2009 Black Acura Tl -51,008 Miles on 2040-cars

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Honda and Acura render their future visions for Shanghai

With the Shanghai Motor Show coming up later this month, Honda has released a couple of teaser sketches for two concept vehicles that will be making global debuts. Aside from the renderings, there is no information about either the Honda or Acura concept vehicles, but we can tell that both are some sort of utility vehicle, be they of crossover or people-mover variety.
The text for both images indicates that both concepts show future products that will be launched in China, but there is no mention as to what other markets the automaker has planned for these vehicles. In addition to these two concepts, the NSX Concept and 2014 RLX from Acura will make their Chinese debuts, and Honda says it "will display models substantially identical to the mass-production version of the Concept C and Concept S." The Concept C is will be a "middle-class" sedan built for China, and the Concept S, an MPV that will primarily serve China as well.

2013 Acura ZDX

What Is, What Could Have Been, And What May Yet Be
History is largely unkind to losers. That's true in the world of politics and sports, and it follows on with a few caveats in the realm of automobiles.
In terms of cars, historic losers tend to be remembered in one of two broad ways. Every once in a while, unsuccessful or oddball models actually make reputational gains after some time away from the new-car marketplace. I consider the Saab 9-2X one of the recent poster children for this group; a car that moved like molasses on dealer lots in the mid-2000s but has morphed into a sort of hard-to-find, used gem in recent years. More often, though, that which was unloved when new remains unloved with tens or hundreds of thousands of miles on the odometer. Pontiac's seriously misunderstood Aztek has king status here (despite the wailings of oddball fan clubs across the nation), so much so that invoking "Aztek" as a pejorative stopped being pithy about a dozen years ago.

We drive the Acura TLX-GT racecar

Don't break the car. As you can tell from the video, that's the theme of the day at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI. After two short lapping sessions in the Acura TLX-GT fear gave way to familiarity, and a second theme emerged: this is awesome. The anxiety was appropriate. There are only two TLX-GTs in the world, and both were at Gingerman that day. A mishap would potentially put either Ryan Eversly and Peter Cunningham out of contention for the subsequent Pirelli World Challenge race. I did not want to be that guy. But back to the awesome part. The TLX-GT is barely TLX, but more Acura that you might expect. The wheelbase, roof, and doors are all stock dimensions, although all the bodywork is carbon fiber. Out go the front MacPherson struts, in goes a special double-wishbone suspension. All-wheel drive comes from an XTRAC six-speed sequential transmission originally developed for Dakar Rally vehicles. The side mirrors are stock. Under the hood lies a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 with a stock block, head, crank, and throttle body. "Under the hood" is a generous term, though, because half of the engine sits inside the cabin. The front end of the block is aft of the front axle - the rest of the hood is taken up with radiators and hoses. To service the turbochargers, the RealTime mechanics remove the top of the dashboard. The front-mid engine location pushes the driver's seat back to the B-pillar, so you sit like Hightower from Police Academy. Only with less visibility. This does not calm the nerves. Nor does the din of 600 or so unmuffled horsepower. My first laps were understandably timid. But the TLX-GT is actually easy to drive. You get used to the low, rearward seating position almost immediately. Once rolling you don't need the clutch for shifts - just bang the right and left paddles to go up and down. I even became accustomed to the acceleration. At more than 3,000 pounds curb weigh the TLX-GT is quick, but not as explosive as cars like the Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Where the TLX-GT blows away road cars is in grip and braking, neither of which I fully exploited. The brake pedal is so hard you feel like you're standing on it just to get the pads to bite. Once engaged, they're like an endless well of deceleration, with ABS somewhere down at the bottom of the abyss. Second lapping session over, car returned intact and adrenaline high in full effect. I had the uncontrollable urge to get back behind the wheel. I mean, I barely had time to get up to speed.