2011 Acura Tsx Base Sedan 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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2019 Acura NSX quick spin review | Japan takes on the world, again

I drove the 2019 Acura NSX on track a while back, and it's an absolute freight train. But now that I've driven it in the snow and the rain and our pothole-riddled streets around Southeast Michigan, I can tell you about what it's like to live with the Japanese supercar. Our tester was painted in gorgeous Casino White pearl. It's a stunner in this color, highlighting the NSX's proper supercar styling – impressions were reinforced by the constant stares and craned necks over a cold November weekend. All $21,600 of carbon fiber exterior parts (several carbon packages combined) probably didn't contribute a whole lot to this, but man does it look cool up close. Updates to the 2019 car consist mostly of more suspension and tire to give it the edge it was missing before. Stiffer stabilizer bars, rear toe link bushings and re-tuned magnetorheological dampers do the bulk of the work. A complete recalibration of the steering and SH-AWD system ties it all together, and boy does it work wonders. Of course, I spent most of my time inside the NSX, which, just like before the 2019 update is the most controversial part of this car. Acura likes to say it has "excellent ergonomics" and "simple driver interfaces presented with elegant materials." Critics say it looks like any other Acura, giving the nearly $200,000 supercar a cheap vibe. I think there's a disconnect between what Acura thinks is a perfect supercar interior – a focus on superb visibility and ease of use so you can focus on driving – and what enthusiasts are hardwired to believe a supercar interior should be – wild, at times nonsensical, and exotic. I find myself on Acura's side in this debate, more so after spending so much time in the cabin. The skinny A-pillars, long windows and excellent view out the rear make driving this car through rush-hour traffic a calming adventure. Our car's blue/black leather and suede interior combination looks the business and feels luxurious — the $3,800 carbon fiber interior package helps it feel exotic. I spent plenty of hours in the saddle over a long weekend and was never fatigued or sore from the seat. The car is downright approachable to drive for anybody, partly thanks to the straightforward interior. The only part that ever frustrated me was the lack of a volume knob, an annoyance carried over from Honda. One knob you will end up using often is the giant Dynamic Mode control knob. I did most of my commuting in either Quiet or Sport mode.

Acura Integra's racing hopes hinge on Honda

The 2023 Integra has mostly failed to create the stir from long-time enthusiasts that Acura had hoped it would. However, all is not lost; Acura could perhaps regain some street cred if they took the Integra racing, like they did with the Integras of the 80s and 90s. Brand head Jon Ikeda wants to take the 'Teg to the track, but it all depends on whether the leadership at the American Honda mothership permits it. "We want to race this thing, but maybe the Honda PR and marketing guys might have different ideas," Ikeda told Road & Track. That's because the Integra is largely a 2022 Civic Si with a hatchback form factor and new sheetmetal. Honda already sells a Civic Type R race car in several tunes for various classes in the TC America touring car series. That was based on previous-generation Civic, but in all likelihood will continue the program with the latest gen. A racing Integra, then, would seem redundant. On the other hand, Acura has been highly active in motorsports, from 24 Hours of Daytona-winning IMSA DPi prototypes to NSX GT3 race cars to Pikes Peak hill-climbers. Even Honda's F1 cars were re-branded with Acura livery at last month's U.S. Grand Prix in Austin. And it's not like the Integra doesn't have a long history in motorsports. The nameplate as competed in various North American series from SCCA Pro Rally to IMSA sedan to the Import Drag Racing Championships. Perhaps the most well-known Acura Integras to race, though, were Peter Cunningham's white and neon orange RealTime Racing Type Rs that dominated the SpeedVision World Challenge championships around Y2K. Ikeda has said before that he wants Acura to be the performance brand of Honda, and a rumored Integra Type S is in the works with a more potent engine, possibly a version of the upcoming Civic Type R's mill. "We're the performance division of Honda," Ikeda emphasized to R&T, "So we're not going to shy away from Honda, you know? We're going to just have a little bit more fun." While an admirable goal, the brand will struggle if it's merely the performance arm of Honda. It has to be about performance cars, period. That was part of Acura's magic in the 90s; it offered products that, while sharing components with Honda, were distinct and had their own personalities. The Integra was Civic-based, but it had noticeably better handling, more power, and unique design.

Honda CEO says we shouldn't expect any new sports cars

It wasn't so long ago that Honda was known for its sporty two-door models, with models ranging from the Civic del Sol to the Prelude and from the Acura Integra and RSX to the Honda S2000. But look at its range today and all you'll see are the Civic and Accord coupes. Honda has essentially let competitors like the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ and Nissan 370Z take the place it once claimed as its own. But if you were hoping Honda would fight back with a new coupe or convertible of its own, we're afraid you're going to have to downgrade those hopes to pipe dreams.
While in Japan ahead of the Tokyo Motor Show, Autoblog had a chance to sit down with American Honda CEO Tetsuo Iwamura (pictured at right). When we asked about the potential for a new sports coupe or convertible in the Honda or Acura lineup, he pointed to the current Civic and Accord coupes - not to mention the upcoming new NSX - but said that Honda has no replacement for any of the aforementioned models (or a rival for the FR-S or 370Z) in the pipeline, saying only that the company is monitoring potential demand.
What Iwamura-san did note was that he's a personal fan of the new S660 roadster (pictured above) set to be unveiled tomorrow, and he is pushing (or at least hoping) that it will come to North America. Given that he's head of both Honda's American office and its global automobile operations, one might think that the only person he would have to persuade is himself (well... himself, and potential buyers), but the sporty droptop looks to be about kei-sized, which sadly suggests that it may be too small for American tastes and perhaps not designed with US crash-test standards in mind anyway.