2001 Acura Cl Type-s Coupe 2-door 3.2l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Honda HR-V could spawn Acura variant

We've been saying it for months now, but the compact CUV is the next big thing. Everyone, and we mean everyone, is at least considering getting in on the action, if they aren't already actively designing or selling, and that's true whether they're a premium or mainstream automaker. That, of course, includes Acura, whose parent company, Honda, has a compact CUV of its own coming to market very, very soon. With the arrival of the Fit-based HR-V, that begs the question of whether the near-premium marque will join this burgeoning segment. The idea of building a car below the company's entry level CUV, the RDX, is an appealing one to Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel, who called it "potentially the only place you could go," and would occupy the "white space" the company is looking to fill. While we might chuckle about the idea of a luxurious, Fit-based CUV, it's fair to say it could do well for Acura. It could certainly provide a foil to the very hot selling Buick Encore, and may even capture some sales from the luxuriously outfitted Jeep Renegade Limited/Fiat 500X Lounge. It remains to be seen, though, if Acura could build an HR-V capable of tangling with the new entries from Lexus, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.

2017 Acura NSX | 2017 Autoblog Technology of the Year Finalist

Like its iconic predecessor, the second-generation Acura NSX blazes trails. The old NSX proved that you could get reliability and daily use from an exotic car, and subsequently changed the automotive world. Acura's engineers pushed in a new direction for the prodigal successor: technology. And so the new NSX sets a new bar in the way technology is used to achieve speed. The highlight here is the Sport Hybrid SH-AWD system, which supplements the 500-horsepower twin-turbo V6 with three electric motors, making 573 peak ponies. The two front motors each act on a front wheel, doing all kinds of tricks to help the car corner faster, brake harder, and accelerate like the proverbial cannon shot. They help make the NSX more stable at high speed, and let you sneak up on unsuspecting video producers at low speed. Then there's the third motor sandwiched between the engine and nine-speed transmission, which never lets a shift go by without filling in the milliseconds with velvety torque. If the all-wheel-drive hybrid supercar sounds familiar, yes, Porsche did something similar with the 918 Spyder. But even when you load the options on the NSX (try not to, we dare you), it's never more than a fifth the price of the Porsche. Then there are the little details, like a new form of casting Honda engineers developed for the NSX's crash structure. Or the three-dimensional bend to the A-pillar and roof rail that makes it less obstructive to the driver and also stronger. Even the Marysville, Ohio factory gets some credit here, with 12 patents filed relating to the assembly process. There's only so much a driver can do with two hands and two feet. The NSX takes your inputs and figures out how to maximize the contribution from each individual wheel. This is a car that harnesses all the greatness of technology to change what's possible in a sports car.Related Video: 2017 Acura NSX | First Drive

Snapshots from Acura NSX prototype run at Mid-Ohio

Acura's achingly slow showing of the new, hybrid NSX saw yet another step yesterday, as we reported late last week. A powder-blue prototype ran ahead of the open-wheelers at the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Why show the NSX Prototype at Mid-Ohio? Honda's Ohio research and development center, which has taken the lead on NSX development, is just 60 miles from the track. And as race sponsor, Honda must have figured it would give the spectators a glimpse of the new supercar it's been teasing for the better part of a decade.
With a planned launch in 2015 (special emphasis on the "planned" part, considering the NSX's history), the NSX Prototype shown here sports graphics that "speak to Acura's intention to go racing with the new NSX." That's great news for fans of endurance racing, although it remains to be seen when a motorsports program for the new NSX will get off the ground.
Take a look at the fresh gallery of images, and be sure to head over to our original Mid-Ohio post for the video footage of the NSX Prototype on track.