2005 Acura Tl 3.2 W/navigation System (a5) on 2040-cars

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Acura Pikes Peak lineup is out, and there's a race-prepped MDX Sport Hybrid

Acura is coming back to Pikes Peak for the 2019 edition of the hillclimb, and it's bringing four vehicles to attack the mountain. Not the fastest, but perhaps the most interesting of the bunch is a race-prepped 2019 MDX Sport Hybrid. Engineers took the 3.5-liter V6 from the non-hybrid version (Hybrid has a 3.0-liter V6) of the MDX and bored it out to 3.7-liters. It then works together with Acura's three-motor hybrid system for a combined 400 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. Shifting is still done by Acura's 7-speed dual-clutch transmission. The extra power is thanks to the larger displacement and special tuning for the engine and electric motors. Further upgrades to the MDX include a race-tuned active-damper suspension system and a roll cage. Acura says it goes a long way to increase structural rigidity. Additionally, Acura removed most of the vehicle's interior, including every seat but the driver's seat. Piloting the MDX is Jordan Guitar of Acura R&D's chassis development team. A couple NSXs, one "Time Attack" car and one mostly stock, will also run up the mountain. The Time Attack NSX has more power from larger turbos, bringing the system output up to 625 horsepower. Weight-saving measures have dropped 200 pounds from the structure, and there's plenty more downforce thanks to a big wing front splitter. Not much has been done to the production-spec NSX, as it simply adds a roll cage and racing seat with a harness. The Acura RDX that ran up the mountain last year is returning for this 2019 run. It features a modified 2.0-liter turbo that makes a respectable 350 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque. That extra power comes courtesy of a larger turbocharger, short-path intercooler and an electric supercharger. Can we have all that for production, please? The last Acura in the field is the same RealTime Racing TLX GT that won its class last year. There's one more NSX that'll be going up and down Pikes Peak, but not in anger. Acura is providing an NSX to act as the official pace car of the event, and it's predictably painted in the easy to pick out Thermal Orange.

Honda finds new Green Path to reduce CO2 emissions

In the wake of the Volkswagen diesel scandal, it's impossible to hear an automaker talk about its overall environmental efforts and not think to yourself, "for real?" Still, we're willing to listen. And Honda representatives gave it their best shot yesterday in Marysville, OH as they introduced a small group of journalist to the company's expanded initiative aimed at cutting CO2 emissions and the total life-cycle environmental impact of Honda products. Called Green Path, the initiative now includes a $210-million expansion at Honda's Marysville, OH manufacturing plant to install a better, cleaner paint shop. Speaking at the facility yesterday, Honda representatives said that the plant room is not only better for the environment (it uses limestone dust instead of water to capture paint particles, for example, reducing water usage by about 2 million gallons annually. Overall, the new paint shop will have 60 percent less VOC emissions and reduce CO2 emissions by 18 percent), it also makes the cars look better. That's whey the two-step temperature curing process will initially only be used on Acuras to differentiate them from the competition. Honda will fire up trials in late 2017. There's more to Green Path than the new paint show, of course. The company wants to reduce - in some cases eliminate - what it calls substances of concern (SOCs), things like lead and mercury. There are also new wind turbines in Ohio to supply power to Honda plants, the Environmental Leadership Program for independent dealerships to make their own green moves, and swapping out fluorescent light bulbs for LEDs, among other efforts. In the Marysville Auto Plant, for example, the Assembly department has over 10,000 task light bulbs. The fluorescent ones used to need to be replaced every three years, but the new LEDs have a life span of 16 years. Honda says that calculating up the impact of all of these little changes will remove an average of 3.822 kilograms of CO2 from the production tally of each car it makes. The company's stated goal is to reduce its total greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent (compared to 2000 levels) by 2050. You can find out more in Honda's press release and video, below. Honda Announces New "Green Path" Initiative to Reduce Total Life-Cycle Environmental Impact MARYSVILLE, Ohio (Sept.

Acura TLX's early sales results look promising

Acura made a bold move earlier this year when it decided to axe two fairly popular models in the TL and TSX and replaced them with a single sedan: the TLX. After all, how often have you seen modern automakers consolidating vehicles in the lineup? But early indications have shown that the gamble might have paid off, at least so far, because the TLX has been outselling its predecessors for its first months on sale.
Acura has only released TLX sales numbers so far for August and September, but the results have been promising. In August, the company moved 2,286 of the new sedans, beating last year's figures for the same month from both the TL at 2,227 sold and the TSX at 1,755. Then in September, the newcomer did even better with 3,884 units leaving dealers to surpass the two previous vehicles combined from their 2013 monthly stats.
According to The Truth About Cars, the TLX's September numbers were even more impressive when looking even deeper into Acura sales history. It claims that you would have to go back to March 2011 when the TL sold 3,995 units to have seen it beat the new TLX. And the TSX hasn't surpassed the latest model's figure since December 2010.