The NSX Type S will be Honda’s final petrol supercar

For the last of this generation of the multi-motored hybrid supercar Honda has reached for Type S badges. They traditionally are warm rather than hot like the firm’s Type R moniker, but Honda is promising the new NSX Type S will have more power and quicker acceleration, along with “sharper handling and a more emotional driving experience.”

Quite how much more emotional and powerful than the standard 581PS (427kW) it will be we do not yet know. That power from the regular version’s 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 and trio of electric motors (two up front, one behind), is good enough for 193mph and 0-62mh in 2.7 seconds. So a quicker Type S will be quick indeed.

We will know all the details after the car’s premiere in California at Monterey Auto Week on 12^th August. We do know that production is being capped at 350, with 300 of them, badged as Acura NSX, for the US where the car is assembled. There will be just 50 for the rest of the world.

Unlike its seminal predecessor, which lasted from 1990 to 2004 in some markets, the current version enters its final year after a production run that has lasted only since 2016. In that time 2,500 NSXs have been sold, against 18,000 for the original NSX.

And after all the Type Ss have gone? No more NSX – for now, at least. Yes, a new generation of “New Sports eXperience” from Honda is on its way, though it does promise to be a very different beast and arrive somewhat quicker than the 12-year hiatus of last time.

“We will continue moving forward, actively investigating what the next generation of sportscars should be in an electrified era," promises Jon Ikeda of the Acura brand in the US.

Good news then. Every brand should have a halo supercar, but it would be nice to think Honda could find room in its electric range for more affordable treats like a production version of that electric coupe cutie, the Sports EV concept – and maybe a reinvented S2000 sportscar for the electric era?