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Acura preps ILX for endurance racing challenge

Acura has used the occasion of this year's SEMA show to unveil a 2013 ILX that is remarkably different from the road-going car that we are familiar with. A far distance from the rather mildly performing street car, this ILX Endurance Racer is actually prepped to race at the grueling 25 Hours of Thunderhill in Willows, California.
The ILX racers (Team Honda Research has prepped two of them for the race) have actually each been constructed using two donor ILX sedans: one body-in-white chassis and one full production-spec car that donates powertrain, interior and electronic components. Overall, increasing the performance of the car was done mostly through extensive weight reduction rather than bumps in power. No figures have been given for the output of the ILX's K24Z7 engine, though we are told that a custom intake and exhaust have been fitted, as well as a racing flywheel.
A prominent LED lighting system dominates the front fascia of the ILX, along with a huge front splitter, while a massive wing speaks to the intentions of the car.

2020 Acura TLX PMC Edition will be hand-built alongside the NSX

At next week's 2019 New York International Auto Show, Acura will reveal a pair of new models, the 2020 TLX PMC Edition and MDX PMC Edition Prototype. The duo will be limited-run models that get final assembly at Honda's Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio, along the same production line as the Acura NSX. The TLX PMC Edition goes on sale this summer with a starting price of around $50,000. Production will be limited to just 360 models hand-assembled over a six-month period. The production version of the MDX PMC Edition will be built sometime after the TLX PMC run is complete. Think of the TLX PMC as an A-Spec performance model with features available with the Advance Package like a surround-view camera, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel and power folding mirrors. Currently, the two packages are mutually exclusive. There are no performance upgrades beyond what the A-Spec already offers. Power from the 290-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 is sent to all-four wheels through a nine-speed automatic. The TLX PMC uses Acura's Super-Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) to manage the power at each wheel. It also gets the A-Spec's stiffer dampers and quicker steering ratio. 2020 Acura TLX PMC Edition View 11 Photos The exterior design, too, is based on the TLX A-Spec, with a restyled front bumper, dark chrome trim, larger exhaust tips and a black spoiler. Likewise, the interior is based on the A-Spec trim, with heated and ventilated front sport seats, leather and Alcantara seating, a black leather steering wheel, a black headliner, a red instrument cluster and red accent lighting. Black 19-inch 10-spoke wheels and Valencia Red Pearl paint are exclusive to the TLX PMC. The paint uses mica, metal flake and super-high transparency nano pigments to give it a richer color and was previously only available on the NSX. The roof panel, door handles, grille and lower bumper are also gloss black. What makes the TLX PMC Edition (as well as the future MDX PMC) truly special is the hand assembly. Basically, the body-in-white (a basic unfinished unibody) will move from the main assembly plant in Marysville to the nearby Performance Manufacturing Center. There, workers will install the drivetrain, suspension, wiring harnesses and electronics. The car then goes to the paint booth before the interior is installed.

2019 Honda S2000 roadster rumors swell

Our friends over at Car and Driver have been speculating about a possible S2000 roadster from an unnamed insider source. While there's not much to go on, it certainly squares with a steady drumbeat of sporty car innuendo surrounding the company. Let's briefly connect the dots and see if a Honda S2000 might be on the way by 2018, as the rumor says. The little roadster pictured above? Definitely not what a new S2000 would look like. That's the S660, which is sold in Japan and shares some components with the N-Box and N-One microcars. As we told you last year, after some hints that it would come to the US, Honda's brass decided it was too small. That was disappointing, but probably the right call. On the other hand, Honda finally brought out the 2017 Acura NSX, which may have its flaws but still represents a unique platform that the company spent a great deal of yen building ( in Ohio, by the way). It's that bit that the rumor hinges on: Honda's willingness to develop unique platforms for its sporty models. It'd need that for an S2000 revival, because there's certainly no Honda model that could donate its underpinnings at this moment. Honda execs have been clear that the company is under pressure from dealers over the lack of verve in the company's lineup. American Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel told Automotive News last year that dealers "want anything in the sports car world. They're going, 'Gimme a sports car.' They want a retractable hardtop; they want a high-horsepower $20,000-sports car. Because that's the nature of what they do." Honda is allegedly going to utilize some sunk cost by employing the new Civic Type R's engine in this roadster. That 2.0-liter turbocharged four makes 306 hp in the Civic, and would make slightly less than that in the S2000, according to the rumor. At this stage, these rumors are mostly wishful thinking fanned by the flames of dealer pressure for sporty models. We hope Car and Driver's insider has it right, because the S2000 was a phenomenal car that deserves a follow-up – and Honda deserves more fun cars in its American showrooms. Related Video: Featured Gallery Honda S660: Honda Meeting 2015 View 15 Photos News Source: Car and Driver Rumormill Acura Honda Convertible Performance roadster honda s660 rumors