Once the hype that surrounded the release of the new Acura NSX had died down it seemed like everyone just swept it under the rug and moved on. We remember the NSX when we think of the Fast and Furious franchise, but we seem to forget on key thing about this Acura supercar that makes it way more cool — it’s a hybrid. Hybrid supercars seem to be the thing of the future, and with innovators like Koenigsegg setting the stage, we aren’t surprised to see other manufacturers follow suit.

The long-awaited NSX

The new NSX isn’t the first of its kind, because just like the Toyota Supra, this fan-favorite was reinvented from its predecessor to bring it into the modern age. While the car’s popularity might have stemmed from its popularity in the JDM and tuner car communities, the new version is a pretty big departure from the original, and not just in styling.

While the overall styling of the NSX got some major, well-needed upgrades, it isn’t the biggest change we see. Acura decided to make this car even more modern than we could have expected and gave it a hybrid drive train, but most of us seem to forget that it even happened. The hybrid drivetrain gives this car some major boosts in performance too, as it gives the car electric all-wheel drive and instant torque for that perfect launch.

A mid-engine twin-turbocharged V6 engine combines with electric motors to get this car from a complete stop to 60mph in a shocking 2.7 seconds and can finish a quarter-mile run in 11.2 seconds — not exactly the 10-second car Dom Toretto was looking for, but we’ll take it.

The future of hybrids for Acura

Hybrids have quickly become a part of the car market and many supercar and hypercar engineers are realizing that electric motors have a lot to offer and can greatly improve performance. Many classic car fanatics quote the phrase “there is no replacement for displacement” but as time has begun to show, that might not be the case.

The new NSX might not have done as well as Acura hoped that it would, and it is possible that most of the car’s sales can be contributed to the car’s overall novelty — similar again to the new Toyota Supra. Manufacturers are pushing to use a combination of electric motors and traditional engines in the most efficient way possible, but the technology is still relatively new for cars.

While most people won’t be opening their garage door to see one of these stunning and modern mid-engine supercars waiting for them, there are some features of the Acura NSX that are obvious in lower models, like the design of the headlights. As a hybrid, the NSX definitely doesn’t get the attention that it deserves, and that might be because most people forget that its a hybrid in the first place.