The Honda (Acura) NSX finally has a production model scheduled and showing on January 2015 at the North American Detroit Motor Show. Also in this release is an update for the “baby” Acura, the ILX, “replacement” of the RSX (Integra), which has been out-of-production for almost eight years. I seriously can’t believe how old I am now.

Anyways the rebirth of the NSX was something we have been waiting for. The Japanese sports car era of the 90’s came to a sudden halt, mostly because of a move to create an efficient vehicle portfolio. Toyota was the forefront runner and really hasn’t released a sport coupe model for nearly 12 years; not considering the Scion brand . As for Honda, they kept dipping their toes with the NSX. Previously the NSX was to sport a V10, however that was scrapped and the V10’s were put in HSV racing cars. Honda however still had the S2000 till 2010, and the Si and Type-R civics were still hot commodities. Nissan was the only company to truly have a high-performance supercar, until the LFA triggered a stampede to other manufacturers.

With the rebirth there is also destruction, and that’s with the last manual tranny in the Acura group. The ILX is the last to get its LED eyes to welcome the NSX and that goes with dropping the manual transmission to an 8-speed auto. This is due to sales and interest, which really doesn’t surprise me as Lexus did the same thing. The styling doesn’t really prompt a sporty feel as the RSX did, however it does have sharp lines. Honestly I’ve never been asked what transmission I would like when going to buy a car. Usually if the car has a manual the sales guy/gal will say, “now this only comes in a manual” or “this one has a manual, but we can try and find one without to match your needs.” Its never the opposite with current automatics.

Its been too long for the NSX and although I would have hoped for a 6 or 7-speed manny on a V-10, seeing this innovative track car will be a day of reckoning for the GTR as well as BMW’s i8. The NSX should be turbo’d with a hybrid set-up. All-wheel drive as all Acuras are standard now wish the SH-AWD and it will be built in…….Ohio?!?