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2019 Acura NSX Track Test Review | Exotic tech, exhilarating performance

EAST LIBERTY, Ohio — The 2019 Acura NSX makes sonorous noises behind my ear as the tachometer soars toward 7,500 rpm. My hands grip the squared-off steering wheel a bit too hard as I scrub off about 60 mph and dive into the first corner of the Transportation Research Center (TRC) dynamic handling course. There's 3,878 pounds of car beneath me, but the front tires do exactly what my hands tell them to, without hesitation, and I'm through the double apex corner without even thinking about the defiance of physics I just witnessed. On paper, a nearly 4,000-pound track car makes no sense. Yet in practice, it's just as tossable and eager to change direction as something much lighter. This is the NSX's party trick, thanks to some magic with the suspension and all-wheel drive system on this car. And while the new NSX is a very different vehicle than its predecessor, it was born of a similar spirit of innovation and forward thinking. The original Acura NSX hit the streets in 1991, establishing a new set of rules for every supercar released since. Constructed of an aluminum body — still an exotic material mainly used in competition vehicles — with curves that still drop jaws today, it was every bit as sophisticated as a Ferrari. But unlike Ferraris of the time, it was also reliable and easy to drive. Slide behind the wheel of a 1991 NSX, and you'll be transported back to a time when outward visibility was still in style. You can see the ground right in front of the nose. Turn around, and there's nothing blocking your view but a low wing. It's essentially a bubble canopy. Acura knows owners of the original NSX, your author included, absolutely love this about their cars. The effort to make the cockpit of the NSX similar is appreciated, even if modern crash standards prevent a perfect implementation. There are other subtle throwbacks. Every original NSX made a distinctive intake whine when winding it up to 8,000 rpm, and the new NSX has real intake noise physically pumped into the cabin to replicate this sweet sound all the way through the rev band. Another echo of the original is the simplified, sedate dash layout — eminently usable and likely to age well. A simplified version of the new RDX infotainment system would have fit the bill, too, but sadly it's not present. Under way, however, the generational similarities cease. Our time on this trip in the 2019 model was spent solely on track at TRC, and it was a wholly different experience from the old car.

New Honda ad has Senna, Type R, Asimo, and astronauts

Now that Honda is back into the guts-and-performance game, automotively speaking, the Japanese company has hit the throttle on hardcore imagery. Its latest is in an ad for the company itself highlighting a small selection of its ample range of products, from motorcycles to an airplane and the coming Acura NSX, branded Honda in other markets. Called "Ignition," Wieden+Kennedy created the 90-second spot for Honda Motor Europe, with the tagline "Dare to do what others only dream of." The theme is a space launch, to give that "feeling of daring and human endeavor," perfectly supported by the print artwork with Asimo the robot up front and fabulously complicated hybrid V6 power units spewing flames from the Formula 1 cars in back. Then there's the family in the HR-V in the middle, defying gravity and sipping from juice boxes, because space is for everyone. Ayrton Senna makes a cameo again, and a Stanley Kubrick aesthetic hangs all over the production. You can check out the ad in the video above.

Acura recalling 43k MDX and RLX models over seatbelt issue

If you've ever lived in a wintery climate, you may have noticed something strange: no, not the perilously enticing sparkle of cold metal in the sunlight or the way your warm breath suddenly becomes visible in the frigid air, but the way your seatbelt seems increasingly reluctant to retract as the temperature drops. Acura, however, has found the problem more serious than a minor inconvenience, and is recalling some 43,000 vehicles across the United States to address the issue.
The recall in question affects about 7,000 RLX sedans (from the 2014 model year) and another 36,000 MDX crossovers (covering the 2014 and 2015 model years) to have their front seatbelts replaced. In the affected vehicles and in very low temperatures, Acura has found that "the driver's and front passenger's seatbelts may not release from the retracted position." Needless to say, seatbelts that can't be used don't offer any protection in the event of an accident, so the Japanese automaker is notifying owners and dealers to hook up to have those seatbelts replaced.