Range-topping Honda NSX Type S coming to Pebble Beach

Honda has released first details of its new NSX Type S, a flagship version of the hybrid supercar that first arrived to market in 2016. The new Type S variant will be revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California next week wearing the Acura branding it features in the USA, capping off NSX production with a run of 350 units, 300 of which are earmarked for the USA. Unfortunately, the Type S won't signal a return of the NSX in Europe, which was pulled from the local market at the end of last year.

While the Type S nomenclature might not be familiar to many European customers, the badge has long been used on both Honda and Acura products in the USA both as an alternative to Type R, and more recently on models that sit a rung down on the performance scale. As such, we suspect the NSX Type S will not harbour such substantial updates as would usually be expected on a full Type R. 

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Not much in the way of specific technical detail has so far been revealed, but the NSX’s hybrid powertrain combining a 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 and three electric motors should remain, with a power increase most likely coming from the combustion engine. 

In the standard NSX, power derived from the combustion engine and one of the electric motors exclusively power the rear wheels, with the front axle packaging in the remaining two motors, making it all-wheel drive. 

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There does look to be more substantial visual changes, however, with new bumpers front and rear that include more complex aero, a fresh wheel design and bespoke detailing around the small carbonfibre lip spoiler and engine bay. It remains to be seen how much attention Honda’s paid to the chassis, but we suspect there will be updates under the skin here too.

While the NSX has never really made much of an impact in the sales charts here in Europe, its application of hybrid technology in the supercar class brought the technology down from the levels of seven-figure hypercars a generation before the traditional supercar manufacturers like Ferrari and McLaren, of which are only just now being released onto the market.

We’ll have to wait until next week for the full technical rundown of the new NSX Type S, and given the intense following its NSX Type R predecessor has gathered long after its demise might well also find itself to be a future classic.