1999 Acura Integra Gs-r Hatchback 3-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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Acura is livestreaming an augmented reality race on Facebook

Honda's luxury car brand Acura is set to livestream an augmented reality race featuring its 2018 TLX A-Spec sedan. The event will see four drivers hit a real track while wearing AR helmets that will create new virtual environments for each lap. Aside from spectating, viewers will also be able to interact with the racers on Facebook Live. The race will see each driver attempt to clock the fastest overall time during a three-lap time trial. That sounds simple enough, until the AR environments come online and really begin altering what the drivers see. As a result, each lap will trigger a new mixed-reality environment, visible to both the drivers and viewers. Central to the virtual experience will be the computer-connected helmets worn by the racers. Within each helmet is a HD screen with a two-way mirror that allows the driver to see the AR overlaid onto the real track. A computer rig in the backseat, powered by the Acura's battery, will generate the environments. To ensure the experience runs smoothly, Acura will have to track the objects on the tarmac and the movement of the car itself. Of course, this isn't Forza, so you can't just rewind the action should something go wrong, so Acura will use custom-made tracking gear to ensure the drivers don't plough into a wall because their eyes deceive them. You can tune into the race on Monday at 8pm ET on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Viewers will be shown the action courtesy of cameras placed on the drivers' helmets and around the track. Facebook Live audience members will also be able to offer hints and tips. Acura claims the interactions will transform viewers into a virtual pit crew. But all you'll really be doing is smashing a Facebook reaction at a given time to reveal a shortcut to the driver -- which isn't quite the same, is it?This article by Saqib Shah originally appeared on Engadget, your source for this connected life.Related Video: Marketing/Advertising Motorsports Acura Racing Vehicles Sedan augmented reality acura tlx

1997 Acura Integra Type R auctioned for $63,800

The Acura Integra, also known as the Honda Integra, was a front-wheel-drive sport compact car that neatly slotted between the Honda Civic and the Honda Accord. The Integra's sportiness wasn't just in its design, as there were a number of quite powerful engine choices for it, and some handling improvements. The mid-to-late-1990s second-generation car was available as the nearly-200-horsepower Type R version, which made a lasting impression no matter if you were an Acura customer, a Honda customer, a British motoring journalist putting the car through its paces in Wales or a PlayStation Gran Turismo gamer driving a virtual Integra at a fictional race track. The bug-eyed, sharply detailed Integra Type R, complete with a strengthened chassis, lightened spec, white wheels and a sizable rear wing, was an instant classic, and two decades later their values are definitely on the rise. No wonder, as they've been called the best-handling front-wheel-drive cars made, and there's some strong competition for that title. However, while the Integra Type R was sold new in limited numbers (just 320 units for the U.S. market in 1997), it wasn't envisioned just how much they could be worth in 2018. The past weekend, a certain high point was reached, as a 1,200-mile, Championship White, Acura-badged example was sold at a Barrett-Jackson auction for an eye-watering $63,800 with fees included. That is roughly double what the car cost new, no matter how new-condition it is. Perhaps the $60K+ sale price for the Type R was foreboded by a particular Florida-based car selling for $40,750 in late June, on Bring a Trailer. That car wasn't even in as-new condition, as it had already accumulated almost 60,000 miles. While these prices might reflect in the values of other used Integra Type R cars and even the more regular-issue, 170-horsepower Integra GS-R models, it might turn out be a blessing for the existing examples not ravaged by road salt or modding in usual Honda fashion, or stolen and parted out: As the values for Type R's keep climbing, it provides even more of an incentive for Type R owners to keep their cars in good or excellent shape. We're just hoping for a sweet spot there, so that the Integras won't all be mollycoddled and cocooned for fear of depreciation — these cars need to be used, out on the road with the VTEC singing, nearing 8,500 rpm. That's what they were designed for.

2014 Acura MDX goes for a camouflaged cruise

While the often misunderstood (and infrequently purchased) Acura ZDX may be going the way of the dinosaur, the company's far more conventional and successful MDX SUV is evolving. In fact, the 2014 MDX seems to be coming along rather nicely, if this latest set of spy images is any indication.
In the camouflaged prototype we see here, it is evident that Acura designers are going for a beefier look for the MDX front end. The current car's pointed and beaked nose are nowhere in evidence on this tester, though some version of Acura's prominent shield grille does seem to remain.
It's a bit difficult to tell if the shape of the glasshouse is much revised on this new car, as the camo is applied in such a fashion as to obscure the post C-pillar design. But it does seem as though, when we look hard at the full-profile shots of the MDX, that the wheel-arch bulges and side character lines of the current vehicle have been replaced with much simpler surfacing.