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After the first step away from the nose on your walk around the car, there isn't much new. The old halogen pop-up headlights have been replaced by exposed Xenon High Intensity Discharge units with integrated turn signals. Acura says they're twice as bright; we took a late-night spin on a twisty two-lane, and they were plenty potent for the job.

The front air dam, bumper, and hoodline have been revised, reducing the coefficient of drag to a superslick 0.30. The side sills are smoother, and new mesh air intakes just forward of the rear wheels provide additional cooling of the transverse-mounted engine located just behind the seats. The rear bumper, spoiler, and LED taillamps have also been tweaked a bit. Finally there are new alloy wheels, sharp seven-spokes painted a smooth silver.

None of these changes affect the silhouette of the car, which still makes the Acura NSX look like it belongs on the track at Le Mans. The tail remains markedly huge; not exactly fat, just way out there. And it's a magnet for dust and spray; after any light drizzle, the rear end conspicuously needs washing.

The 12-year-old styling is dated but still spectacular; our yellow NSX got more stares and reactions along the Columbia River than any car we've driven since the PT Cruiser was new. (We got the same reaction driving an Imola Orange NSX in Richmond, Virginia.) The exclusive NSX is still unknown and therefore striking to people.

The removable aluminum roof panel, introduced in '95, is standard equipment this year. It clips out easily and is light enough for one person to handle. It's ingeniously stowed under a solid flap inside the hatched rear window, thus taking up no storage space.

Which is good, because there's very little. The trunk, behind the engine in the tail, is a surprisingly decent 5.0 cubic feet, but that's it. The nose of the NSX is used for locating the larger components, such as the battery, reservoirs, electric power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering, and the space-saving spare tire. There's no room at all behind the seats, nor any useful compartments in the console. The glovebox is mostly filled by the manual, but it could go in the trunk.

The high cost of the NSX can be tied mostly to its technology and construction by hand. The expression "similar to that of a Formula One car" appears repeatedly in the press materials. The all-aluminum chassis has been designed by the best computer programs for rigidity and safety, and the largely aluminum double-wishbone independent suspension is state of the art. Only one pair of human hands touches the engine, which features everything from titanium connecting rods (unique in a road car) to a Direct Ignition system in which each spark plug gets its own coil. Everywhere you turn, there's an expensive design.

There's also impressive attention to detail. Fit and finish is of the highest priority, reflected in the fact that our test car, despite having more than 10,000 hard miles, was tight and rattle-free.

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The interior might be the exception to no-compromise approach. It's high quality but relatively ordinary (until the optional Vivid colors climb aboard). Acura says it's intended to "evoke the image of a jet fighter cockpit," but it evokes more the image of an Acura passenger car with low-slung seats. Touch-ups for 2002 include some chrome trim and use of black chrome on the elbow-high console.

The instrumentation is clean, simple, and efficient with four analog gauges in addition to the big speedometer and tach. We question our own ambivalence about the simple switchgear, which should of course be praiseworthy, especially in a car that may be driven at high speeds and will often demand that the driver keep his mind on the road. With the climate and sound system, things actually happen with the push of one button, things you even expect to happen! The problem may be that we've been perverted by expensive German cars; for $90,000 shouldn't there be some high-tech electronic confusion, or magic problematic digital delivery? The fact that the operation is perfectly functional might be the biggest indication that it's dated. Ah, poor Acura, you can't win. But we're with you.

Standard equipment includes power windows and door locks, a tilt and telescopic steering column, alarm system with an immobilizer that prevents hot-wiring, and power seats. The bright banana flavor of the leather seats became less hard to swallow after awhile, but the matching carpet and floor mats were a bit much. At least the leather dash panel, steering-wheel, console, and top half of the door panels were black.

The hand-stitched, perforated leather seats are superb: racers' seats, body-clutching, and comfortable. Long hours in the saddle didn't produce a single kink. Buyers probably expect power adjustment in a car of this level, however it does add weight, and this is a car that won't be shared by many drivers, so the worth of the convenience might be debatable, especially if the price could be lowered without it.

The three-spoke steering-wheel is good, although not particularly racy, and holds just a couple buttons: horn on the left, and a simple-to-operate cruise control on the right. The cruise control is made more precise by the drive-by-wire throttle system. We especially liked the wheel's two grip bumps, which were ergonomically intelligent. They were useful without getting in the way: small, and located at 2:30 and 9:30.

There's plenty of arm and legroom. Our right knee came in contact with the leather console, left knee with the leather door panel, but it wasn't uncomfortable. However the footwell isn't very roomy; a small deadpedal is squeezed in, and it requires some awareness to find without stumbling on the clutch pedal, which we noticed when driving hard through some country curves in second and third gears.

For such a low car, the NSX is not difficult to climb in and out of. The low cowl allows for a low dash, which allows for low seats providing a low center of gravity; but forward visibility on the highway is still good. However you can't see the front corners over the bulging fenders, or the tip of the nose, so parking is problematic, as it's difficult to judge the distance to an object. At least the bumpers are federally rated at 6 mph.

With the top on, Acura engineers have succeeded in their goal to make the NSX quiet inside; and with the panel removed, there is very little buffeting from the wind, even at high speeds. So the four-speaker Bose sound system is fully and wonderfully usable.