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Ludacris discusses Fast and Furious 7 and his 1993 Acura Legend

It's easy to think of most wealthy celebrities as egotistical, materialistic individuals who own a Ferrari for every day of the week. The reality, though, is often much less severe. See, they can get attached to things, like cars, just like normal folks. Take Alfred Morris, for example. A 22-year-old running back with the Washington Redskins. Morris still drives the 1991 Mazda 626 that he had in college, despite a healthy $2.2 million contract.
Rapper/actor Ludacris is an even more extreme example of automotive loyalty. With an estimated net worth of over $70 million, Luda has the money for his own private plane. Yet that wealth doesn't stop him from regularly driving the 1993 Acura Legend he has had since before he found fame.
Ludacris, whose real name is Chris Bridges, recently discussed his old Acura during an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneris Show to promote his new album. It sounds like he's put 10,000 miles on the trusty sedan since it last popped up online less than a year ago, so it's pretty clear that he drives it on the regular. In fact, Ludacris says he still pens new songs sitting inside it, just like he used to back in the day when he was starting out.

Acura is launching an all-out assault on Pikes Peak

  Acura is gunning for multiple trophies at Pikes Peak later this month, sending no less than six vehicles to the famed hillclimb event. The fleet consists of two NSX race cars, two TLX Type S race cars, a TLX Type S pace car, and the 2022 MDX Type S making its first public debut. The all-volunteer team comprising Acura employees will be towing the more potent of the TLX race cars 1,300 miles from its base in Ohio to the Colorado venue with an MDX Type S. While a stock TLX Type S weighs 4,221 pounds, a mass that's pretty close to the 355-horsepower, 354 pound-foot flagship's towing capacity of 5,000, the race car is considerably lighter.  Honda put the TLX Type S on a 600-pound diet, gutting the interior and replacing parts with lightweight components like a carbon fiber hood. Naturally, aerodynamic aids like splitters, canards, and spoilers festoon the race car. On top of that, the 3.0-liter V6 it shares with the big brother MDX Type S has been modified with a with a larger turbo and additional cooling to account for the thin air approaching the 14,000-foot summit. Acura engineer Justin Lumbard will helm the TLX in the Pikes Peak Open Division, in which an Acura TLX GT race car holds the record of 9:24.433, set by Acura race veteran Peter Cunningham in 2019. Meanwhile, chassis engineer and cool-name-haver Jordan Guitar will be piloting the other TLX Type S, a more stock version with only a 300-pound diet. Both cars wear race-modified suspensions and HRE 19-inch 19 x 9.5-inch wheels wrapped in Pirelli slicks. Likewise, the NSX pairs comprise one hard-core racer and one mostly stock car each, allowing Acura to pursue wins in multiple classes. Drivers and brothers James and Nick Robinson are no strangers to Pikes Peak records. James helped Acura clinch the Hybrid Class record with a time of 10:01.913 in an NSX last year, and is now shooting for a Time Attack 1 Division championship. His NSX puts out around 625 horsepower thanks to larger turbos and reprogrammed engine software. A front splitter, large rear wing, 200-pound weight reduction are just some of the race-prep modifications. Meanwhile, Nick holds the front-wheel-drive record, set in 2018 with a first-generation Acura TLX and a time of 10:48.094. This year, Nick is behind the wheel of an NSX that's all stock — aside from safety equipment and race tires — in the hopes of achieving a Time Attack 2 production record attempt.

A smoother operator | 2017 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid First Drive

There's a lot to unpack when trying to understand the 2017 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid. Acura is billing it as a three-row crossover infused with NSX technology via a sport-oriented hybrid drivetrain. So it's a hybrid crossover, sure. But it doesn't comport itself like a traditional crossover, nor is it a conventional hybrid. What it is, underneath, is an intentionally subtle blend of impressive technologies doing their best to appear transparent – and it's too subtle, I fear, to be appreciated by those who'd like it the most. This is a lot of foreshadowing, but if you're not familiar with the MDX Sport Hybrid's powertrain, let's fill you in. The MDX Sport Hybrid uses the same basic system as the 2014 RLX Sport Hybrid, with some newer NSX battery tech sprinkled in, packaged neatly into the refreshed third-generation MDX platform. The system improves handling and efficiency – but more important, it smoothes out the harshness of shifts and engine stop-starts. We do need to examine the system in some detail to understand how all this affects the MDX as a whole, so let's go toe to tail. Up front is a transversely-mounted 3.0-liter V6 making 257 horsepower and 218 pound-feet of torque, as well as featuring i-VTEC and cylinder deactivation. It's slightly smaller than the 3.5-liter V6 found in the conventional MDX and many other Honda and Acura products. Attached alongside is a Honda-produced 7-speed dual-clutch transmission that has a 47 hp, 109 lb-ft electric motor-generator stuffed inside. Amidships are the battery pack and the electronics to control it, and stretching aft from there are large cables feeding power to a pair of electric motors that reside in single housing, one for each wheel. Together, they produce electron witchcraft and torque-delivery wizardry – and add 72 hp and 108 lb-ft of torque to the mix. The total system output is 321 hp and 289 lb-ft of torque – a gain of 31 hp and 22 lb-ft over the conventional MDX SH-AWD. Beyond the raw numbers, there's the remarkable subjective benefit of the Sport Hybrid's drivetrain. Engine start-stop events are quiet and smooth, nearly imperceptible when under way – in stark contrast to the too-perceptible shudder of competing engines kicking on. The electric motors (mainly the one residing in the transmission) add in power to make up for the lull during a shift, making shifts up or down seamless, as well as providing regenerative capacity.