Acura Tl Base Sedan 4-door on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Acura NSX bodywork to be sheathed in zirconium e-coat, fewer paint layers

Automakers make halo cars to drum up excitement and show off what they can do, but there's more to it than that. Advanced platforms allow a company's engineers to experiment with all sorts of technologies. And in the case of the upcoming new Acura NSX, that includes new paint processes.
Speaking with Autoline in this video interview, Honda's North American Senior VP Jon Minto talked about an innovative zirconium e-coat which it's applying to the new NSX. Unlike some experimental paints developed for Formula One, however, this coating is not designed to minimize drag or enhance cooling: it's designed to be more environmentally friendly.
It's one of a few measures which Honda is implementing on the NSX before expanding it to more accessible models, along with another process that uses fewer coats to reduce energy consumption by 40 percent. Watch the interview with Autoline host John McElroy right here.

Acura will show all-new MDX Prototype in Detroit

Acura says it will show a prototype of its 2014 MDX crossover at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, and we'll admit that the announcement has left us in a bit of confusion. See, the Acura press release says that the MDX proto will present "Aero Sculpture" design language, "alluring proportions" and "arching body lines." It has been accompanied by a sketch (above, click to enlarge) that, indeed, shows off a swoopy, alluring CUV.
Yet we have spy shots from two months ago of what is supposed to be the 2014 MDX, and unless the camouflage is actually some sort of vehicular moo moo, there isn't really a swoopy line on it. It is stout and substantial, but not in a way that makes us think of "Aero Sculpture." We'll know in a few weeks where the truth resides. It would appear that Acura's rendering artist has done a masterful fade on the rear glass/D-pillar area of the vehicle.
If you want to see the answer in real time, the reveal will be broadcast as it happens on Acura's webcast site. There's a press release below with the details.

Honda marks 20 million vehicles made in the USA

Japanese automakers manufacturing in the United States is nothing new. But it was in November of 1982 when the first Honda Accord rolled off the assembly line in Marysville, OH. It was the first Japanese vehicle assembled in the US, and in the nearly 32 years since, Honda has made 10 million Accords here for a total of 20 million cars manufactured in America - enough to span from New York to San Francisco twenty times. It's that double landmark which Honda is now celebrating.
Honda has come a long way in those three decades, keeping that original plant in Marysville on line while expanding to three more - in East Liberty, OH; Lincoln, AL; and Greensburg, IN - with a fifth plant (the Performance Manufacturing Center) opening on the same site in Marysville to build the Acura NSX next year. It also builds engines in Lincoln and in Anna, OH, and automatic transmissions at Russells Point, OH, and Tallapoosa, GA.
Between those seven sites, Honda produces 11 different models, including the Accord, Civic, Crosstour, CR-V, Pilot, Odyssey and Ridgeline as well as the Acura ILX, TL, RDX and MDX. Production keeps on ramping up as Honda produced a record 1.3 million vehicles in the US last year, 95 percent of which are sold in the US. Scope out the details in the press release below and click the image above to see it all laid out in a handy infographic.