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2019 Acura NSX inner workings revealed in Shin Yoshikawa cutaway drawing

Artist Shin Yoshikawa is known for his intricate drawings of cars, which show every little detail under the metal skin in a cutaway fashion. The hand-drawn, pointillist pencil work re-creates the cars in immense detail, and Yoshikawa's work has been celebrated for years. Some time ago, Yoshikawa was featured on "Jay Leno's Garage," talking about his art and just how much work it is to draw the cars like he does. Now, Yoshikawa has been asked to draw the Acura NSX, and the result is fantastically good, showing everything that makes a new NSX tick — including its SH-AWD power unit. Yoshikawa says the powertrain made the NSX a real challenge to re-create on paper. "The NSX's innovative power unit was extremely challenging to draw, making the second-generation NSX the most difficult vehicle I have sketched," Yoshikawa said. "Everything comes down to the details. If you don't understand the technology that goes into building vehicles, you won't be able to build them, and you certainly can't draw them." It took Yoshikawa months of work and background research to be able to draw the final result. The amazing thing is that the car was "largely" drawn from notes and memory, showing how deeply Yoshikawa gets into his work. The NSX was also updated for 2019, after two model years. For next year it gets a new exterior color, Thermal Orange, and some structural improvements to make it stiffer and more responsive, says Acura.Related Video: Driving Iron Man's Favorite Supercar, The Acura NSX | Translogic 215

Inside Honda's ghost town for testing autonomous cars

On the edge of the San Francisco suburb of Concord, California sits a ghost town. Dilapidated buildings and cracked roads are framed by overgrowth and slightly askew street signs. The decommissioned five acre portion of the Concord Naval Weapons Station that once housed military personnel and their families is now home to squirrels, jack rabbits, wild turkeys and Honda's mysterious testing lab for autonomous vehicles. This former town within a Naval base – now dubbed "GoMentum Station" – is the perfect testing ground for Honda's self-driving cars. An almost turn-key solution to the problem of finding somewhere to experiment with autonomous vehicle inside an urban area. Thanks to the GoMentum Station, the automaker has access to 20 miles of various road types, intersections and infrastructure exactly like those found in the real world. Just, you know, without all the people getting in the way. While the faded lane markers and cracked asphalt might initially make it difficult for the car to figure out what's going on around it, that's exactly what you want when training a self-driving system. Many roads in the real world are also in dire need of upkeep. Just because autonomous vehicles are hitting the streets doesn't mean the funding needed to fix all the potholes and faded lane markers will magically appear. The real world doesn't work that way and the robot cars that will eventually make our commutes less of a headache will need to be aware of that. Plus, it's tougher to train a car to drive downtown than to barrel down the highway at 80 miles per hour. A company is going to want to get as much practice as possible. While semi-autonomous driving on the everyone-going-the-same-way-at-a-constant-speed freeway is already a reality, navigating in an urban environment is far more complex. If you've driven on the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago or Seattle you know that driving downtown takes far more concentration than cruising down the interstate. With all that in mind, Honda's tricked out Acura RLX did a good job during an (admittedly very controlled) hands-free demo. It didn't hit either of the pedestrians walking across its path. It stopped at stop signs and even maneuvered around a mannequin situated in the middle of the road. The reality is, watching a car drive around the block and safely avoid stuff is boring. Not to metion, Google has been doing this for a while in the real world.

Acura ZDX getting the axe after 2013 despite new updates [w/poll]

The Acura ZDX hasn't exactly lived a conventional existence, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that its death announcement isn't going according to standard industry protocol, either. Parent company Honda has taken the unusual step of trumpeting a refreshed-for-2013 model while simultaneously announcing that this will be the model's last year. According to Acura, the model's cancellation comes as the brand "sharpens its focus on new models and core products" like the forthcoming RLX sedan.
The audaciously styled crossover has been, to be charitable, a very reluctant seller since its 2009 introduction, but for 2013, Acura is jazzing up its concept car for the street with new kit. The changes include a lightly reworked front shield grille along with new power folding side mirrors and new tech features including lane departure and forward collision warning systems.
We'd say that announcing the model's discontinuation at the same time one is presenting a freshened model could hurt sales, but we're not sure there's anyone paying attention. Last year, Acura managed to shift just 1,564 units of the ZDX, giving it the No. 4 spot on our Worst Sellers of 2011 list. Through September, Automotive News reports that only 642 examples have been sold in 2012, making it one of the rarest new cars on the market.