Fernando Alonso is used to Honda power in his McLaren Formula One race car, but now he’s experienced it in a road car, in this case the 2017 Acura NSX.

The two-time world champion recently got behind the wheel at Portugal’s Estoril race track and treated some journalists with a hot lap as part of the car’s European launch.

Hosting the European launch at Estoril was fitting as the track is where legendary racer Ayrton Senna, one of the key developers of the original NSX, won his first F1 race, back at the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix.

“Driving the NSX is softer and sweeter than an F1 car because you are not searching for every little fraction of an inch, as you do in races,” Alonso said at the event. “It is like the difference between artistic drawing and technical drawing.”

2017 Acura NSX

2017 Acura NSX

He went on to say that the braking feel of the NSX is similar to what he feels in his F1 car.

“In terms of driving what really has surprised me are the brakes—the feelings are not so far from what we feel driving in F1,” he said.

The 2017 Acura NSX is currently on sale, with its starting price registering at $157,800. For that you get an advanced hybrid powertrain combining a twin-turbocharged V-6 with a trio of electric motors and a 9-speed dual-clutch transmission. Peak output is 573 horsepower and 476 pound-feet of torque, which Acura says is enough to rocket the car from 0-60 mph in 3.0 seconds and see it top out at 191 mph.

In the video below, McLaren reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne takes us on a ride around Estoril in the car.

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