Closing Time

Highs: The joy of devouring corners, steering sharpness, 94 decibels of V-6 song. Lows: No quicker than before, yawn-inducing Normal mode, big-and-tall shoppers may find it tight.

- By Matt Farah

2022 ACURA NSX TYPES

Production of the second-generation Acura NSX is ending. The reason is simple: In five years, only 2548 sold globally, which must be at least mildly disappointing to the folks at Acura. The NSX is arguably one of the most underappreciated performance cars on the market-but that statement is not without a few caveats.

The NSX has struggled to find its way. To close its run, the final 350 cars built will be the new 600-hp Type S edition, which retains everything that was very good about the mid-engine hybrid sports car and adds elements that worked from the GT3 program. Thanks to the race car's turbochargers pumping up to 16.1 psi of boost (up 0.9 over the standard car), new injectors, and 15 percent more efficient intercoolers, the double-overhead-cam V-6 benefits from a 20-hp bump and 36 more pound-feet of torque. Acura has also reprogrammed the adaptive magnetorheological dampers and electrically assisted power steering, somehow cut the nine-speed dual-clutch auto's shift times in half, and fitted new Honda-spec Pirelli P Zero PZ4 tires, although the skidpad grip chimed in at 0.99 g, a few hundredths lower than we expected. Despite the added power, the Type S ran the same 2.9-second time to 60 as the last NSX we tested, yet it clipped a tenth to post an 11.0-second quarter-mile at 126 mph.

On the nearly two-mile Long Beach road course, Acura claims, the Type S is three seconds faster than last year's car, a large improvement on a bumpy, unforgiving circuit. On public roads, the Type S gives up nothing to the old car in exchange for the extra speed. The ride is still supple, even in the most extreme Sport+ mode.