Teaser reports and press releases concerning the new Acura NSX have been churning the ether and beating readers over the head for what seems like ages now. We have all been salivating over the images and technical promises, but finally now we can get a real benchmark report from our favorite celebrity motoring authority — Jay Leno.

The 2017 NSX boasts aggressive modern styling and performance figures to back up the bold new look. In referencing the original NSX, Leno declares the transverse, mid-engined, discreet Japanese super car as, “a seminal landmark car.” A bold claim, that we can’t argue against when considering the mysticism surrounding the poise and design of the NSX.

New for the 2017 model year the new iteration is sure to impress, and give well-to-do buyers an exciting alternative to the Italians and Germans when it comes to the supercar market. “It’s been a long gestation period, it’s like having a baby elephant,” Leno expressed jokingly.

The exterior design project leader Michelle Christensen was on hand to give Leno the scoop on the process that lead to the techy body profiles. “Our large project manager, Ted, was very adamant about keeping the purity of the original NSX. From a design standpoint we used a lot of that heritage — keeping it lightweight and simple keeps it timeless,” explained Christensen.

The sculpted flanks of the NSX are not only stylish and echo motifs of the original but, they offer new functional aerodynamic and cooling improvements to ensure this car is a true contender. Ted Klaus, the aforementioned chief engineer for the NSX project discussed the technicalities to great length. “We’ve had it in the wind tunnel, not only on Ohio in a scale wind tunnel, but also in a full scale wind tunnel in Europe. All I can say is the coefficient of drag is right there with Ferrari, and the Audi R8 — but more importantly we actually take air in through the vehicle, which actually hurts drag, but then we efficiently take it back out,” detailed Klaus.

Leno, as always takes the car through the LA streets to the hills for a little shake down. The twin-turbo and hybrid powerplant makes and exotic noise, and displays the refinement expected in a car of this era. After going for a romp Leno gets a little nostalgic — while making a relative comparison however.

“I’ve got a 1964 Honda 600, it’s got 57 horsepower, it’s 600 ccs, it’s twin-cam, roller-bearing crank — if it said Porsche on it, it would be a million dollars, it’s the sweetest most involved car to drive because you’re using all the power all the time. Imagine a 9,500 rpm redline back in 1964, and this kind of reminds me of that — on massive amounts of steroids of course,” Leno concluded.

The NSX represents the reincarnation of the supercar for the masses, the way the Nissan GT-R dethroned the Germans and Italians both in performance and value for the price, the Acura foreshadows a new option, performance without intimidation, or conspicuous image.