2004 Acura Tsx Base Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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2024 Acura Integra Type S costs $51,995, orders open May 11

The highly anticipated 2024 Acura Integra Type S will start at $51,995 (including $1,195 for destination) and preorders will open up on May 11, 2023, at 10 a.m. Pacific. Now, before you get too excited, know that Acura is only planning to take reservations for "one of the first 200 production units before the high-performance model officially begins arriving at dealerships next month." We'd expect those 200 slots to fill awfully quickly. For those interested in throwing their hats into the virtual ring, the orders will be accepted at Acura.com/Integra. Deliveries to dealerships are planned for June. As we already knew, the Integra Type S will gain a total of 5 horsepower over the mechanically related Honda Civic Type R, though we're not clear on what's changed between the two versions of the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder powerplant to account for those newly located ponies. A six-speed manual transmission is mandatory, no automatic will be offered. The Type S will benefit from the same dual-axis front suspension design that inhibits torque steer so well in the Type R. Read all the rest of the salient details in our coverage of the Acura Integra Type S reveal. Acura also revealed that the Type S will achieve fuel economy figures of 21 miles per gallon in the city, 28 on the highway and 24 combined. That's down one mpg in the city compared to the Civic Type R, but the rest match up. Now, it is of course worth pointing out that the latest Honda Civic Type R is an excellent car. We not only named it an Editor's Pick, we declared it victorious in a comparison test with its most natural rival, the Toyota GR Corolla (a car that we also like quit a bit). That Honda, which shares a whole host of parts with this new Acura Integra Type S, costs $44,890 (again, including destination). What exactly will account for the $7,105 price difference, and will it be worth it? We will of course have to wait for our turn behind the wheel to find out. But consider our interest piqued. Related video: Featured Gallery 2024 Acura Integra Type S View 26 Photos Acura Car Buying Performance Sedan

BMW reclaims US luxury sales crown from Mercedes

The numbers, they are in: BMW has reclaimed the luxury-sales crown from Mercedes by a margin of 9,347 cars. Mercedes donned the king's headgear in 2013 after a strong final quarter of 2013 when the new CLA and S-Class poured out of dealerships. This year, led by the 3 Series/4 Series and X5, BMW sold 339,738 units – a 9.8-percent increase year-on-year. Mercedes, led by the C-Class and M-Class, saw its sales go up by 5.7 percent to 330,391 units. We'll have to wait a bit to see if there's another registrations-vs-sales challenge as in 2012, when BMW was anointed US luxury ruler. Behind them, a dark horse named Lexus nudged closer to the leading Teutons, selling 311,389 cars. The Japanese luxury automaker also had the biggest gain among the top three, its sales rising by 13.7 percent compared to 2013. Audi had the biggest sales of anyone among the top five, though, with a 15.2-percent gain to 182,011, which moved it a spot ahead of Cadillac; the Wreath-and-Crest brand dropped 6.5 percent to 170,750. Acura (167,843), Infiniti (117,300), and Lincoln (94,474) took the final positions. Speaking of Lincoln, sales at the once-mighty luxury marque stand as the mightiest jump of any on this list, up 15.6 percent. That's the power of Matthew McConaughey... and better cars and a new crossover, sure. So now that we're back to Round One of 2015, in case no one else has said it yet: "Ok, fight!"

J.D. Power study sees new car dependability problems increase for first time since 1998

For the first time since 1998, J.D. Power and Associates says its data shows that the average number of problems per 100 cars has increased. The finding is the result of the firm's much-touted annual Vehicle Dependability Study, which charts incidents of problems in new vehicle purchases over three years from 41,000 respondents.
Looking at first-owner cars from the 2011 model year, the study found an average of 133 problems per 100 cars (PP100, for short), up 6 percent from 126 PP100 in last year's study, which covered 2010 model-year vehicles. Disturbingly, the bulk of the increase is being attributed to engine and transmission problems, with a 6 PP100 boost.
Interestingly, JDP notes that "the decline in quality is particularly acute for vehicles with four-cylinder engines, where problem levels increase by nearly 10 PP100." Its findings also noticed that large diesel engines also tended to be more problematic than most five- and six-cylinder engines.