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Acura NSX GT3 to make public debut this week at Mid-Ohio

The new Acura NSX had a very long and very public gestation period. The car went through a number of redesigns and revisions, all while enthusiasts watched and waited. With the production version just now ramping up for customer deliveries, Acura revealed that it was working on a race car for FIA GT3 homologation. While the car was shown in New York, no one outside of Honda has seen it testing on track. This week, the NSX GT3 will make its public testing debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course ahead of the Pirelli World Challenge and IndyCar races. View 13 Photos While the car will be on track during testing and practice sessions, it won't actually be competing with the rest of the field. The car is still in the testing phase and won't be fully FIA approved until at least September. Acura is confident that the car will make its racing debut in 2017. The company also made it clear that this is not the final version of the car and that things like aero and engine tuning are still being worked out. Until now, the NSX GT3 has only tested at private events in Europe, Japan and the US. This week, the NSX GT3 will be piloted by Dutch racing driver Peter Kox. Kox drives for RealTime Racing, a team that currently campaigns an Acura TLX GT. This week's car will be the primary tester, though if something goes sideways there are multiple backup cars. The NSX GT3 differs in a number of ways from the road car, most notably its lack of hybrid all-wheel drive system. The NSX GT3 uses the same twin-turbocharged V6 as the road car, but sends all the power through the rear wheels. It also uses the same space frame as the road car. While the road going version receives final assembly in Honda's Ohio factory, final touches to the GT3 car are done elsewhere. Although the car will only be testing on Thursday and Friday, it will be on display all weekend in the paddock. For more info on this weekend's Mid-Ohio race, check out the Pirelli World Challenge page here. Related Video: Motorsports Acura Honda honda nsx acura nsx gt3

Mom Accidentally Steals Honda In Brooklyn

The owner of a 1993 Honda Accord that was accidentally stolen by a young Brooklyn woman's mother has the car back in her possession, after amusing posters popped up all over town. Cheryl Thorpe traveled to New York from her home in Houston to watch her daughter's dog while she and her roommates went on vacation, according to New York Magazine. Thorpe was also left the task of moving the three girls' cars to legal parking spots on a street-cleaning day. She dutifully moved the Fiat, Honda CR-V and Accord, but when the trio returned from their vacation something was wrong. The owner of the Accord found her car right where she left it, thankfully free of parking tickets. The Accord Thorpe had moved belonged to someone else. As it turns out, some older Hondas have interchangeable keys. Thorpe was able to use the girl's keys to move Emily Hickert's car while she ate brunch. Hickert spent an entire week thinking a professional car thief had made off with her 21-year-old ride. "In less than 40 seconds she gets in the car and goes," Hickert told The New York Post, after reviewing security footage from a nearby business. "I thought she was a professional." Hickert filed a police report, while Thorpe's daughter posted fliers all over Brooklyn looking for the Accord's owner. Hickert was eventually reunited with her Honda, which had been towed after sitting parked on the street. She says she bears no ill will towards the women involved in the mix up. "I'm not upset with her," Hickert told The Post. "I'm glad it wasn't a thief. I just didn't know why anyone would steal a 1993 Honda." Related Gallery Honda's Redone 2013 Civic Pulls Icon Out Of The Fire Weird Car News Honda

Honda execs take 'quality-related' pay cut after Fit Hybrid's 5th recall

Generally, the best policy in life is to admit when you're wrong and just accept the consequences. However, that attitude generally seems to be a bit less common in the world of business - at least without some government or legal prodding. So, it's especially surprising to learn that top Honda executives in Japan are taking a pay cut for the next three months following the fifth recall of the Fit Hybrid (pictured above) in the last 12 months.
According to Reuters, Chief Executive Takanobu Ito is taking a 20-percent pay cut to make amends for the quality issues. Also, 12 other high-ranking executives are taking 10 percent drops in their salaries. In addition to those temporary changes, Honda is creating a new position in charge of monitoring vehicle quality.
The latest recall fixes "noise-related defects," according to Reuters, on both the hybrid and naturally aspirated versions of the Fit, both variants of the Vezel (the sibling to the future HR-V in the US) and the N-WGN. There have also been three recalls for problems with the hybrid's seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. None of them have caused reported injuries or deaths, and these issues haven't affected US models.