Silver 1997 Acura Integra Ls on 2040-cars

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2022 Acura MDX First Drive Review | Sportier and more luxurious than ever

The 2022 Acura MDX is Acura’s latest, completely redesigned model in whatÂ’s shaping up to be a rekindling of the Japanese luxury brand. Acura smacked us across the face (in a good way) with the luxurious and sporty TLX last year, and now itÂ’s trying to do the same with its three-row family crossover. 2020 saw the MDX become AcuraÂ’s best-selling model of all time, surpassing 1 million total sales. Granted, itÂ’s been around since the turn of the century, but thereÂ’s no underselling how important the MDX is to Acura. Enthusiasts like ourselves are far more intrigued by the performance cars, but the MDX is where Acura is printing its money. However, its cash cow status hasnÂ’t restrained Acura from transforming the new MDX into a crossover thatÂ’s likeable to both enthusiasts and the public at large. ThatÂ’s the Acura we remember and love. The 2022 MDX rewrites its story with a new “light truck” platform that's exclusive to Acura Â… for the time being. When we asked what this platformÂ’s future might be, an Acura spokesperson told us that “this platform will underpin other models in our company portfolio, but weÂ’re not speaking to that at this time.” Most likely, Acura is referring to the next-generation Pilot (along with the Passport and Ridgeline), considering that every previous MDX has been related to Honda's three-row crossover. For now, however, this new platform facilitates the MDXÂ’s longer dash-to-axle ratio (4 inches greater than before), which gives it proportions similar to rear-drive-based competition from Europe and elsewhere. It also results in greater cabin space, better handling and new technologies, but we need to address the design first. 2022 Acura MDX Advance View 23 Photos The transformation is substantial, as the 2022 MDX is both wider and longer than its predecessor. Where there was slop and slouch before, there is none today. Its upright face, mesmerizing grille, big wheels and sharp lighting elements make the MDX stand out in the crossover crowd. This redesign takes the MDX from being one of the least fetching options in the segment to standing tall as one of the most stylish. Big styling wins havenÂ’t always been easy for Acura to come by over the last 10-plus years, but chalk this one up as another feather in the cap following the dashing new TLX. The new MDX platform contributed to these good looks, but it also brings a splash of utility.

Junkyard Gem: 1996 Acura 3.5 RL, Rocky Mountain Rambler 500 Edition

Honda had a good sales run with the Acura Legend, the first of the luxury-marque spinoffs from well-known Japanese carmakers to appear on our shores, but times change and the RL replaced the Legend as Acura's flagship starting in the 1996 model year. Here's one of those first-year RLs, found in a Denver boneyard covered in decorations from the Rocky Mountain Rambler 500 road rally. The Rocky Mountain Rambler 500 involves a lot of punitive off-road driving, so cars that have no business on the dirt seem to get coolness points. That makes Honda's most expensive vehicle of 24 years ago a fine choice of ride. I can't determine how well this car did, but the drivers looked optimistic during the inspections last month. Since the ignition key is still in the switch, I'm assuming it wasn't running so well after the rally and the team decided to bid farewell to their Acura in the lowest-hassle way possible: sell it to the nearest U-Pull-&-Pay. The team appears to have gone for a Pirates of the Caribbean theme with their big land yacht. The evil-looking wheel covers looked sharp. However, the Lord Humungus-grade roof spikes really make this car stand out, both on the rally and, now, in the junkyard. It seemed very clean, with the original owner's manual still in the glovebox. The MSRP on this car came to $41,000 in 1996, which amounts to about $69,000 in 2020 dollars. A new Lexus LS 400 cost $52,900 that year, though the $45,700 Lexus GS 300 was more likely to have battled for the money of potential 3.5 RL buyers. The 1996 Infiniti Q45 went for $53,520, while the J30 cost $39,920. The 1996 BMW 530i had a $42,750 price tag, but your Mitsubishi dealer had $25,525 Diamantes that year. Built on the idea that luxury doesn't have to be boring. Take that, Lexus!

How I was reunited with my Acura TSX after 16 years

Back in 2006, I did a very unusual thing: I ordered an Acura. While ordering your car is always unusual in this country, doing so for an Acura (or Honda) is even stranger given how few combinations of color and options there are. The chances of finding what you want at a dealer are high. Despite the odds, though, I needed to order my 2006 Acura TSX with the combination of Arctic Blue paint, touchscreen navigation and, crucially, the six-speed manual transmission. Three months later, it was in the driveway. Fifteen months later, however, it was out of the driveway. I had just got my dream job as an automotive journalist and no longer needed to own a daily driver. The TSX would just be collecting dust and depreciation down in a garage, I hadn’t exactly grown attached to it after so little time, and it certainly didnÂ’t seem like a collectible car to hang onto for posterity. After months of trying to sell it (turns out all those dealers were on to something with their inventory builds), a nice young man named Chanc flew to Los Angeles with a check in hand. I took off my RIZ plates, he slid that manual transmission into first, and off my TSX went to its new home in Utah never to be heard or seen from again. Until Christmas Eve of last year. While enjoying an egg nog, I pulled out my phone to find I was tagged in the below Instagram post by someone named Tyson Hugie. It took me a second to process what I was seeing: somebody handing over keys to an Arctic Blue Acura TSX with a red bow on top. “Wait, what?” I exclaimed.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Tyson Hugie (@tysonhugie)   “IÂ’m an Acura brand aficionado, some call me an addict,” Hugie explained to me on an episode of the Autoblog Podcast recorded in the TSX itself. ThatÂ’s putting it lightly, and itÂ’s an addiction thatÂ’s resulted in quite the following on Instagram and YouTube, where he documents his collection/projects. “IÂ’ve been a fan of Honda and Acura products since the late ‘90s. Whenever I come across a particularly rare model, it kind of stays with me a long time.” His collecting started back in 2011 after Acura threw a red-carpet party for him, and more notably, the Acura Legend he owned that rolled over 500,000 miles. It has since crested 585,400. Nearly 30 other Acuras and Hondas have come, gone and stayed alongside it in HugieÂ’s garage since then.