1991 Acura Nsx Base Coupe 2-door 3.0l on 2040-cars

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The 2017 Acura NSX will cost $156,000

Back in October, when our Editor-in-Chief Mike Austin drove the 2017 Acura NSX for the first time in the Bay Area and at Sonoma Raceway, we guessed that the hybrid supercar would start at around the $170,000 price point. We weren't that far off – it starts at $156,000, and tops out around $205,000. But now that we have a solid sense of what Acura thinks this car is worth, and we know what they benchmarked the NSX against, we can compare apples to apples. Let's be clear: we like this car. Austin described it as "makes you giggle" fast, everyday-comfortable, and chock full of impressive party tricks like seamless shifting – with only a few foibles, like numb steering, to spoil the illusion of perfection. Back to the benchmarked cars. Acura says the NSX will compete with the Audi R8, and was developed to compete with the now-superseded 458 Italia. Let's start with the 2017 R8 V10 Plus – pricing hasn't been released, and a direct Euro-to-USD conversion isn't the whole story, but it starts at the equivalent of $179,000 in Europe. For that, the R8 V10 Plus provides 610 horsepower, a seven-speed DCT, and a 3.2-second sprint to 60 mph. The 458's successor, the 488 GTB, should be more expensive than the $243,000 the old model started at, and provides 661 hp, a seven-speed dual-clutch, and a 0-60 time of around three seconds (official numbers haven't been released for acceleration). For less money than either of these cars, the NSX delivers ... less. Total system output is 573 hp. It has a slight edge in gear count, at nine speeds, and should beat the R8 to 60 mph. But there's no V10, let alone Ferrari's feral turbocharged V8. It'll be up to buyers to determine if the compromises involved are worth a few thousand dollars in savings, if no options are selected. It should also be noted that Acura describes this as its first "built-to-order" vehicle, but the limited external color options and interior schemes don't appear to be much different than the extent to which you can customize an Accord. The configurator goes live on February 25th, if you want to see for yourself. Lastly, in what now seems to be a necessary part of a new high-end car launch, Acura will auction off VIN 001, the first production NSX, at Barrett-Jackson in January. All proceeds from that auction will benefit two charities: the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and Camp Southern Ground. Related Video: Acura Shares Details of Next-Generation Acura NSX Sales Plan - 2017 Acura NSX U.S.

Acura to debut RLX sedan and ARX-05 racecar at Monterey

It's Monterey Car Week, culminating in the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and Acura plans to stay busy throughout, with debuts of its redesigned RLX flagship sedan and ARX-5 prototype racecar at several venues. In advance of those two reveals, Acura released two teaser videos (shown above and below), for those of us who can't make it to Pebble Beach. We told you quite a lot about the RLX last week and about the ARX-5 just before that. Sales of the previous generation have been slow, but this redesign, from its new diamond pentagon grille on back, could rectify that. Acura kicks off the week Tuesday as exclusive automotive sponsor of the Carmel-By-The Sea Concours on the Avenue, in Carmel's Devendorf Park. That's where it will debut the 377-horsepower 2018 Acura RLX Sport Hybrid. The NSX, NXS GT3 racecar, MDX Sport Hybrid and redesigned 2018 TLX A-Spec sedan will also be on display. On Friday at The Quail, Acura will unveil the ARX-05 prototype and will again show off the rest of the lineup. On Saturday, the ARX-05 will join a display of historic Acura racecars at this year's Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. And on Sunday, the ARX-05 will be featured on the lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Dave Marek, Acura's global creative director, will serve as a Pebble Beach guest judge. Related Video: Related Gallery 2018 Acura RLX View 11 Photos Image Credit: Acura Design/Style Motorsports Acura Coupe Luxury Racing Vehicles Sedan

Honda CEO says we shouldn't expect any new sports cars

It wasn't so long ago that Honda was known for its sporty two-door models, with models ranging from the Civic del Sol to the Prelude and from the Acura Integra and RSX to the Honda S2000. But look at its range today and all you'll see are the Civic and Accord coupes. Honda has essentially let competitors like the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ and Nissan 370Z take the place it once claimed as its own. But if you were hoping Honda would fight back with a new coupe or convertible of its own, we're afraid you're going to have to downgrade those hopes to pipe dreams.
While in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show, Autoblog had a chance to sit down with American Honda CEO Tetsuo Iwamura (pictured at right). When we asked about the potential for a new sports coupe or convertible in the Honda or Acura lineup, he pointed to the current Civic and Accord coupes - not to mention the upcoming new NSX - but said that Honda has no replacement for any of the aforementioned models (or a rival for the FR-S or 370Z) in the pipeline, saying only that the company is monitoring potential demand.
What Iwamura-san did note was that he's a personal fan of the new S660 roadster (pictured above) set to be unveiled tomorrow, and he is pushing (or at least hoping) that it will come to North America. Given that he's head of both Honda's American office and its global automobile operations, one might think that the only person he would have to persuade is himself (well... himself, and potential buyers), but the sporty droptop looks to be about kei-sized, which sadly suggests that it may be too small for American tastes and perhaps not designed with US crash-test standards in mind anyway.