2007 Acura Mdx Base Sport Utility 4-door 3.7l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

No S660 for US, but Honda wants sporty cars

Honda, best known lately for being a mainstream player rather than the brand that brought us the CRX Si, NSX, Integra Type-R, and S2000, apparently wants to builds sporty cars for the US again. With that in mind (or not), Honda has ruled out bringing the tiny, sporty S660 roadster across the Pacific. "I wouldn't put my chips on [the S660]," American Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel told Automotive News. At nearly 11.1 feet long, the S660 slots in between the 12.8-foot Mazda MX-5 Miata and the 8.8-foot Smart ForTwo. Yet Mendel says the tiny two-seater wouldn't work here. "When the practicalities of the market come in, and the car only so big, that might not be the best car for the US market," Mendel said. "It might be better for India or China or somewhere else." Honda is considering its options here in the US, though. As AN reports, after his takeover earlier this year, new CEO Takahiro Hachigo promised more sporting models, like the new, US-bound, 300-horsepower Civic Type R. And while it's no secret that Honda has filed patent drawings for a mid-engine model, Mendel offered little to indicate that it'd become a reality. Calling the project from Honda's Silicon Valley research and design facility a "design study," Mendel wouldn't answer AN when it asked whether this new model was successor to the S2000 or a more attainable, lower-powered NSX. He did, however, say his company was getting pressure from dealers over the lack of verve in the company's lineup. "They want anything in the sports car world," Mendel told AN. "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." There you are, Honda. Your dealers want it, which means your consumers are probably are asking for it, and your CEO wants it, too. Make something happen.

Acura is launching an all-out assault on Pikes Peak

  Acura is gunning for multiple trophies at Pikes Peak later this month, sending no less than six vehicles to the famed hillclimb event. The fleet consists of two NSX race cars, two TLX Type S race cars, a TLX Type S pace car, and the 2022 MDX Type S making its first public debut. The all-volunteer team comprising Acura employees will be towing the more potent of the TLX race cars 1,300 miles from its base in Ohio to the Colorado venue with an MDX Type S. While a stock TLX Type S weighs 4,221 pounds, a mass that's pretty close to the 355-horsepower, 354 pound-foot flagship's towing capacity of 5,000, the race car is considerably lighter.  Honda put the TLX Type S on a 600-pound diet, gutting the interior and replacing parts with lightweight components like a carbon fiber hood. Naturally, aerodynamic aids like splitters, canards, and spoilers festoon the race car. On top of that, the 3.0-liter V6 it shares with the big brother MDX Type S has been modified with a with a larger turbo and additional cooling to account for the thin air approaching the 14,000-foot summit. Acura engineer Justin Lumbard will helm the TLX in the Pikes Peak Open Division, in which an Acura TLX GT race car holds the record of 9:24.433, set by Acura race veteran Peter Cunningham in 2019. Meanwhile, chassis engineer and cool-name-haver Jordan Guitar will be piloting the other TLX Type S, a more stock version with only a 300-pound diet. Both cars wear race-modified suspensions and HRE 19-inch 19 x 9.5-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli slicks. Likewise, the NSX pairs comprise one hard-core racer and one mostly stock car each, allowing Acura to pursue wins in multiple classes. Drivers and brothers James and Nick Robinson are no strangers to Pikes Peak records. James helped Acura clinch the Hybrid Class record with a time of 10:01.913 in an NSX last year, and is now shooting for a Time Attack 1 Division championship. His NSX puts out around 625 horsepower thanks to larger turbos and reprogrammed engine software. A front splitter, large rear wing, 200-pound weight reduction are just some of the race-prep modifications. Meanwhile, Nick holds the front-wheel-drive record, set in 2018 with a first-generation Acura TLX and a time of 10:48.094. This year, Nick is behind the wheel of an NSX that's all stock — aside from safety equipment and race tires — in the hopes of achieving a Time Attack 2 production record attempt.

2015 Acura NSX burns to the ground at the 'Ring [w/video]

Assuming all goes to plan, automakers test their vehicles to the breaking point in the months and years leading up to that vehicle's actual release into the public. Which is good, because it's much better for a car to break in glorious fashion in the hands of the company that produces it than in the driveway of an owner who just spent their hard-earned cash to get it.
Such was the case with this production-guise Acura NSX prototype that we saw running around the Nürburgring just the other day. We can't be 100-percent certain, but the burned-out carcass is wearing the same number plate as the car that was spotted earlier, so it's likely the very same NSX. We have no idea what was the cause of the blaze that turned this Acura into the car-b-q you see pictured above, but our spy shooters on the ground in Germany say it was not involved in any collision, having caught on fire all on its own with engineers behind the wheel.
The good news is that nobody was hurt, though the car is quite clearly a complete loss. We're sure there's another ready to to test in the burned car's place... just as soon as the engineers at Honda figure out exactly what went wrong. Have a look at the smoldering aftermath up above, and feel free to scroll down below to see a video of the car in much better circumstances.