Sheet Molding Composite (SMC) and aluminum.

A combination of 19- and 20-inch wheels front and rear house 245/35 (front) and 295/30 (rear) Continental ContiSport Contact tires for grip. All-aluminum suspension components minimize unsprung weight. Six-piston front and four-piston rear brake calipers grab carbon-ceramic brake discs for maximum fade-resistant stopping power.

Under the driver’s hand in the center stack lies the Integrated Dynamic System, which offers several drive modes, including: Quiet, Sport, Sport+, and Track. Quiet allows for low-speed, short-duration electric-only driving; Sport and Sport+ modes raise the intensity level for street environments; Track mode maximizes the NSX’s performance, although Acura hasn’t yet expanded upon what that means. There’s also a “launch” function, which will allow the NSX to rip off its quickest 0-60 mph times, employing the full blast of the twin-turbo V-6 engine and its three electric motors.

For JDM fans, the NSX will cause a few mixed emotions: it’s not being built in Japan at all. In fact, the sole production facility for the new NSX will be the company’s Marysville, Ohio Performance Manufacturing Center. Roughly 100 of Acura’s most skilled technicians will oversee the construction of the cars, sending them off to buyers in markets all over the world.

The NSX is powered by Acura’s first turbocharged engine since the original RDX crossover and is only the company’s second foray into forced induction in its U.S.-market vehicles. Acura (and parent company Honda) has long preferred noodling with its VTEC valvetrains rather than turbo- or supercharging its four- and six-cylinder engines in order to boost their output. But these days—especially with supercars—natural aspiration is simply not enough. Therefore, not only is the NSX’s 75-degree, dry-sump V-6 twin-turbocharged, but the engine is supplemented by three electric motors, one sandwiched between the engine and the nine-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and one at each front wheel. Acura did not reveal the displacement of the V-6, nor output figures for the engine or the electric motors, but Acura spokesperson Jessica Fini confirmed that total system output will be “north of 550 hp.”

With hybrid power going to the back wheels and pure electric power up front, the NSX features a so-called “Sport Hybrid Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive” system, much like that in the RLX hybrid, only reversed. As such, the car uses front-axle torque vectoring and a launch mode for ultimate stoplight getaways. Also, like the new TLX, the NSX gets Acura’s Integrated Dynamics System, which aligns powertrain and chassis responses, as well as engine sound, along preset levels: The settings include Quiet (which relies solely on battery power at speeds up to 50 mph), Sport, Sport+, and Track, the last unlocking “the full spectrum of its performance capabilities.”

Pricing has yet to be finalized but is expected to start in the “mid-$150K range,” according to Fini, with production starting this fall and deliveries to follow later in the year.

After hitting a series of singles and doubles in recent years, we predict that Acura will hit a home run with the new NSX. And we hope that its halo effect will invigorate Acura’s product planners and designers as much as its customers, who have been waiting a very long time for a car as exciting as this to finally emerge.