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Acura ILX headed for Civic-like early upgrades

The not-yet-ready-for-primetime 2012 Honda Civic saw it quickly returned to sender for refurbishment, now the Acura ILX is headed in the same direction in its very first year. Automotive News reports that the small, Civic-based sedan from Honda's luxury brand isn't meeting sales expectations, with an annualized rate of 22,000 to 24,000 sales instead of the 30,000 the company is after. More telling is that the ILX "is being outsold by the Buick Verano, Volkswagen CC and Audi A4," and, except for two months since it launched, it has also been outdone by the Acura TSX it is meant to replace.
Part of the cause has been the 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine: its 150 horsepower to motivate a sedan that can weigh up to 2,970 pounds doesn't offer the kind of performance or value experience that buyers in the segment respond to. Another big issue is that the top-level 2.4-liter engine is only offered with a six-speed manual even though most buyers of the highest trim don't really want to shift their own gears. Lastly, the ILX might not put enough space between it and its frugal underpinnings - our first drive review pegged it as "the world's nicest Honda Civic."
An automatic transmission is on the way for the 2.4-liter, but it isn't clear when. And while Honda admits that the 2.0-liter is underpowered and Automotive News says it's on the way out, the company hasn't yet said how that situation will be corrected.

IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.

Acura bringing full-EV NSX and two hybrids to Pikes Peak

Acura is bringing two 2017 NSX hybrids to run up Pikes Peak in a few weeks. As exciting as this is in itself, the line that really caught our attention in the PR announcement is that there will be third vehicle, an all-electric one, making the climb alongside its hybrid brethren. The EV is not an NSX per se, but,"a new NSX-inspired, all-electric 4-motor SH-AWD Concept." First announced back in March, the new EV will run in the Electric Modified Class, and features, "a further evolution of the experimental all-electric, four-motor Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) powertrain that won last year's Pikes Peak Challenge Exhibition class." All-electric vehicles have been speeding up the mountain track for years now, with Mitsubishi EVs winning their division in 2014. A Tesla Model S will make the climb this year. Back to the standard NSX hybrids. They will be driven in the Time Attack 1 and 2 classes by brothers James and Nick Robinson. The vehicles are different, but both use the standard NSX's three-motor hybrid powertrain. TA1 has a lighter chassis and a modified racing exhaust, while TA2 is a standard NSX with some required safety equipment Last year, an NSX was the pace car at Pikes Peak. Related Video: 2017 Acura NSX Supercar to Make its North American Racing Debut at 2016 Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Jun 9, 2016 - TORRANCE, Calif. Two Acura NSX supercars and a new NSX-inspired, all-electric 4-motor SH-AWD Concept will compete in the 100th anniversary of Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Acura NSX, MDX and TLX will serve as official pace cars Acura will field a pair of 2017 Acura NSX supercars in the 100th Anniversary of the running of the Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on June 26, marking the North American racing debut of Acura's next-generation NSX: the pinnacle expression of Acura Precision Crafted Performance and the only supercar made in America. The two Acura NSX supercars will compete in the Time Attack 1 and 2 classes and will be piloted by brothers James and Nick Robinson, respectively, both from the company's North American engineering team. In addition, Acura will campaign an NSX-inspired prototype vehicle in the Electric Modified Class, featuring a further evolution of the experimental all-electric, 4-motor Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) powertrain that won last year's Pikes Peak Challenge Exhibition class.