---
title: "Acura’s Type S Turbo V6 Took Lessons From the NSX Engine"
description: "It doesn't get much better, as far as pedigrees go."
date: "2021-06-22"
modified: "2021-06-22"
authors:
  - name: "James Gilboy"
    job_title: "Contributing Writer"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/james-gilboy"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/41205/acuras-type-s-turbo-v6-took-lessons-from-the-nsx-engine"
categories:
  - "Acura News"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
tags:
  - "acura"
  - "luxury"
---

# Acura’s Type S Turbo V6 Took Lessons From the NSX Engine

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2021/06/Type-S-Hero.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

After a long period of running seemingly rudderless, Acura has been reinvigorated by returning to its performance roots and reviving its Type S trim for the TLX sedan and MDX crossover. If [our editor-in-chief's taste of the 2021 Acura TLX Type S](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/40704/2021-acura-tlx-type-s-review-the-best-handling-acura-this-side-of-an-nsx>) is anything to go by, Acura's new performance models are worth taking seriously, in part because of an element they share: A brand-new 3.0-liter turbo V6 designed specifically with Type S models in mind.

This engine's development was outlined in a newly released highlight video, in which Acura reveals the team behind it included those who engineered the Civic Type R and [NSX](<https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/28906/2019-acura-nsx-road-trip-review-the-grand-tourer-you-never-considered>)'s power plants. They applied expertise and technologies from their prior projects, such as the NSX's active exhaust, which gives the Type S V6 an unusual amount of character for an engine muffled by a turbocharger.

![message-editor%2F1624379820600-typesengineinline.jpg](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor/1624379820600-typesengineinline.jpg>)
**Acura**

Mounted out over the transmission to save space, said turbo is a new twin-scroll unit, whose turbines are spun by separate cylinder banks, maximizing response and allowing peak torque of 354 pound-feet to come on as low as 1,400 rpm. This is permitted by a sturdy bottom end consisting of forged connecting rods and a crankshaft of the same forged steel used in the NSX, held in place by six-bolt main bearing caps.

While the cylinder bank of 60 degrees is also shared with the NSX, the aluminum block itself is all-new, as are its low-profile cylinder heads. The result is an engine Acura says is among the lightest and smallest of its type, not to mention smoothest, with its vibration-reducing active engine mounts. And of course, it's plenty potent, with 355 horsepower at peak boost of 15.1 psi, accessible any time with Acura's quick-shifting 10-speed automatic.

https://youtube.com/embed/CDthJ4AYi90

Acura's Type S turbo V6 will appear in both the 2021 TLX Type S and 2022 MDX Type S, the former of which goes on sale this very day at a starting price of $53,325 delivered. The MDX will follow by the end of the year, and if you've managed to convert your TLX into a track car by then, [the MDX will make a perfectly competent tow pig](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/41134/2022-acura-mdx-type-s-is-towing-a-tlx-pikes-peak-race-car-from-ohio-to-colorado>).

*Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: james@thedrive.com*

## Author
James is a former staff writer for The Drive. He has changed the conversation around electrification, debunked misinformation online, and become a prominent hunter of what he calls "automotive cryptids."

### Author social links  
[Instagram](<https://instagram.com/jamesgilboy>)