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Buy a new NSX and you can put the badges on as it rolls off the line in Ohio

Acura announced today that new NSX owners now have an opportunity to see their cars being built at the Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) in Marysville, Ohio. At the starting price of $2,700, owners can participate in the "NSX Insider Experience" in which they'll tour the factory, as well as the Honda Heritage Center. The latter of which houses a HondaJet, an iteration of ASIMO, Honda's famous humanoid robot, and other pieces of Honda history. Owners on the tour also have the chance to talk with people on the assembly line about how it all comes together, and can even install the badges on their very own cars. If that's not enough, Honda offers a few other optional extras to make the trip special. They can add a tour of the factory in Anna, Ohio, where the NSX engines are made, as well as sign up for a performance driving experience in a new NSX. The driving portion is available in two- and four-hour sessions, and it takes place at the Transportation Research Center, which doubles as Acura's NSX proving grounds. Of course these extras will add to the cost, as will bringing guests. Honda even offers help with travel planning through Acura Concierge. The service can book your flight and other travel arrangements. It will also allow you to stay at the special NSX suite at the Joseph Hotel in Columbus, Ohio. Acura didn't go into detail as to what makes the suite specific to the NSX, but we're sure it's a nice place nonetheless. NSX owners interested in the program should check out the program's website, here. For people without the means to buy an NSX, you can still get a look into the factory by checking out our visit to the facility. Related Video: Featured Gallery Acura NSX Insider Experience Image Credit: Acura Green Plants/Manufacturing Acura Coupe Hybrid Supercars

Acura NSX to race in GT3 or GTE

Honda is reportedly planning to roll out a racing version of the new Acura NSX. It just hasn't decided yet on which class it wants to enter it into, to whose specifications it will build it, and which department will be tasked with the project. The original NSX competed principally in Japan's own Super GT series. So did the subsequent HSV-010 GT that was originally designed to be the NSX's replacement. But Acura's new supercar is as much an American vehicle as a Japanese one, and as such it looks more likely to compete on American soil. The options which Honda is considering boil down to GTE and GT3. What's the difference, you ask? Until just a few years ago, international sports car racing was split between GT1, GT2, GT3, and (to a lesser extent) GT4 classes. GT1 was phased out in 2009, GT2 was reformatted into GTE (with both Pro and Am categories), while both GT3 and GT4 carried on. Today GTE is run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and its associated championships around the globe: the FIA World Endurance Championship, the European Le Mans Series, the Asian Le Mans Series, and the United SportsCar Championship. Meanwhile GT3 is run in series like the Blancpain Endurance Series and a growing number of regional championships. (GT4 is run in lower-level series for amateur racers.) Acura currently runs the TLX-GT in the Pirelli World Challenge here in America. But as the series moves to GT3 specifications as well, the company is facing the decision of either adapting the existing racer to the new regulations (and coming away with a potentially compromised package), or replace it entirely. The NSX could prove just the ticket, however the GTE class may ultimately give it more exposure. Whichever rulebook Acura opts to play by, it likely won't be running under hybrid power – an element which would add complication but not necessarily much benefit under current regulations. The automaker will also have to decide who will develop the new NSX racer, with both California-based Honda Performance Development (HPD) and Italian outfit JAS Motorsport (which fields Honda's WTCC team) eyed as potential candidates. Related Video:

1997 Acura SLX gets 350 actual Acura horsepower for Radwood

For the Radwood Orange County, Calif., car show, a show themed around 1980s and 1990s cars, Acura is bringing a variety of its original models including a 1991 NSX and a 1986 Integra. The company is also bringing something obscure, a 1997 Acura SLX, the brand's first SUV, offered from model years 1996 to 1999. In some ways, it's something Acura might not want to highlight, since it's really a rebadged Isuzu Trooper, just as the original Honda Passport was a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo. But this SLX is special; it has real Acura power under the hood. The project was led by Acura engineers and Pikes Peak racing drivers James Robinson, Paul Hubers and Jordan Guitar, and the frame and body restoration as well as the powertrain swap was done entirely in-house at Honda R&D in Ohio, according to Acura rep Andrew Quillin. The team pulled out the original naturally aspirated 3.2-liter V6 that made just 190 horsepower and 188 pound-feet of torque, and dropped in a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four from a new Acura RDX. That engine also received a new intake, exhaust, turbo and ECU tune, which brought power up to an estimated 350 horsepower and 340 pound-feet of torque, similar to the Graham Rahal Performance RDX. Not only that, but the old-school four-wheel-drive system and live rear axle were dropped in favor of the RDX's indpendent suspension and torque vectoring "Super Handling All-Wheel Drive." "Dropped in" is a mischaracterization, though, as Acura had to weld new subframes front and rear to the existing frame to get the transverse engine and modern suspension to fit. Acura was careful to keep the SLX looking as close to the original as possible. On the outside, Acura repainted the SLX in a modern red paint available on the RDX, but retained the champagne lower moldings. The stock wheels were replaced with 17-inch Fifteen52 wheels, but they have a very similar design and finish to the original wheels. A hard-shell spare tire cover was added, and a simple "SH-AWD" badge on the back is the only hint at what's under the body. The interior was restored at the company's L.A. design studio, where the upholstery was redone in a gray "gathered" leather like you would have seen when it was new. A bit of gray wood trim updates the interior slightly. The RDX's push-button starter and shifter buttons have been added to the center console, shift paddles behind the original steering wheel, and an aftermarket instrument cluster mounted to the steering column.