[VIDEO] The Acura NSX Type S is the Perfect Opponent for the 2024 Corvette E-Ray

Jul 20, 2024

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[VIDEO] The Acura NSX Type S is the Perfect Opponent for the 2024 Corvette E-Ray

Around here, we’ve taken to calling the newest member of the Crossed Flags family (for a little under a week, at least) “the Corvette of Firsts.” As the first ‘Vette ever to dabble in such major, identity-altering technology like all-wheel-drive and hybrid propulsion, it’s pretty easy to see how the 2024 E-Ray might earn such a title, but while it drives asphalt that no Chevy has rolled on before, it isn’t actually the first performance car to tread similar ground.

More than a decade ago, Porsche, McLaren, and Ferrari all simultaneously decided that using electric motors to enhance – not replace – traditional internal combustion powerplants was the way of the future. The “Hypercar Holy Trinity” that materialized from this concurrent realization was so successful that the word “hybrid” took on a whole new meaning. It was once the scourge of enthusiasts the world over, a term that conjured images of political sticker-covered Priuses doing 20-under in the fast lane, but suddenly, the entire automotive industry and its enthusiasts saw “electrification” as a new way to add power and fill areas of low-revs with gobs of otherwise impossible torque. Unfortunately, like all-new go-fast tech, it took a while for the performance hybrid to trickle down from the $1,000,000+ trio to a place that mattered to your average driving aficionado. The Corvette E-Ray is the most extreme example of this democratization (and the Porsche 911 is following suit), but, once again, it wasn’t the first.

No, that honor goes to the forgettable second-gen Acura NSX, which, just so happened to re-enter our consciousness this week after we were privately bemoaning the lack of a proper challenger to the e-boosted version of GM’s flagship. Since it hit the market last year, we’ve seen the E-Ray positioned against roid-raging GTs, British royalty, and even its flat-plane sibling, but, like pitting a boxer against a slew of martial artists, it always felt wrong. Now, though, thanks to the barbaric swans at the always incredibly thorough and in-depth Savage Geese YouTube channel, the E-Ray has finally found its perfect sparring partner!

The original NSX (for New Sportscar eXperimental) hit the scene in 1991 and, like the 918/P1/LaFerrari mentioned above, immediately and completely revolutionized the fast mid-engine game. It had the exotic layout and looks, but underneath, it was just a Honda… in the best possible way. This meant that it was simple, reliable, and easily serviceable at a time when Ferraris and their ilk were anything but. Minor tweaks aside, this ground-breaking visionary soldiered on in its original form for an astounding fourteen model years before finally bowing out in 2005, only to return another twelve years later with its loyal fanbase clamoring for a modern take on the original formula. To say that what Honda cooked up for the long-awaited second-generation NSX missed the mark is putting it lightly.

The 2017 NSX was about as far away from “simple” as you could get. From Gen I to Gen II, the NSX’s V6 sprouted a pair of turbos, its manual transmission was replaced with a nine-speed auto, the previously along-for-the-ride front wheels became driven, and, crucially, it sported a pair of permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors. The former poster boy of analog bantamweights had become a nearly 4,000 lb. technological tour de force. This change in ethos didn’t win over many buyers – fewer than 3,000 were able to find homes during a six-year production run – but that doesn’t take away what the second car to don an NSX badge was able to accomplish by bringing stratospheric 918 Spyder tech within reach of the masses. It also doesn’t change the fact that, despite being seen as a betrayal by existing supporters, it actually seemed to be rather well executed, even winning Road & Track’s coveted Performance Car of the Year in a 2017 field that included the acclaimed Goldilocks C7 Corvette Grand Sport.

At the end of its run, Honda’s luxury arm that championed the NSX in America sent its controversial baby off in style with a hotted-up Type S trim that was limited to 350 units globally, with a 300-strong lion’s share slated for the US. The S received a power bump from 573 to an even 600 horses, got its magnetic dampers (hey, we know about those!) reprogrammed, and got its shift times cut in half (not a typo)! These changes got the $192,495, 3,898 lb. sled to 60 in 2.9 seconds on the way to an eleven-second-flat, 126 MPH quarter mile.

It may have been a good but too complex car at the wrong time, but the divisive ’17-’22 NSX now makes for a textbook foil for the 655 HP, $106,595, 3,965 lb. E-Ray that is looking to succeed where it failed. As usual, the SG guys cover all possible bases in their video which clocks in at a tough-to-swallow one hour and sixteen seconds. That’s a lot of time to give up, but as one commenter who said, “time to spend an hour in a corporate bathroom to watch this,” hilariously joked, a matchup this perfect done by such professionals is totally worth the required time investment! We’re certainly happy that somebody finally figured out what to take into battle with the mighty Corvette E-Ray, and we hope you enjoy it, too!