1994 Acura Nsx Comptech Supercharged on 2040-cars

Auto blog

100th Pikes Peak Hill Climb brings bad weather, heartbreak

Hill climb? Please. While Europeans spent the weekend driving up a nobleman's driveway at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, we in 'Murica got down and dirty with the 100th running up Pikes Peak. In a reversal of stereotypes, it is we who have understated. The "hill" climb ascends one of the tallest peaks in the Rockies, to a finish line that's 14,115 feet above sea level. To get there, it takes 156 turns over 12.42 miles, some of which just look like paved sky, because they have have no guardrails between the asphalt's edge and sheer dropoffs. In reality, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is even older than 100 years. The first event took place in 1916, but in 1917-19 and 1942-45, the so-called Race to the Clouds was put on hiatus due to a couple of world wars. This year's event was marked by damp weather that dashed the hopes of several teams' efforts to break new records. David Donner's Porsche 911 Turbo S Lightweight Package, for example, was widely expected to reclaim the production car record this year. Donner is a three-time PPIHC champ, and set the 2014 production car record in a 991-generation Turbo S.  A Bentley Continental GT piloted by Rhys Millen beat it in 2019, so Porsche was keen on taking it back. Donner broke the production qualifying time earlier in the week, but even the seasoned pro couldn't put his skills to tarmac due to moisture-laden surfaces and low-visibility from thick fog on race day. The result was 10:34.053, over 15 seconds slower than Millen's 10:18.488, still good enough to land the class's top spot and second overall. Acura arrived in Colorado to conduct its much-touted motorsports debut of the 2023 Integra. While the entry-level sports sedan, equipped with a stock engine but modified with a slew of HPD goodies, came in ninth in the production class, Acura didn't go home emptyhanded. A 2022 NSX Type S driven by Nick Robinson took the category's third spot. Taking second was Daijiro Yoshihara with a Tesla Model S. In recent years, electric cars have become a force to be reckoned with, especially since they are immune to high altitudes that negatively impact internal combustion cars. Poor conditions sent newcomer Levi Shirley's Ultra 4 buggy off course. Fortunately, it was near the lower sections, where there's still a significant amount of runoff past the pavement's end. Amazingly, Shirley landed wheels down in the video above, and simply continued driving through the pea soup haze.

Hondata's 2019 Acura RDX tune brings the mid-range torque

One of the big advantages to the era of turbo Hondas is that there's plenty of horsepower and torque left on the table for tuners to take advantage of. One of those companies is Hondata, and following its upgrades for the Civic and Accord, it's now tuning the Acura RDX luxury crossover. The RDX uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter engine similar to those in the Accord and the Civic Type R. In stock form, it makes 272 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. With Hondata's Stage 1 tune, the company says that horsepower increases by about 10 across the rev band. Looking at the dyno graph, it also appears that peak horsepower increases by about 5 horsepower, and peak torque is up by about 15 pound-feet. Peak torque also appears to arrive sooner, and most of the torque curve seems to be up by 10 to 15 pound-feet. The increases in power and torque are available in all four of the RDX's drive modes. The Stage 2 tune increases power torque even more in Sport and Sport+ modes, and keeps Snow and Comfort modes at Stage 1 settings. Peak horsepower looks to be up about 10 over stock, but the mid-range sees as much as a 28-hp increase. Peak torque sees a huge jump of about 45 lb-ft over stock based on the dyno chart, and it's available even lower than the Stage 1's peak torque. If this all sounds good to you, you can order up a Hondata FlashPro computer for your RDX right now. It costs $695 and comes with the handheld computer for uploading or removing tunes. RDX owners in California should note that neither tune is currently CARB legal. Related Video:

Acura Performance Electric Vision concept sure looks like the next NSX

Production of the second-generation Acura NSX ended in 2022, but the nameplate might not be consigned to the automotive attic for very long. The firm published sketches of an electric concept named Performance Electric Vision that can easily pass as a third-generation NSX. Acura's dimly-lit images hide many of the design study's finer details, but we can tell that the Performance Electric Vision concept features a futuristic design — it almost looks like it was beamed from the 22nd century. Its low front end has either hidden headlights or no headlights at all, and it receives neon green accents as well as a backlit Acura emblem. Pronounced wheel arches and a massive wrap-around windshield define the concept's silhouette, while the back end gets neon green accents as well as an air diffuser that looks like it belongs on a race car. Interior photos haven't been released yet, and Acura didn't have much to say about what powers the coupe. All we know is that it's electric. Officially, the Precision Electric Vision concept illustrates one of the directions Acura's design language can take in the coming years. Could there be more to it than that? While this is pure speculation, we don't think the NSX's spot in the Japanese brand's lineup will remain empty forever, and we've heard vague rumors detailing an electric third-generation model before. Rewind to September 2022: Jon Ikeda, the company's vice president, tellingly answered "I would bet on it" when asked whether the NSX nameplate will return for another generation. He added an important detail: "It's going to be electric." Cast in this light, the Performance Electric Vision concept sure looks like a preview of the next-generation NSX, but bringing it to the market is easier said than done. It takes more than an executive making a proverbial bet to bring a car to production, and Ikeda's team will notably need to convince Acura parent company Honda to spend money on a new NSX. Related video: