1998 2 Door Automatic on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Five signs Honda cares about enthusiasts, again

It's a great time to be an enthusiast. From high-horsepower Hellcats to the purist BRZ, engaging automobiles are found in nearly every segment of the market. Everyone wants to join the performance parade. Everyone it seemed, but Honda. The company that built some of Formula One's most successful engines, helped launch the tuner market and gave the world a seminal supercar, has watched competitors of all stripes surge by it for the hearts, minds and dollars of enthusiasts. Until now. Honda put the rest of the auto world on notice at the New York Auto Show, revealing a jaw-dropping Civic concept, confirming the Type R will come to the United States and even adding a hatchback to the 2016 Civic line. Throw in the Acura NSX and much-improved ILX for Honda's luxury sibling, and it's undeniable the company is regaining its swagger. Once again, Honda is serious about performance, and here's five reasons why enthusiasts should believe. The Honda Civic Concept Looks Great We're psyched about the Civic concept, which was a surprise reveal earlier this month at the New York Auto Show. Clad in bright neon green, the concept edged out the Lincoln Continental for first place in our Editors' Choice awards at the show. As Editor-in-Chief Sharon Carty put it, "The color hurts so good." Yes, the green is blinding, but you don't have to squint to see the 10th generation of the Civic. Honda's concepts are the real deal, and this is the car (mostly) that will launch this fall. It's attractive, with a long hood, curvaceous sides and a simple but sporty grille. The powertrain lineup will include a 1.5-liter VTEC turbo four-cylinder paired with a six-speed manual, which should be a treat for enthusiasts. With its fresh looks and intriguing mechanicals, the concept previews an everyday driver you can get excited about. Obviously, we are. The Hatchback Returns Yep, the Civic is getting a five-door hatch in the United States. It's been a while. Honda last offered a Civic hatch for a brief time in the mid-2000s, and only as the lower-volume Si model. The new hatch will be produced at Honda's factory in the United Kingdom and imported to the United States. That's a win-win for Honda: it's using excess capacity in the UK to satiate a niche market for US buyers. The annual hatch production is reportedly expected to be 30,000 to 40,000 units, which is a drop in the bucket for the Civic lineup and its massive though declining sales.

Reliving the Acura NSX debut, 25 years later

The Acura NSX might be one of the most important Japanese cars ever created. The Land of the Rising Sun had already established that it could make very competent performance vehicles when the NSX debuted in 1989, but Honda's two-seater was the first one that looked to the world like a true contender against Ferrari and Porsche, thanks to its cutting-edge technology. The Acura had an all-aluminum monocoque chassis, a beautifully low-slung body and a quick-revving V6 with an 8,000-rpm redline. This quintessential Japanese sports coupe celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, and Autoweek recognizes it in a fantastic piece chronicling the model's US launch.
The story begins in February 1989 at the Chicago Motor Show where the car debuted. The day before the show opened, the concept still didn't have a name. The Japanese development team referred to it as New Sports, and the American Acura executives decided to add eXperimental to the end. The moniker NSX just stuck afterwards.
The article paints a fantastic portrait of the car and the company at the time. Honda had something to prove with the NSX. To succeed, the coupe had to be the best, and when the American press finally got a hold of it, they drowned it in accolades. Of course, Acura has a new American-built NSX on the way, and it has colossal legacy to live up to. This piece is definitely worth reading to understand why.

2015 Acura TLX confirmed for New York debut

Acura has announced that the 2014 New York Auto Show will see the arrival of the production TLX - the sedan that will replace both the TL and TSX in the company's lineup. The TLX was already previewed at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show as a near-production concept model, meaning we already have a very solid idea of what the 2015 model will look like.
What we didn't know, was that Acura has finally gotten on board with some advanced powertrains, rather than just plucking stuff from the Honda parts bin. Okay, that's kind of a lie. We've seen both of the TLX's engines in previous Honda products - a 2.4-liter, VTEC four-cylinder and a 3.5-liter VTEC V6 from the Civic Si and Accord, respectively - but the transmissions will be totally new.
First, an eight-speed, dual-clutch automatic will be paired with the base four-pot. The V6, meanwhile, will get a nine-speed automatic. Unfortunately, there's no mention of a manual gearbox. Acura's Precision All-Wheel Steer will be standard on the front-drive variants for both engines, while the 3.5-liter V6 will also be available with the brand's Super Handling All-Wheel Drive.