1991 Acura Nsx on 2040-cars

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Honda celebrates 30th anniversary of the NSX with a look back at how it began

In 1989, the baseball-loving Japanese dipped their bats in pine tar and came to the U.S. to take gigundous swings. That single year launched five legends: Lexus LS400, Infiniti Q45, Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo, Mazda MX-5 Miata, and Acura NS-X concept. The Chicago Auto Show (!) hosted the global debuts of the Mazda and the Acura. While Mazda celebrates the bygones with the 30th Anniversary Miata, Acura's reminiscing with a look at how the NSX — a car Motor Trend described in 1990 as, "[The] best sports car the world has ever produced. Any time. Any place. Any price ..." — came to be. The development yearbook opened in 1984, a year after Honda returned to Formula One as an engine supplier for the Spirit team, and for the second Williams chassis in the last race of the season. For the first time in the automaker's history, Honda wanted to build a production car with the engine behind the cabin, one that would demonstrate Honda's engineering prowess and "deeply rooted racing spirit." The sports car would also serve as a halo for the not-yet-launched Acura brand. The engineering team built the first test vehicle in February 1984 on the bones of a first-generation Honda Jazz. After four years of formal development, Honda parked the NS-X Concept in a conference room at Chicago's Drake Hotel in February 1989. This is where the media would meet the red wonder before the public show-stand debut. The F-16 Fighting Falcon-inspired coupe was built on the world's first all-aluminum monocoque, and its SOHC V6 ran with titanium connecting rods. Before the press conference, then-Honda president Tadashi Kume got in the NS-X, started the engine, and revved to the 8,000-rpm redline — a noise felt by everyone in the adjacent conference room attending a Ford press conference. Honda's PR man at the time yelled, "Mr. Kume, stop it! They're gonna hear this!" When Kume got out, he asked Honda engineers present why they didn't put their new VTEC technology in the NS-X. (What's Japanese for, "Why didn't the VTEC kick in, yo?!") They told him VTEC had been created for four-cylinder engines. Kume told them to work on a V6 application. More suggestions came from journos who drove the early prototypes at Honda's Tochigi R&D Center, who said the NS-X "could use more power." The development team had grabbed the SOHC V6 from the Acura Legend for the NS-X concept, and it put out 160 horsepower in the luxury sedan.

Acura MDX PMC priced at $63,745

The 2020 Acura MDX PMC edition, first unveiled as a prototype at the 2019 New York Auto Show last spring and later shown in production form at the L.A. Auto Show this past fall, is finally arriving in showrooms. And that means we now have actual pricing: $63,745. That includes a hefty $1,995 destination fee, which is $970 more than the charge for a regular MDX and equals that of the NSX supercar. The total represents a $4,470 upcharge over the now-penultimate MDX Advance, at $59,275. What does $4,470 worth of extra specialness buy you? Let us review: Like the previous PMC version of the TLX sedan, the MDX wears trim-exclusive Valencia Red Pearl nano pigment paint, applied with a multi-stage process at the NSX factory. It's set off with gloss-black exterior elements including 20-inch 10-spoke wheels, roof panel, grille and surround, side mirrors, door handles, and antenna, with black-chrome exhaust tips. Inside, the seats are upholstered in black Milano leather with Alcantara inserts and red contrast stitching. Red stitching also appears on the steering wheel, door panels, center console and armrest, and headrests. Floor mats have A Spec logos, and metal shift paddles are also included. Besides the PMC-specific visuals, the model includes a full raft of features, including navigation, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats and steering wheels, adaptive dampers, LED exterior lighting, ELS Studio premium audio, second-row captain's chairs, surround-view camera system, and more.  Beyond the content, what makes the PMC edition unique is that it's partially assembled at the brand's Performance Manufacturing Center (thus, "PMC"), where the NSX is built. Production is limited to 300 units for the U.S. market, with another 30 for Canada. Related video: Acura NSX Factory Tour

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.