The modern Acura NSX is one of the most underrated cars on sale today. It’s been hampered by a flip-flop strategy during a long development process, and then an initial launch effort that needed some tweaking. As it sits, though the Acura NSX is truly a fantastic driving machine. And it’s powered, in part, by a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine, which is hand-assembled in Ohio.

Acura has put together a video that talks about how the engine is built. It’s an intriguing process. The NSX engine building space occupies a small portion of the much larger Anna Engine Plant. That facility is 2.5-million square feet, and the NSX engines are built in an area that’s 4,000 sq. ft. Each engine comes to life at the hands of a Honda master engine builder. And the process for tracking the builds is incredibly detailed.

Anytime a torque wrench is applied, that action is cataloged. The exact pressure doled out is recorded, so every bolt fastened to the engine is torqued exactly within the mid-range space of a given torque spec. While the main engine plant can cook up 4,500 engines in a day, the NSX section works a bit slower.

And they have to, in order to ensure that each NSX engine leaves the line ready to rock and roll. These mills are broken in at the factory. Before being placed in the butt-end of the NSX, the engine is worked over for an hour. It’s never pushed past 4,000 rpm, but it’s enough to completely break everything in. A customer can leave the dealership in launch mode if they so desire.

Even ready for racing

The process of building these engines is so meticulous, that Acura can take one and stick it in its GT3 Evo race car. There’s a difference on the racing version of course. That one doesn’t need the hybrid system, and it’s rear-wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive. Acura engineers shove more boost at the turbos to make up for the lack of electric power. Otherwise, the Acura NSX GT3 Evo uses the same block, heads, valvetrain, crankshaft, pistons, and dry sump system. That’s remarkable for a race car.

And the NSX is a remarkable machine, both in race trim and the street version.